These Softest Orange Rolls are filled with orange zest and cinnamon and topped with an orange-juice cream cheese frosting. These are the perfect citrus season dessert.
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The base for these rolls is adapted from King Arthur Flour. It produces an ultra soft roll just like the store-bought “tube” cinnamon rolls, which I love. These also stay moist days later.
This is the same base recipe I use for my Softest Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls and my Best Ever Soft Cinnamon Rolls. In this recipe, I add orange zest and orange juice for a citrusy boost.
Ingredients
Although orange is the star of these rolls, I still included a bit of cinnamon (not pictured) to round out the flavor.
- whole milk
- bread flour
- eggs
- unsalted butter
- oranges
- bread flour
- diastatic malt powder (optional)
- instant yeast
- salt
- granulated sugar
- light brown sugar
- cinnamon (not pictured)
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Here’s how to prepare the rolls:
Divide the dough in half. Roll out each dough into long 16” x 8” rectangles.
Spread an even layer of filling on the rectangles. Roll up the dough from the long side.
Use unflavored dental floss or a very sharp knife to slice the log into 12 rolls.
After baking rolls, let rest 5-10 minutes before icing. I added little piles of orange zest on each roll as a garnish (optional).
Good to know: A cheese cutting wire also works for slicing!
Substitutions
Here are some easy ingredient swaps if you want to make these rolls dairy free:
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- Butter — use dairy-free butter
- Whole milk — substitute with a non-dairy milk
- Cream cheese — skip the cream cheese in the icing or use a non-dairy cream cheese
Variations
Here’s how to customize these rolls to your liking:
- No cinnamon — feel free to skip the cinnamon completely
- Cardamom — add ¼ teaspoon cardamom to the filling or use it in place of cinnamon
- Cranberries — cranberries pair so well with orange, consider adding them in the filling or the dough
- No brown sugar — replace with granulated sugar, or cut out completely for a slightly less sweet roll
- No granulated sugar — replace with brown sugar
Do you have any other variation suggestions? Let me know in the comments!
Equipment
I like baking my orange cinnamon rolls in a 9x13 baking pan, but sometimes I use round pans too.
I use a French rolling pin to roll out the dough, but a traditional pin works as well.
When working with any dough, I always keep a bench scraper on hand to lift or cut the dough and clean up my work surface afterwards.
Storage
Store orange rolls at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
I have not tried freezing these rolls. Let me know how it is if you try it!
Top tip
If you don’t plan to serve the rolls in the pan, consider lining it with parchment paper with an overhang to remove them easier.
Lastly, if you make these Softest Orange Rolls be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating. I love to see when people make my recipes, so please tag me @youthsweets on Instagram if you post!
📖 Recipe
Softest Orange Rolls
Equipment
- Unflavored dental floss or clean fishing line
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 5 tablespoon water (71g)
- 5 tablespoon whole milk (71g)
- 3 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon bread flour (25g)
Dough
- ¾ cup whole milk (170g) 110°F-115°F
- Pinch of sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter melted (85g)
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 4 cups + 2 tablespoon bread flour (495g)
- ¼ teaspoon diastatic malt powder optional
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 ¾ teaspoon salt (11g)
Filling
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (160g)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar (60g)
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Icing
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
Make the tangzhong
- Combine 5 tablespoon water, 5 tablespoon milk and 3 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of flour in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Whisk constantly as it cooks until the mixture has thickened, similar to a thick pudding consistency. This can take 1-3 minutes depending on your burner strength.
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Make the dough
- Whisk together the tangzhong mixture, milk (110°F-115°F), melted butter (slightly cooled), pinch of sugar, eggs and zest either in a large bowl (if mixing by hand) or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.
- Add the bread flour, diastatic malt powder (if using), yeast and salt.
- Mix just until everything comes together and then rest the dough (covered) for 20 minutes.
- After resting, knead the dough until smooth and elastic. Rather than kneading for an amount of time, perform the window pane test on your dough periodically if you think it is ready. Do this by grabbing a small bit of dough and stretching it between your fingers like this. If it stretches without tearing, it is ready. If it tears when stretched, keep kneading.
- Transfer the dough to a large, greased bowl. Cover and proof for 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Make the filling
- Beat together the softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, orange zest, salt and cinnamon in a bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Punch down the dough and divide it in half. Keep one half covered while you work with the other.
- Roll the dough into a 16” x 8” rectangle. Spread half of the filling onto the dough. Starting with the long side, roll up the dough into a log. Cut into 12 slices (or 9 like I did this time) using unflavored dental floss or clear fishing line.
- Repeat with the other ball of dough and remaining filling.
- Grease a 9x13 pan and include parchment paper with overhang if you’d like to remove the rolls from the pan easier.
- Arrange in the pan and cover. Proof for one hour. Make the frosting while they proof.
Make the frosting
- Beat the room temperature cream cheese for 2-3 minutes (or until no lumps remain). Add the room temperature butter and beat 2-3 minutes.
- Add the orange juice, vanilla and salt. Beat until combined.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar. Beat until fully combined. Set aside.
Bake and frost
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Uncover rolls and bake for 23-25 minutes. They should be lightly browned. The internal temperature should be 188°F.
- Remove the rolls and let cool for 5 minutes before spreading the frosting all over the tops. Serve rolls warm.
These are DELICIOUS! My coworkers and I loved them. They are fun and easier to make than I expected even though I've had issues with bread in the past. My only gripe is that I would have loved a rough time estimate for how long the dough would knead before reaching the windowpane state. It took me ~20 minutes, but I started checking after 5 minutes because I had no idea lol. Otherwise zero complaints. I will absolutely be making these again!
Hi Taylor! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review. That is so helpful to know about the knead time. I will absolutely add that in the recipe. 🙂 Thanks again so much and happy baking!!