Orange Sweet Rolls
These orange rolls, are soft, tender, and fluffy sweet rolls, with both orange juice and zest throughout, in the dough, filling, and icing on top making them so fresh and citrusy!
Prep Time20 minutes mins
Cook Time25 minutes mins
Raising Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Total Time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Servings: 12
Calories: 394kcal
For the Dough:
- 2 1/4 tsp yeast (active, or instant - 1 package of yeast)
- 1/2 cup milk (warm)
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- zest from 1 orange
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup butter (softened)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 3/4 cups flour
For the Orange Filling:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- zest from 1/2 orange
For the Orange Icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 TBS orange juice
- zest from 1/2 orange
- 1 tsp vanilla
Dissolve the yeast in a large bowl with warm milk. Mix together and then allow to rest for a couple of minutes.
Add in the orange juice, zest, sugar, butter, and eggs. Stir until combined.
Add in the flour (start with 3 1/2 cups of flour) and salt, and mix it together, just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (The dough should still be soft, but not too sticky that it sticks to the bowl or your hands). Add a bit more flour if necessary to get the right consistency.
Once the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl on its own, knead it for 5 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a new greased bowl, or grease the bowl you have been using. Cover it with a towel, and let the dough rest to rise until it has doubled in size. About 1 hour.
Lightly flour the counter top and roll out the dough until it is about 14x20 inch rectangle.
For the Orange Filling:
Spread butter evenly over the rolled out dough
In a small bowl combine cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar and orange zest.
Sprinkle the orange sugar mixture over the surface of the dough, covering evenly.
Carefully roll the dough on top of itself. Roll from the long top edge to the long bottom edge.
Cut the long roll into 12 even sized slices, about 1 1/2 inches each. Use a sharp knife or thread or unflavored floss to cut the slices evenly. (I often cut about 1 inch of each edge of the roll off since those pieces are usually not as big of rolls, then cut my 12 even slices after that)
Place the rolls in to a greased 9x13 baking sheet.
Cover the pan with a towel and let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, or until nearly doubled.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees farenheit, while they are rising a bit more
Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until the tops of the rolls are just lightly golden brown, and the rolls are cooked throughout. (If the tops start to get too dark before the rolls are baked through, tent the top of the pan with foil)
Allow the rolls to cool slightly, about 10 minutes, before frosting.
For the Orange Icing:
Combine the icing ingredients in medium sized bowl, add more powdered sugar or more orange juice until frosting reaches desired consistency.
Apply frosting generously to the top of your rolls.
Serve rolls immediately, while still warm, or cool and store them till needed.
Calories: 394kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 291mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 361IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 2mg