Orange Rolls

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Sweet, light, chewy, fluffy, and simple to make! These mouth-watering Orange Rolls will hit the spot any day of the week.

What are Orange Rolls?

Similar to Cinnamon Rolls, Orange Rolls are chewy, sweet, and warm. But instead of using cinnamon-sugar, you have a citrusy and lightly spiced sugar filling. Plus they are topped with an orange cream cheese frosting too!

Despite the time it takes to make these treats, they’re a great breakfast, snack, or dessert. Yes you have to wait for the dough to rise and yes you have to fill them and then wait again, but after all of that, I promise it’s worth it!

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Main Ingredients

Orange Rolls are made up of three components, the dough, the filling and the icing! Here’s exactly what you need for all three:

For the Dough

• Warm Water + Yeast + Sugar – these three are added together to help the yeast proof. This ensures that your dough will rise!
• Flour – just regular all-purpose flour to fill out the dough. As it’s kneaded, gluten forms which makes the rolls soft and chewy.
• Butter – used for flavor and texture.
• Salt – used for flavor.

For the Filling

• Butter – this acts as the glue that holds the rest of the filling onto the dough.
• Sugar – to sweeten.
• Orange Zest – to flavor!
• Cinnamon – a warm spice that compliments the orange zest!

For the Icing

• Cream Cheese + Butter – for flavor and for creaminess!
• Oranje Zest + Juice – I use both orange zest and fresh juice to flavor the icing, so good!
• Vanilla Extract – a subtle flavor that smooths out some of the stronger citrusy notes.
• Corn Syrup – to sweeten and to improve the texture and shininess of the frosting.
• Powdered Sugar – to sweeten and thicken the frosting.

How to Make Orange Rolls

For full details on how to make these incredible orange rolls, including increments, see the recipe card down below 🙂

Make the Dough

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir warm water together with yeast and some sugar. After a couple of minutes, the mixture should be foamy.
2. Add in the remaining sugar and 2 cups of flour and start to mix with the dough hook attachment. Stir in melted butter and salt. Add in another 1-2 cups of flour and let the machine work to knead it into the dough. Add in the remaining 2 cups of flour (if needed) bit by bit, letting the machine knead in the flour for several seconds before adding in more flour.

Note: Only add in enough flour to get a dough that is mostly smooth, has cleaned the sides of the bowl, the bottom is still sticking and when you touch it with your hands, it is tacky but not sticky enough to stick to your hands.

3. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and into a well-greased large bowl. Roll it around to coat in oil, cover, and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.

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Filling and Cutting Orange Rolls

4. In a medium-size bowl, stir sugar, orange zest, and cinnamon together until combined. Set aside. 
5. Flour a clean surface and dump the risen dough onto the board. Sprinkle the dough and rolling pin in more flour and start to roll it into a rectangle.
6. Using your fingers, spread the soft butter over the entire piece of dough, leaving a border along the top of the longer side. Sprinkle the orange sugar mixture over the butter evenly.
7. Roll dough neatly into a tight swirl, towards the border of dough without sugar. Bring the entire log of the dough towards you, moving the seam side down to hold in place. Using a serrated bread knife, cut into rolls and place onto buttered parchment paper on a lightly colored half sheet pan.
8. Cover rolls with plastic wrap and rise until puffed and pretty. Bake orange rolls until the tops are golden brown.

Making the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

9. In a small bowl, measure out all ingredients for frosting. Mix slowly until incorporated and then increase the speed to whip until completely smooth and light.
10. Spread frosting overtop warm orange rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Storing Orange Rolls

I like storing my baked and iced orange rolls covered well with plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 24 hours.

They can last up to 48 hours in the fridge, but I just prefer serving mine warm and fresh when they are at their peak softness and they just don’t stay that way for longer than 48 hours, unfortunately.

More Cinnamon Roll Recipes to Try!

• Chewy Soft Cinnamon Rolls
• Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
• Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls
• Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze
• 1-Hour Cinnamon Roll Recipe
• Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
• Pancake Mix Raspberry Cinnamon Rolls
• Monster Blood and Guts {Raspberry Cinnamon Roll Pull-Aparts}
• Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls

This isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to sweet rolls! If you tried this Orange Roll recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below 🙂

Here’s the printable. Have a great day, friends!