Orange Sweet Rolls

Don't spend money on Pillsbury or Rhodes orange rolls when you can easily make them from scratch! These orange cinnamon rolls are drizzled with a delicious orange glaze and perfect for Christmas morning or Easter Brunch!

Orange rolls garnished with orange slice and mint leaves. — Best Homemade Orange Sweet Rolls!

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
How to Make Step by Step Instructions
Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
Related Sweet Roll Recipes
Orange Rolls Recipe

Why You'll Love This Recipe

This recipe is a citrusy twist on my to die for homemade Cinnamon Rolls!
Who can resist a soft roll filled with orange filling and topped with orange flavor glaze!
This sweet roll recipe tastes just as yummy warm or cooled or even as a midnight snack!
Excellent sweet rolls for Christmas morning or Easter Brunch!
Still tastes amazing the next day!

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Butter - Both salted butter and unsalted butter work.
Flour - All-purpose flour, not bread flour, and never self-rising flour.
Yeast - Active dry yeast, rapid-rise yeast, and instant-rise yeast are the same thing.
Orange Juice Concentrate - You will use the concentrate as is. Do not mix up with water.

Everything you need for this orange roll recipe!

How to Make Step by Step Instructions

The dough for these orange sweet roll is a batter dough. That means it does not come together in a ball like traditional bread dough. It is a very soft dough.
I like to make this in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (don't use a dough hook attachment) but it can be made with hand beaters.
Put the ¼ cup butter, 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ cup sugar in a large bowl.
Scald 1 cup of milk.
Pour scalded milk over the contents of the mixing bowl.
Allow to cool until warm but not hot.

Butter, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl with scalded milk poured over the top. — Scald milk and pour over butter, sugar and salt.

Activate 1 Tbs. yeast with ½ teaspoon of Sugar in ⅓ Cup warm water.
Pour the activated yeast mixture into the now warm, but not hot milk mixture.
Add the eggs.
Add 2 Cups of flour and beat the mixture at a medium high speed for 5 minutes. DO NOT SKIMP ON THE BEATING TIME!!!
Mixture should now look like picture 10.

Activated yeast, egg and part of the flour added to the mixing bowl and beat for 5 minutes. — Add yeast mixture, eggs and flour to make this yeast dough.

Add remaining flour.
Beat until mixture is mixed well and looks like picture 12.
Cover dough with a dish towel and let rise until doubled (about an hour) in a warm place.
Remove the towel and punch the dough down.
Cover with a towel again and allow to rise a second time until doubled (second rise should take about a half hour).

Last of flour added, dough mixed and covered to rise. — Note the sticky nature of this batter dough! It's not a traditional bread dough!

Put ½ cup butter, orange zest and 1 cup of sugar in a small bowl or measuring cup.
Beat until the sugar mixture turning a light orange color.

Mixing up of orange sugar. — Mix up the orange butter filling!

You can roll these sweet rolls two different ways.
I will give the instructions to roll this orange roll recipe into jelly roll style sweet rolls first and butter horn style second.

Homemade Orange Rolls rolled jelly roll style and butter horn style!

For jelly roll style sweet rolls, dump the twice risen dough out onto a floured surface.
Sprinkle with a little flour and lightly knead into a ball.
I usually divide my dough in half and work with half at a time for my convenience.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle.
Spread with the orange sugar mixture.
Roll the dough up on the long side and cut with dental floss into 1 inch slices.
Place with ½ inch space in between in a baking dish that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
Cover with a dish towel and allow to rise until doubled while your oven preheats to 350 degrees.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
When nearly cool drizzle with the orange icing.
Serve warm or cool to room temperature!

Dough rolled out, spread with filling, rolled up and sliced. — Roll out, roll up, cut up and place rolls in a baking dish.

Beat the 2 cups of powdered sugar and ½ cup orange juice concentrate in a small deep bowl.
Drizzle the sweet orange glaze over nearly cooled orange rolls.

Orange icing made and drizzled over baked orange rolls. — Mix up sweet orange icing and drizzle over warm or cooled rolls.

For Butterhorn Style orange rolls, dump the twice risen dough onto a floured surface.
Sprinkle with flour and lightly knead into a ball.
Divide dough into 3 portions.
Roll each portion out into a circle.
Spread each with orange sugar.
Using a pizza cutter, cut each circle into 8 wedges.
Roll up starting at the large end and place end roll on a baking sheet that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
Cover with a dish towel and allow to rise until doubled while your oven preheats to 350 degrees.
Bake for 18-20 minutes.
When nearly cool drizzle with the orange icing.
Serve warm rolls or cooled rolls with fresh orange zest and mint if desired!

Dough rolled in a circle, spread with filling, cut into triangles, and rolled up. — You can roll them up butter horn style too!

Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips

What are Orange Rolls?

They are like cinnamon rolls but instead of the cinnamon insides they are full of yummy, ooey, gooey, orange filling! Plus they are drizzled with icing.

How do I store these?

After the orange rolls are completely cool and the icing is set up I lightly cover them with saran wrap. If you cover them too tight or in an airtight container they will get a little soggy and sticky.

Can you freeze Orange Rolls?

You surely can! Just make sure they are completely cool and it helps if the icing is set before packing them up in an airtight container and popping them in the freezer. Thaw them are room temperature.

If baking seems overwhelming because you're not sure how to organize and lay out everything you need you may like this article on creating a Home Baking Station! It's full of great tips and ideas!

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Orange Rolls Recipe

Mindee

Don't spend money on Pillsbury or Rhodes orange rolls when you can easily make them from scratch! My step-by-step recipe instructions with pictures will show you how easy it is to make these orange cinnamon-type rolls yourself!

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 4 30

Cook Time 20

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings serving

Calories 189 kcal

Ingredients

Roll Dough

¼ Cup Butter
1 teaspoon Salt
¼ Cup Sugar
1 Cup Scalded Milk
1 Tbs. Active Dry Yeast
½ teaspoon Sugar
⅓ Cup Warm Water
2 Large Eggs
3 ½ Cups Flour divided

Orange Filling

½ Cup Butter
1 Cup Sugar
Zest of Two Oranges (about 2 Tbs.)

Orange Icing

2 Cups Powdered Sugar
½ Cup Orange Juice Concentrate

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can make these with hand beaters, too), place the ¼ cup of butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ cup of sugar.
In a small saucepan, scald the 1 cup of milk.
To scald milk, heat the milk over medium heat high to nearly boiling. Remove from the heat and pour over the contents of the mixing bowl.
Allow to cool to a warm but not hot temperature (a little warmer than a baby's bath water). This takes 20-30 minutes.
In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and ½ teaspoon sugar in ⅓ cup warm water.
Let stand until foamy. About 5 minutes.
Pour the foamy yeast, 2 eggs, and 2 cups of flour into the mixing bowl. Mix on low just until everything is mixed together.
Then beat on medium-high for 5 minutes, Don't skimp on the time. You must beat it for 5 minutes.
Add the remaining 1 ½ cups flour. Mix until incorporated. This is a batter dough, so the dough is going to be sticky and gooey, it will not be a ball of dough. Refer to the pictures included in this recipe post to see what this should look like.
Cover the dough and let rise until doubled. This will take an hour to an hour and a half.
Punch down the dough, recover, and let rise a second time until doubled. This will only time ½ the time of the first rise.
While the dough is rising a second time, beat the butter, sugar, and orange zest together until the sugar turns slightly orange.
Jelly Roll Style
- Dump the risen dough onto a floured surface.
Sprinkle with flour, lightly knead into a ball, and divide in half.
Roll each half into a rectangle and spread with orange sugar.
Roll up dough and cut into 1-inch slices using dental floss.
Place each slice a ½ each apart in a baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
Cover and allow to rise until doubled while the oven preheats to 350 degrees.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Beat the powdered sugar and orange juice concentrate together for the orange icing.
Drizzle over mostly cooled orange rolls.
Butterhorn Style
- Dump the risen dough out onto a floured surface. Knead a couple of times to form a softball. Divide the ball into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a circle. Divide the orange butter into 3 portions. Spread a portion onto each circle.
Using a pizza cutter, cut each circle into 8 triangle pieces. Roll up each triangle, large end to small end, and place them on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and let rise until doubled.
While the orange sweet rolls rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once risen, bake the orange roll for 18-20 minutes.
For the icing, whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice concentrate. Drizzle over partially cooled orange rolls.

Notes

To freeze: Just make sure they are completely cool and it helps if the icing is set before packing them up in an airtight container and popping them in the freezer. Thaw them are room temperature.

Nutrition

Calories: 189kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 2gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.3gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 79mgPotassium: 70mgFiber: 1gSugar: 26gVitamin A: 59IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 59mgIron: 1mg

Keyword orange cinnamon rolls, orange roll recipe, orange rolls, orange sweet rolls, Pillsbury orange rolls

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