These orange rolls are great for breakfast or dinner. They’re lightly sweetened orange rolls, that can be served with or without a glaze, perfect for a side dish for any dinner, or a holiday meal.
These orange rolls are my favorite rolls in the whole world. They are lightly sweet, delicious and easy. I love serving them with Sunday dinner, or a holiday feast.
I got the recipe from my sister-in-law, Sabrina, years ago and I have been making them ever since. You can make them as cinnamon orange sweet rolls, but I usually just make them as crescent roll shaped dinner rolls.
These rolls are light, and fluffy, and buttery, with a light orange flavor and sweetness bursting throughout each bite.
They’re delicious paired with soups, turkey or ham, or even your favorite casserole or pasta.
Ingredients Needed to make Orange Rolls:
- milk
- granulated sugar
- oil
- salt
- flour
- eggs
- water
- orange juice
- yeast
- orange zest
How to make orange crescent rolls?
The process looks a bit time consuming, but these rolls are well worth it, and each step is very simple.
- Heat some milk in a small sauce pan, and let it cool for a few minutes.
- In a small bowl, add your yeast to some lukewarm water and stir it together. Let it sit for a few minutes until it bubbles up, while you start mixing for your dough.
- In a large bowl, mix the milk, sugar, and salt. Then add in 2 cups of the flour.
- Add in the 2 eggs and stir it all together until combined.
- Add in the orange juice and zest, and add in the yeast and water.
- Add in the rest of the flour, one cup at a time, combining after each cup of flour. After you’ve added about 6 cups of flour, add the flour by the 1/2 cup full because you want to get your dough the right consistency, and not too dry. Add the dough in slowly until it is still a bit sticky, but not too much.
- Cover the bowl and let it rise for about an hour, or until it’s doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down on a floured surface, and separate the dough into 6 balls.
- Roll each section out into a flat circle, and cut it up like a pizza.
- Roll each piece starting at the large end of the triangle to the small end. Place them onto a greased baking sheet, and let the rolls rise again.
- Bake until the rolls are golden brown and cooked through.
- Top with glaze if desired.
Tips for making orange dinner rolls:
- While these rolls are slightly sweet, if you leave them unglazed, we love eating them as dinner rolls with whatever we’re having. (Just maybe don’t dip them in garlic butter, spaghetti sauce, or gravy).
- Try adding lemon juice and lemon zest, instead of orange juice and zest.
- Microwave the cooled rolls when enjoying them again, for about 15 seconds to eat them warm. So good!
How to store leftover rolls?
Rolls can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days. Microwave them for about 15 seconds if you want to enjoy them warm again, like when they were fresh.
If you have glazed them, and cover them with a lid or plastic wrap the glaze will soak into the rolls a little more, instead of giving them a hard shell.
These orange rolls are so delicious for breakfast, lunch or dinner! We especially love them glazed, and served slightly warm as sweet rolls for breakfast, or an afternoon snack.
More bread recipes:
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Orange Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 6 3/4 tsp yeast
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 tsp salt
- 8 cups all purpose flour
- 2 eggs (beaten slightly)
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (about 1 orange)
- zest from 1 orange
For the Glaze:
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup butter (melted)
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (about 1 orange)
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a small saucepan and warm slightly on the stove top - do not let it boil. Then let it cool for a few minutes.
- Dissolve the yeast in the 1/2 cup lukewarm water and set it aside to bubble for a few minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix the milk, sugar, oil, and salt. And stir everything together until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
- Add 2 cups of the flour and mix it into the mixture.
- Add the beaten eggs and mix it all together well.
- Add the orange juice, and zest to the flour mixture and stir together well.
- Add the yeast water, and stir it in.
- Add the rest of the flour 1 cup at a time, mixing until combined after each cup.
- The last cup of flour should be done 1/4 cup at a time until you feel your dough is the right consistency. You want it still a bit sticky, but not too wet.
- Remove the dough, and add non stick spray or oil to the bowl. Return the dough to the greased bowl, and cover it with a towel. Let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Once the dough has risen you can choose to make dinner rolls, or crescent rolls.
- For either type of roll, lightly flour a flat surface and punch down the dough to deflate. Add a little more flour as needed to make dough easy to work with.
For dinner rolls:
- Spray muffin tins with cooking spray. (You can also use 9x13 baking pans).
- Squeeze off about a 2 inch size ball of dough and form into a ball
- Place each ball into 1 cup of a muffin tin, continue until all muffin tins are full (it will make about 3 dozen) (Or you can lay them 3x4 in three 9x13 pans)
- Cover the pans with a towel and and let the rolls rise for 1/2 hour to 1 hour.
For crescent rolls
- Divide the dough into 6 balls and roll each ball into a flatten circle.
- Cut each circle with a pizza cutter into 6 to 8 sections like a pizza
- Starting at the large end of the triangle, roll the dough to the small end.
- Curve slightly like a moon crescent, and place the roll onto a sprayed cookie sheet, continue to do this with the rest of the dough.
- Cover with a towel and and let the rolls rise for 1/2 hour to 1 hour.
For baking the rolls:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After the rolls have risen, place the pans in the oven to bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.
For the Glaze:
- If you want to glaze the rolls, add all the ingredients to a medium sized bowl and beat them with a hand mixer until smooth.
- Spread the glaze over the warm rolls.
Nutrition
These orange rolls were first posted on June 5, 2010. The photos and blog text were updated for clarity on April 8 2022.
Cassandra says
I made these as crescent orange rolls and they were so delicious!