Orange Rolls
May 17, 2025 04:05 AM
There’s just nothing like homemade Orange Rolls fresh from the oven and a hot cup of coffee to kick off the weekend. Growing up in the South, orange rolls were always a bit of a tradition in my house, and they taste so much better when they’re made from scratch. They’re a true labor of love that comes together in just a few hours, or you can prep them the night before (they freeze beautifully, too!). Whether it’s for a holiday brunch or a lazy Sunday morning, these budget-friendly rolls are simply too good to pass up.
My homemade orange sweet rolls are like cinnamon rolls’ citrusy cousin: soft, pillowy, and bursting with bright orange flavor. I infuse every bite with as much real orange as possible—zest and juice in the dough, more zest in the filling, and more juice in that dreamy cream cheese icing. That triple hit of orange makes these orange rolls feel both nostalgic and fresh, and I honestly can’t think of a better way to brighten up a weekend morning.
They’re just the right balance of sweet and tangy, with a rich, buttery dough that bakes up soft and fluffy, then soaks up every bit of that citrusy icing. These rolls are a little more hands-on than most of my recipes, but I promise they’re more than worth the wait!
Ingredients:
Dough
- ½ cup (4 oz.) warm water
- 2 tsp (11.8g) dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp (25g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (2.67 oz.) milk
- 2 Tbsp (25g) salted butter, melted
- 1 orange, juiced and zested
- 2 ½ cups (300g) all purpose flour (more or less as needed)
- ½ tsp salt
Filling
- 6 Tbsp (3 oz.) salted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (60g) brown sugar
- zest from a second orange
- ⅛ tsp salt
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 Tbsp (25g) salted butter, room temperature
- 3 Tbsp (1.5 oz.) freshly squeezed orange juice (juice from the second orange)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (187g) powdered sugar
Prep Time:
30 minutes
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Total Time:
130 minutes
Write a comment
No comments