Orange Rolls with Orange Creme Icing

These Orange Rolls are a refreshing twist on the classic cinnamon roll. A homemade sweet dough with orange zest is filled with orange sugar and topped with orange creme icing.

Inspired by orange rolls that are served at All Steak in Cullman, Alabama, I created my own version for sweet rolls that are light and fluffy and bursting with citrus goodness. A sweet cream cheese icing was the perfect way to top them.

How To Make Orange Rolls

To make these sweet rolls, you need the following ingredients:

• 1¼ cups milk
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 packet rapid rise yeast
• 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 10 Tablespoons butter
• ½ cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons orange zest
• 2 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1 ⅓ cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoons orange juice

The dough for these rolls can be made in a bread machine or using a stand mixer. (Recipe cards for both are below in this post.)

To make them using a stand mixer, start by warming milk in a microwave at HIGH power for 40 seconds. Stir in 1 tablespoon of honey and yeast and let it sit for 5 – 10 minutes for the yeast to bloom.

Place flour and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the yeast mixture, the remaining honey, and egg. Mix at low speed until combined.

Increase the speed and knead for 3 to 5 minutes until the dough forms a ball and has become smooth and elastic.

Remove the dough ball from the bowl and spray the bowl with nonstick spray. Place the dough back in the bowl and spray the top of the dough with nonstick spray.

Cover and place in a warm environment and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, make the orange sugar by combining sugar and orange zest together. If you like your rolls really sweet, you can double the filling. You can also substitute brown sugar for white if you’d like.

Once the dough has risen, divide in half and roll each half out into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Spread softened butter over each rectangle being careful to leave about 1-inch around the border without any butter.

Sprinkle each rectangle with half of the orange sugar.

Starting at longer end, roll the dough up tightly. Cut into 12 slices and place cut-side down in a round pan that has been coated with non-stick spray. Repeat with other half of dough.

Let them rise until they doubled and then bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until they are golden.

Once they have cooled, make the orange creme icing to drizzle over the top.  It is made with some cream cheese and freshly grated orange rind.  

If you drizzle the icing on the rolls while they are still warm, the icing will melt into the rolls. If you wait until the rolls have completely cooled, the icing will look more like what is pictured below.

These rolls are great for breakfast, with a cup of coffee, or even dessert.

More recipes using fruit:

• Bakery-Style Blueberry Muffins
• Strawberry Almond Flour Cake