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Our family has been making orange rolls for years and years, and they’ve become a holiday and spring staple!
Over the years, we’ve changed them up, and more recently tested them several ways (with different doughs and different icings), until we found the most favorite of all. The winner is the recipe we are sharing today.
They are soft and sweet with an orange filling that has grated orange peel, which adds the perfect amount of freshness and zest! The topping is actually a lemon frosting, and let me tell you…It’s PHENOMENAL! These breakfast rolls are just bursting with citrus flavor!
While that may sound like a lot of citrus, these rolls are SO sweet and not at all tart. You just can’t beat sweet breakfast rolls!
Why we think you’ll love it:
- Twist of flavor. We’ve taken classic Cinnamon Rolls and given them a twist of citrus!
- Prep the night before. The dough can be made the night before and then baked in the morning to save time!
- Holiday tradition. We make these EVERY Christmas Eve! We also love to gift a pan to friends and neighbors – they are always a hit!!
Orange Rolls Ingredients and Substitutions
Dough
- 1 package active dry yeast – approximately 2¼ teaspoons
- ¼ cup warm water – between 105°F and 115°F to properly activate the yeast
- 1 cup warm milk – We used 2%, but whole milk can be used.
- ¼ cup shortening
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3½-3¾ cups all-purpose flour – see How to Measure Flour
Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened – see How to Soften Butter Quickly
- 2 tablespoons orange zest – see How to Zest
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1-2 tablespoons milk, or more as needed – We use 2%, but whole or 1% can be used.
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
How to Make Orange Rolls
- DOUGH. Dissolve 1 package of yeast and ¼ cup warm water in a large bowl. Add 1 cup milk, ¼ cup shortening, ¼ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 egg, and 3 cups of flour to the yeast mixture. Beat until smooth. Stir in the remaining ½-¾ cup flour, enough to form a soft dough.
- KNEAD + RISE. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for 6-8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover dough and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Should take about 1 hour.
- ROLL. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, ½ cup softened butter, 2 tablespoons orange zest; set aside until ready to use.
- Punch the dough down and roll it into a long rectangle. Spread your filling and roll up, starting with a long end. Use a long serrated knife to cut into even pieces, about 12-14.
- 2ND RISE. Place cut side down onto a greased 10×15-inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
- BAKE. Preheat the oven to 375°F and bake rolls for 20-25 minutes. The rolls should be light golden brown.
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- The water needs to be between 105°F and 115°F to properly activate the yeast.
- Place the covered dough in a warm environment to help it rise faster.
- We use a serrated knife to cut the rolls. If you like the dental floss method be sure it’s plain and not mint-flavored.
Frosting
- MIX. While the rolls are baking, make frosting in a medium bowl by creaming together the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, orange juice, milk and orange zest and mix until smooth. Frost rolls while they are still slightly warm and sprinkle on orange zest. Serve warm.
- Double frost rolls if desired before sprinkling on orange zest.
- If the homemade orange rolls are too hot the glaze will melt right off.
Orange Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 package active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 cup warm milk
- ¼ cup shortening
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3½-3¾ cups all-purpose flour
Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
Frosting
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1-2 tablespoons milk, or more as needed
- 1 teaspoon orange zest grated
Instructions
- Dissolve dry yeast and warm water in a large bowl. Add milk, shortening, sugar, salt, egg, and 3 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in the remaining flour, enough to form a soft dough.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 6-8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Grease all sides of the bowl and place the dough inside. Cover the dough with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. For about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine all filling ingredients; set aside until ready to use.
- Punch the dough down and roll it into a long rectangle. Spread your filling and roll up, starting with a long end. Use a long serrated knife to cut into even pieces, about 12-14.
- Place cut side down onto a greased 10×15-inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375°. Always check during baking. Rolls should be light golden brown.
Frosting
- While the rolls are baking, make frosting in a medium bowl. Cream the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, orange juice, milk, and orange zest and mix until smooth.
- Frost rolls while they are still slightly warm and sprinkle on orange zest. Serve warm.
Video
Notes
- The water needs to be between 105°F and 115°F to properly activate the yeast.
- Place the covered dough in a warm environment to help it rise faster.
- We use a serrated knife to cut the rolls. If you like the dental floss method be sure it’s plain and not mint-flavored.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
If the yeast is not properly activated or the room is too cold the dough will not rise.
If you aren’t paying attention, the dough can rise too high then it will cave in on itself. At this point, it is no longer usable.
Fridge. Follow the recipe and place the rolls on the baking sheet, but do not rise a second time. Instead, cover and refrigerate until the morning. Allow to finish rising (double in size), and then bake.
Freezer. Cover with plastic wrap and again with foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, allow them to finish rising at room temperature, for about 90 minutes, and then bake.
Baked rolls can be kept, covered, at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for 3-4 days, or wrapped tightly and frozen for up to 3 months.
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This recipe was originally published December 2016.
Adapted from Taste of Home
this recipe is great, im making some the night before to take to work and bake. what is your suggestion to keep overnight for the next morning due to the rising? or do you suggest baking ahead as well?
If making the night before, I’d suggest completing to step 5. After rolling out and placing on the baking sheet, put in the oven rather than letting it do the second rise. Pull it out in the morning and let it finish rising on the countertop (until they are about double the size of when you rolled them). The bake as the recipe states. You can also bake the night before too. They would still be tasty the next day!
I must have done something wrong—they tasted DELICIOUS! But I did the overnight method in the fridge. I let them raise in the morning using the heat to 200 method then turn off method you mentioned. Then turned my oven to 375 and set my timer including the “pre heat” time. Well, 15 minutes in and my rolls were scorched! Good thing I smelled them so they were salvaged. But I’m just curious why they didn’t work at the temperature and time listed? I will definitely do it again and maybe try at 325 for only 15 minutes starter before checking and go from there 🙂
would like to make these but would need metric measures. will try to convert
These look delicious and I can’t wait to try them! Just a quick question – we’re not big fans of the texture of orange/lemon zest, so if I wanted to use a little orange extract instead, would you recommend adding it to the dough or the filling? Thank you so much!
I would just swap out the orange zest for the orange extract. So it would be swapped in the filling. Hope you enjoy the rolls!
Hi, could you give the measurement for how big the rectangle should be before you roll it up?
Yes, you can use your bread machine. I have been doing this for many years and I have made all sorts of things by using my machine. I have even used the machine to make pie crusts. All of this makes it easier and less work. Be sure to read the
instructions if you haven’t. Always start with putting the wet ingredients in first, then flour, then the sugar and yeast, etc.
you should always use bread flour not all purpose. The flour mills have changed how they mill it and bread flour has more gluten to make it rise .
Thanks for sharing!
Made this for the past 4 years it’s better than any cinnamon rolls I’ve tried to date. Soft fluffy melt in your mouth.
Thank you!! I’m so happy to hear that. I’m glad that this is a recipe you come back to time and time again too. Thanks for sharing!
Delicious!
Thank you!!
I made this one time for my family and now it’s a family favorite! I always make them the night before and the only thing I change is letting them rise before I put them in the fridge and then warm a bit before going in the oven and they turn out perfect every time . I tried letting them rise overnight and then in the morning and they didn’t turn out as soft. Also they are pretty easy to make my 4 year old loves helping me roll the dough and then roll the rolls!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks so much for sharing your tips on refrigerating the dough! So helpful!
I followed the recipe exactly and they are really really good.
I put mine in the frig overnight before the second rise so they were ready for breakfast.
Give yourself plenty of time to let them go from cold to room temperature. I took them from frig., put them in a different pan that wasn’t so cold, and let them rise for about 90 minutes. It really takes that long to go from cold to warm.
Delicious.
Glad you tried them! Thank you for sharing what you did 🙂
I would like to know can you use Unsalted butter instead of shortening
We loved these orange rolls. They were soft, sweet and the orange filling was excellent! I switched out the shortening for vegetable oil, and used quick rise yeast which allows for a slightly different method, but the result was terrific. I’ll definitely make this one again. Thanks for the recipe.
You are welcome! Thank you for sharing what you did 🙂