Orange Rolls
Soft, pillowy milk bread breakfast rolls sweetened with orange juice and orange zest in the dough, wrapped around a brown sugar and orange filling and doused in a cream cheese and orange glaze.
Servings 12 large rolls
Equipment
- stand mixer to knead the dough
Ingredients
Orange Roll Dough
- 30g or ¼ cup all purpose or bread flour
- 120g or ½ cup water
- 7g or 1 packet instant yeast
- 60g or ¼ cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 520 g or 4 cups all purpose flour
- 125g or ½ cup greek yogurt vanilla or plain
- 50g or ¼ cup canola or other flavorless oil
- 50g granulated sugar optional, sweetens the dough
- 175g or scant ¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- Zest of two large oranges
- 1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or paste
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
Brown Sugar Orange Filling
- 145g or ⅔ cups brown sugar
- 75g or ⅓ cup butter softened, salted or unsalted
- Zest of 2 oranges
- 8g or 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- Pinch fine sea salt
- 120g or ½ cup heavy cream
Cream Cheese Orange Glaze
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
- 2-4 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 195g or 1 ½ cups organic powdered sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or paste
- Pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
First make the tangzhong and dough
- In a small pot, add the half of a cup of water and the quarter cup of flour. Turn heat to low and cook, whisking until the mix becomes a thick paste. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (fitted with the dough hook) add the quarter cup of warm water, then sprinkle the yeast over it and add a sprinkle of sugar on top. Mix just briefly then leave it for a couple of minutes to foam.
- On top of the yeast add the flour, then the remaining dough ingredients and the roux from above. Knead the dough starting on low, for about 7-10 minutes until it cleans the bowl and has a mostly smooth surface.
- Transfer to an oiled bowl, turn it around in the oil a few times to coat, then cover the bowl and let rise for 2-3 hours until almost but not quite doubled. If your kitchen is warm this can be as quick as 2 or even 1.5 hours. Take the butter out to soften while it’s rising.
Make the filling and shape the rolls
- Once the dough is almost doubled in size, punch it down and set it on a floured surface.
- Mix together the softened butter, the brown sugar and the orange zest. Add a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of flour.
- Roll out the dough to a large rectangle that’s about 12x16” then spread the filling over it, leaving a half inch border on one of the longer sides. Roll up the dough into a log, ending with the side that doesn’t have filling.
- Grease a 13x9” baking pan. Using a bread knife or unwaxed dental floss, slice the log into 1” rolls and place them on the pan - you should have about 11 large rolls, arrange them so you have them in rows of 2,1,2,1,2,1,2 . Cover the pan with a tea towel and let them rise for 45 minutes or until you press the side of the dough and it doesn’t spring back but leaves an indentation.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Right before baking, pour the heavy cream around the rolls. Bake for 30 minutes until golden. If you have a thermometer it should register 190 when inserted into the center of the rolls.
Make the glaze
- Whisk together the cream cheese and orange juice. Add the vanilla, salt and powdered sugar and whisk everything together until it’s smooth. If the icing is thick, you can add more orange juice. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar.
- Spread the glaze over the rolls and serve.
Video
Notes
The dough is sweetened here with just the orange juice, if you want to ensure yours is sweet enough for your taste, add 1/4 cup granulated or brown sugar to the dough.