Homemade Orange Sweet Rolls

A individual orange sweet roll on a blue plate with a fork cutting it in half.

Course: Breakfast / Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 35

Proofing: 3

Total Time: 3 50

Servings: people

Calories: 684kcal

Author: Kris Longwell

These Homemade Orange Sweet Rolls are everything you think they should be...and more. Heavenly and delicious.

Print Recipe

Equipment

9" diameter cake pan, or 8"x 8" baking dish

Ingredients

For the Dough

3⅔ cup all-purpose flour
2¼ teaspoon instant dry yeast 1 package, active dry yeast will work, too
½ cup whole milk warmed to approx. 100° F
6 tablespoon unsalted butter melted, and then cooled to approx. 100° F
½ cup sour cream
⅓ cup sugar
2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 large egg lightly beaten

For the Sweet Rolls

6 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
⅔ cup sugar
2 tbs orange zest

For the Icing

1 tablespoon orange zest
2 cups confectioner's sugar aka powdered sugar
4 tablespoon fresh orange juice

Instructions

Make the Dough

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough attachment, mix together the flour and the yeast.
3⅔ cup all-purpose flour, 2¼ tsp instant dry yeast
With the mixer on medium speed, add the warmed milk and melted butter (that's cooled slightly) to the flour/yeast mixture. Next, add in the sour cream, sugar, salt, and egg.
½ cup whole milk, 6 tbsp unsalted butter, ½ cup sour cream, ⅓ cup sugar, 2 tsp Kosher salt, 1 large egg
Beat at medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, approximately 5 minutes (Dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl, but still stick to the bottom).
Spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray.
Place the dough in the prepared bowl, turning to coat the top.
Cover, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough has about doubled in size, approximately 1 to 2 hours (see note).

Prepare the Sweet Rolls

Spray a 9-inch round pan (2 inches in height works well) with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Lightly punch down the prepared dough and, on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 14"x10" rectangle.
Spread the softened butter (6 tablespoons) evenly over the dough.
6 tbsp unsalted butter
In a small bowl, stir together sugar (⅔ cup) and zest (2 tablespoons), then sprinkle over butter.
⅔ cup sugar, 2 tbs orange zest
Starting on one long side, roll the dough into a log.
Slice into 9 to 10 rolls.
Place rolls in the prepared pan.
Cover, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until almost doubled in size, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake, uncovered, until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes.
Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Make the Icing and Finish the Rolls

In a medium bowl, stir together the remaining 1 teaspoon zest, confectioners' sugar, and orange juice until smooth.
1 tbsp orange zest, 2 cups confectioner's sugar, 4 tbsp fresh orange juice
Drizzle and smear icing over warm rolls.

Video

Notes

NOTE: Watch the video in the recipe card for visual guidance.

If using active dry yeast in place of rapid rise, simply allow the dough to rise a little longer. There are multiple factors that will cause the time for the dough to rise to vary from time to time. It may only take 1 hour for the dough to double in size, but it could take up to 3 hours.

IMPORTANT: Don't add really hot milk and melted butter to the flour/yeast mixture. If you do, it will kill the yeast and the dough won't rise. We recommend using an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature. Neither the milk nor the melted butter should be over 100° to 105° F.

The dough can be prepared the night before. Instead of letting it rise in a warm, draft-free area, simply cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

If you don't have a zester or microplane, you can rub the skin of the oranges against the small blades on the side of a box cutter.

Nutrition