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One of our favorite morning treats! A sweet roll recipe made with an orange filling and an irresistible lemon glaze. Everyone loves these delicious Orange Rolls!
There are so many sweet roll variations aside from the classic cinnamon rolls. We also like to make maple bacon rolls, and even ones filled with nutella! Whether you eat them for breakfast or dessert, they are amazing.
Orange Sweet Rolls
Remember that amazing Nutella Cinnamon Roll recipe I shared last week? Did you try it yet? I hope so, cuz I know you’ll love them. This week, I’m bringing you another delicious sweet roll recipe. This sweet breakfast recipe is for Orange Rolls!
My cousin, Alicia, has been making them for years and years and always makes them for Christmas Eve. We wanted to give them a go ourselves and we were not disappointed!
They were soft and sweet and sooo good!! The orange filling actually has grated orange peel, and it adds the perfect amount of zest! The glaze on top of the rolls is a lemon glaze, and let me tell you… It is PHENOMENAL!
It sounds like a lot of citrus, but these rolls are SO sweet and not at all tart. If you would like to try these Orange Sweet Rolls for your family get togethers (especially during holidays!), I highly recommend them. You just can’t beat sweet breakfast rolls. 😉
Don’t let the long prep time or yeast scare you away from making these orange rolls! I can PROMISE you that using yeast in your bread dough isn’t as scary as it sounds, and the long prep time is only because the dough has to rise two different times.
But it is sooo worth the wait!!
Recipe tips and tricks:
Incorporate more orange flavor. If you would rather have a pure orange roll, you could substitute the lemon extract in the glaze for orange extract, or even orange juice (using the same measurement as written).
What if you don’t have grated orange peel? If orange zest is hard to come by, I would suggest using orange marmalade for the filling or just replacing the orange zest with orange extract.
Cutting the dough: Use string or floss to easily cut the dough into individual rolls. Place the string under the log of dough, cross the ends of the string and pull to cut nice even slices.
Do you cover the rolls while they’re rising a second time? Each time it is rising, let the dough rise while being covered in a warm, draft-free place. This can be accomplished with plastic wrap or a clean thin dish towel.
How to raise faster: The warmer the environment the faster the yeast will rise. One of my favorite ways to get my rolls to rise faster is to place them in a warm oven. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth. Turn OFF the oven . Place the bowl in the oven to rise.
This next tip is one I saw online, I haven’t used it yet, but wanted to share the idea. Fill a mixing bowl with hot water and place a plate over the top of the bowl. Next, place the bowl of dough on top of the plate and cover the dough bowl with a tea towel. The heat from the hot water will warm the plate which will then warm the bowl of dough.
For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, butter, and extract in a small bowl. Add enough milk to achieve desired consistency, and spread on while rolls are warm.
Overnight rolls
You can easily make these rolls and assemble them the night before. Follow the recipe up until the rolls need to rise for a second time. At this point you can refrigerate them until the morning.
Once you remove them in the morning, allow them to rise before baking them. This allows the yeast to still be effective and yields deliciously soft rolls.
Freezing the rolls before finishing the recipe doesn’t yield great results. By freezing the rolls you kill some of that yeast that was previously there, and ruin the gluten that was developed.
You would be better off baking them and freezing them after they were fully made. After they are baked and cooled, but before adding glaze, put rolls on a sheet pan and freeze until hardened, then transfer to a freezer bag or container. They will keep well in the freezer for a few months.
I’m really wishing I had one of these orange rolls right about now!
For more sweet breakfast rolls, check out:
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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Adapted from Taste of Home
Sooo good! Love the brightness from the citrus!!!
amazing recipe, I used lemon juice instead of extract and added a little extra and it turned out great. I would note however that if you cut the rolls too thick the filling comes out of the bottom when you cook them.
Thanks for sharing that!!
I’M so excited to try thEse for mother’s day. For the glaZe, is it 1 And 1/2 teaspoons or is there an extra 1 and it is only 1/2 teaspoon for the lemon juice?
It is 1 1/2 tsps. Sorry, about that. I added a space in there to make it easier to see 🙂 Hope you like them!
This was my first time making orange rolls. They turned out great and were so delicious! I did the alternative of using orange juice instead of lemon extract but other than that followed the recipe exactly. Thank you!
You are welcome!! Thanks for sharing what you did. I am so glad you liked them!
IF your looking for something Other than a cinnamon roll…this is your recipe to trY. Sweet and full of orange flavor.
I love orange rolls but have never made them myself. This is an easy and delicious recipe and one to make over and over again.
These Orange Rolls are an absolute favorite of mine. They are good any time of year! I like to make them as a special breakfast for family on the weekends.
My kids love these! The refreshing taste of orange & lemon in the glaze, is a great way to start the day!
My family loves these for breakfast! The orange flavor is so refreshing & the icing is so smooth & yummy!
Is this gluten free?
I am not 100% familiar with all things that contain gluten, but there isn’t wheat, though I am not sure about the yeast.