Sweet Orange Rolls
Published 12/12/2022 • Updated 2/6/2023
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These gooey sweet orange rolls are sticky, gooey, and topped with orange zest icing. Make them for the holidays or for a special breakfast.
Delicious Orange Rolls
Orange rolls are always a good idea. We have pumpkin rolls, maple cinnamon rolls, and we needed to add an orange roll to our roster. These orange rolls have a bright and citrusy flavor, an ooey-gooey middle and a frosting you just can’t resist.
Why you’ll love it!
Reasons why you’ll love it.
Prepare the night before: you can prepare your rolls the night before and store them in the fridge overnight. Simply bake in the morning, and ENJOY.
Amazing flavor: You’ll find amazing orange flavor in every bite — because there is orange zest in the dough AND frosting 🙂
Better than store-bought: if your family grew up on Pillsbury orange rolls, make these orange rolls for your next gathering to impress the family!
Ingredients for Orange Rolls
The ingredients for these orange rolls can be broken down into 3 elements: the dough, the filling, and the icing Here’s what you’ll need:
Dough
- 2% milk
- Orange juice
- Quick rise yeast
- Maple syrup
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Orange zest
- Salt
Filling
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Ground cinnamon
Icing
- Powdered sugar
- Orange zest
- Orange juice
How to Make Orange Rolls
Make sure to scroll all the way down to the recipe card to get the full ingredient list and written recipe.
Make the orange rolls.
You start by adding warm milk to the yeast. Allow the yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes. Next add the orange juice, maple syrup, melted butter, egg, and orange zest. Whisk to combine.
Slowly stir the flour and salt into the wet ingredients using a stand mixer on the low-medium speed with the dough hook attachment. Once all of the flour has been added and a shaggy dough has formed, knead for 2-3 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic (it should bounce back when you poke it).
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and then a tea towel. Place it in a warm place to rise until doubled in size — about 1-1.5 hours.
Mix up the filling
In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Set aside until ready to use.
Assemble the orange rolls
Once the dough has risen for 1 to 1.5 hours, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a rectangle that is approximately 18” long, 12” wide, and 1/4” thick.
Spread the filling mixture over the dough making sure to spread all the way to the edges. Then roll into a tight log, starting at one of the long sides. Slice the log into 1” rolls.
Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper. Add the rolls to the dish, making sure they just barely touch.
Cover with plastic wrap and then a tea towel, and place them in a warm spot to rise until the rolls begin to touch — about 30 minutes. While the rolls rise, preheat your oven to 350°F and make the icing.
Make the orange icing.
Combine the orange juice and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
When the wet ingredients are smooth, turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add the powdered sugar.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn the mixer to medium speed. Beat for 30-45 seconds or until the icing is light and fluffy. Set aside.
Bake the orange rolls for 15-17 minutes (depending on your oven) or until the centers are set, be sure not to overbake.
Allow the orange rolls to cool for 10 minutes before icing.
tip
For larger rolls, roll the tight log starting at one of the short sides.
Dessert Recipes
Top Tips
Want larger rolls?– If you roll these from the short side of the dough, it will yield larger rolls (what we did in the photos). If you roll from the long side of the dough, it will yield smaller rolls.
Don’t overheat the milk — Because the yeast is getting started in the warm milk, you don’t want it to be TOO WARM. Yeast will bloom perfectly when the milk is around 110°F. If the milk is too warm, it can kill the yeast. Conversely, if the milk is too cold, the yeast will have a tough time blooming, which can result in dense rolls — no one wants that!
Use quick-rising yeast– We love using quick-rise yeast for these rolls! Technically, quick-rise yeast doesn’t require you to let it bloom before mixing into the dough, but we like to get it started in warm milk to allow for perfect rising.
Overnight Orange Rolls Instructions
To prepare these orange rolls the night before so all you need to do the morning you serve them is bake, follow these simple instructions:
- Make the rolls as instructed up to step 11.
- Then, in the morning, take the rolls out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature (approximately 30 minutes).
- Bake as instructed.
- Frost & enjoy!
Storage
Store these orange rolls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To reheat: while reheating in the microwave absolutely works, our preferred method is in the oven. Reheat rolls covered at 350°F for 10 minutes or until the rolls are warm and just as delicious as the first time you took them out of the oven.
Sweet Orange Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- ½ cup 2% milk, warmed to 100-110°F
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1 packet of quick rise yeast
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted (unsalted preferred)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1 teaspoon salt
Filling
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Icing
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar, depending on how thick you like your icing
- 1 tablespoon of orange zest
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
- Make the cinnamon rolls. Add the warm milk and yeast to a large bowl. Set aside until the yeast has bloomed– about 5 minutes.
- Next add the orange juice, maple syrup, melted butter, egg, and orange zest. Whisk to combine.
- Using a stand mixer on low-medium speed with the dough hook attachment, slowly stir the flour and salt into the wet ingredients. Once all of the flour has been added and a shaggy dough has formed, knead for 2-3 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic (it should bounce back when you poke it).
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and then a tea towel. Place it in a warm place to rise until doubled in size — about 1-1.5 hours.
- Make the filling. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Set aside until ready to use.
- Assemble the orange rolls. Once the dough has risen for 1 to 1.5 hours, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Roll it into a rectangle that is approximately 18” long, 12” wide, and 1/4” thick.
- Spread the filling mixture over the dough making sure to spread all the way to the edges. Then roll into a tight log, starting at one of the long sides. For larger rolls, roll the tight log starting at one of the short sides.
- Slice the log into 1” rolls. This will yield about 12 rolls, depending on how tightly you roll your log and whether you start rolling at a long or short side of the dough.
- Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper. Add the rolls to the dish, making sure they just barely touch. Depending on how tightly you rolled dough into the log, you can either place rolls 3×4 OR 2×4 with extra rolls in another baking dish.
- If you’re making the rolls in advance, wrap them in plastic and place them in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Bring the rolls to room temperature (about 30 minutes) when you’re ready to bake and then skip to step 13.
- If you aren’t making the rolls in advance, cover with plastic wrap and then a tea towel, and place them in a warm spot to rise until the rolls begin to touch — about 30 minutes. While the rolls rise, preheat your oven to 350°F and make the icing.
- Make the orange icing. Combine the orange juice and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- When the wet ingredients are smooth, turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add the powdered sugar.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn the mixer to medium speed. Beat for 30-45 seconds or until the icing is light and fluffy. Set aside.
- Bake the orange rolls for 15-17 minutes (depending on your oven) or until the centers are set, be sure not to overbake.
- Allow the orange rolls to cool for 10 minutes before icing.
Tips & Notes
- If you roll these from the short side of the dough, it will yield larger rolls (what we did in the photos). If you roll from the long side of the dough, it will yield smaller rolls.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I will follow the recipe you shared!
I’m eager to try making these as a gluten-free option. Do you have any experience with what might work best for it? (I typically have enjoyed using keto recipes but I do know there’s other specific keto websites that would have cinnamon rolls. ) Just thought I’d check with this specific recipe for first. TIA for your reply. Yum
We have not tested this with 1:1 GF flour, but let us know if you do!
How much vanilla do I use for the frosting?
Hi Katie — the icing is just orange zest, orange juice and powdered sugar, and the amounts are in the recipe card. Hope this helps! 🙂
Sweet Orange Rolls looks delicious and very tempting, I would love to taste it. I will follow the recipe you shared!
Can I substitute the all purpose flour with whole wheat or white whole wheat flour?
The rolls will definitely be more dense and darker in color! White whole wheat less so than whole wheat. Let us know how it goes if you try this <3