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Orange Sweet Rolls

Balanced, flavorful, and enjoyable—this recipe has it all.

Prep Time
3 hrs 25 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Total Time
3 hrs 50 mins
Servings: 12 -14 rolls
Calories: 456 kcal
Course: Bread
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Dough:
  • ¾ ¾ cup warm buttermilk (I pour the buttermilk in a glass liquid measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute on 50% power).
  • 6 6 tablespoons butter melted and cooled
  • 3 3 large eggs
  • 4 ¼ 4 ¼ cups flour
  • ¼ ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 ¼ 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1 ¼ 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
Orange Filling:
  • ½ ½ cup softened butter
  • 1 1 cup sugar
  • 2 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • Grated orange rind/zest from two large oranges reserving 1/2 teaspoon grated rind for the glaze below
Orange Glaze:
  • 1 ½ 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 3 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice from about 1 orange
  • ½ ½ teaspoon grated orange rind/zest reserved from the filling above

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. For the dough, whisk the warmed buttermilk and butter together in a large liquid measuring cup. Combine 4 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt together in a standing mixer fitted with dough hook (or you can use a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or electric handheld mixer). With the mixer on low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and eggs and mix until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes. Increase the mixer to medium speed and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes (knead for 15-18 minutes by hand). If after 5 minutes of kneading, the dough is still overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough clears the sides of the bowl but has a slight tacky feel when pressed between your fingertips. (See this tutorial for a visual.)
  2. Place the dough in a large, lightly greased bowl and cover the top tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, around 2 to 2 ½ hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.
  3. For the filling, combine all the filling ingredients (reserving 1/2 teaspoon orange zest for the glaze) in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
  4. When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter (I use my trusty roul’pat for this step) and press it into about a 16 by 12-inch rectangle (if you have doubled the recipe, split the dough in half and roll out one half at a time). Gently brush the filling mixture over the rectangle, using an offset spatula or rubber spatula.
  5. Lift the longest edge closest to you and begin rolling the dough into a tight log. Pinch the seam closed and roll the log so it is seam side down. Using a serrated knife, slice the log into 12 evenly sized rolls,more or less. You can slice them thinner or thicker as you like. For a traditional cinnamon-roll-look, arrange the rolls cut side down on a lined or lightly greased baking pan. If you want to try the twist method (see the pictures below), one at a time grab each sliced roll and holding on to either end simultaneously pull and twist the roll into a figure eight and place it on the prepared pan. Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
  6. Bake the rolls at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden on top and cooked through. While the rolls are baking, mix together the glaze ingredients. Drizzle the glaze over the warm rolls.

Notes

  • Flour Amount: as with all yeast doughs, I never use the flour amount called for in the recipe as a hard fast rule (unless a weight measure is given and then I pull out my kitchen scale). Because humidity, temperature, altitude and a multitude of other factors can impact how much flour you need in your yeast doughs, I always judge when to quit adding flour by the texture and look and feel of the dough rather than how much flour I’ve added compared to the recipe.
  • Yeast: this tutorial on yeast may help identify how a perfectly floured dough should be.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1 Sweet Roll Calories 456kcal (23%) Carbohydrates 72g (24%) Protein 8g (16%) Fat 16g (25%) Saturated Fat 9g (45%) Cholesterol 84mg (28%) Sodium 396mg (17%) Fiber 2g (8%) Sugar 37g (74%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 12-14 rolls

Amount Per Serving

Calories 456

% Daily Value*

Serving 1 Sweet Roll
Calories 456kcal 23%
Carbohydrates 72g 24%
Protein 8g 16%
Fat 16g 25%
Saturated Fat 9g 45%
Cholesterol 84mg 28%
Sodium 396mg 17%
Fiber 2g 8%
Sugar 37g 74%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.