Our soft and fluffy homemade Orange Roll recipe couldn’t be more simple or delicious. They’re baked in a muffin pan and have a delicious orange glaze on top.
Looking for more bread recipes? Try Chocolate Banana Bread, Cranberry Orange Muffins, or Lemon Blueberry Bread!
Why I love this recipe:
- Family Tradition: This recipe holds a special place in my heart. I make it every year for family parties, special occasions, and especially Thanksgiving and Christmas, just like my mom did for our family growing up.
- Muffin Tin: The rolled dough is baked in a muffin pan, making the rolls easier to eat and form. This recipe is SO simple!
- Homemade Filling and Glaze: Making the glaze and filling is the easiest part and also the most delicious, with bursts of orange flavor.
How to make Orange Rolls:
Make Dough: Combine water, yeast, and sugar and let rest for 5 minutes, until foamy. Add eggs, butter, salt, flour, and yeast mixture in a mixing bowl with dough hook. Knead for 3 minutes on medium speed, then let rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Repeat 2 more times. Divide dough into 3 balls.
Make Filling: Roll each dough ball into a 15″x8″ rectangle. Mix ½ cup softened butter with ½ cup of sugar and the zest of 2 oranges. Spread mixture evenly over all three rectangles of bread dough.
Roll each rectangle lengthwise into a long tube (similar to cinnamon rolls). Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the dough into 1 1/2″ sections.
Bake: Place each small dough roll into a greased muffin tin. You could also lay them in a greased baking dish, like cinnamon rolls, if you prefer. Cover lightly with greased plastic wrap and rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven.
Make Orange Glaze: Whisk powdered sugar, orange zest, and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle over warm orange rolls.
Storage and Freezing Instructions:
To Store: Orange rolls are best enjoyed fresh, the day they are made. Store leftovers in an air-tight container for 1-3 days, or freeze.
To Freeze: Baked orange rolls can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm in the microwave for a few seconds.
More Sweet Roll Recipes:
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Recipe
Orange Rolls
Ingredients
Rolls:
- 1 3/4 cups warm water
- 2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- zest of 2 large oranges
Orange Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest (from fresh orange)
- 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
- Make dough: In a small bowl, add water, yeast and sugar. Let rest for 5 minutes, until foamy on top. In a large mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook, add eggs, butter, salt, flour and yeast mixture.
- Knead the dough with your mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes. Cover bowl with a towel and let dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Knead dough again for 3 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Knead dough one more time for three minutes. Let rest again for 10 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 3 balls. Lightly flour your counter-top and roll each dough ball out into a 15''x8'' rectangle.
- Make filling: Mix ½ cup softened butter with ½ cup sugar and the zest of 2 oranges. Spread this mixture evenly over the three rectangles of bread dough.
- Roll-up each rectangle lengthwise into a long tube (similar to how you would roll cinnamon rolls). Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the dough into 1 1/2'' sections.
- Put each small dough round into a greased muffin tin. (You could also lay them in a greased baking dish, like cinnamon rolls, but we always make them in muffin tins!)
- Cover dough lightly with greased piece of plastic wrap and allow dough to rise once more, for 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle with glaze.
- Glaze: Whisk powdered sugar, orange zest and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle over warm orange rolls.
- Orange rolls are best enjoyed fresh, the day they are made. Store leftoevers in an air-tight container for 1-3 days, or freeze.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe November 2013. Updated August 2019 and December 2023.
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Delightful recipe! I added the peel of 2 mandarin oranges into the filling (food-processed it with the other filling ingredients) & made one part in a 9 X 13 pan & one in a muffin tin; used my bread machine to knead. Even without the glaze, they are tasty!
Delightful recipe! I added the peel of 2 mandarin oranges into the filling (food-processed it with the other filling ingredients) & made one pan in a 9 X 13 pan & 1 muffin tin pan; used my bread machine to knead. Even without the glaze, they are tasty!
Soft and delicious ,like little puffs of orange heavenly yum-ness
These are without question the easiest, fastest, best rolls of any kind I have ever made. I made them for my birthday dinner they were light and fluffy, super orangey. I had never done a recipe where you left them in the bowl and kept kneading with a stand mixer! Absolutely amazing. Everyone loved them.
Hi!! How long do these rolls last? And do you have to reheat it after storing it in a container?
They will last for 2-3 days. Reheating is optional based on your personal preference.
These were absolutely delicious. The roll was so soft and light. They were time consuming, but not hard. Directions were easy to follow. I loved the look of the individual rolls from the muffin tin. So cute! Make sure to take the roll out of the tin fairly quickly after removing them from the oven, or the sugar hardens and sticks making it more difficult to remove them and keep them pretty. after the rolls come out of the tin, then glaze, like in the video. The glaze is pretty when it drips down the sides. Our new favorite orange roll recipe. More work – but WORTH IT!
These were easily the softest baked bread I’ve made from TBFS. The dough was very easy to work with and the rolls melt in your mouth! One addition I made was to brush the tops with butter before drizzling the glaze over the rolls to round out the flavor a bit. I made these for Christmas dinner and the samples (before dinner) were a HUGE hit with my family! Highly, highly recommend 😀
I have a hard time making breads of any kind. I never know when I have needed enough. These instructions were specific and easy to follow. I made a half recipes and they were perfect. I will make a full recipe for our family Thanksgiving dinner.
I have given up on making bread. The only problem I can think of is the temp of the water. If you can advise of a temp range I would be really happy to try once more.
That is a Kitchenaide mixer. They are expensive, but worth it. You can occasionally find them used when someone is upgrading to a bigger model.
Very nice.. I have a recipe for orange rolls that was passed down in my family that’s similar but has significantly longer raising times for the 3 raises. Also, the glaze is made very thick and is what is pasted inside when you roll them up. I may try this as is seems very similar and it’d be nice to be able to make them without taking forever. I don’t have a mixer and noticed in the video that the mixer you were using looks really convenient.. would you mind sharing what mixer you used in the video? Thanks in advance!
That is a Kitchenaide mixer. Expensive, but worth it. You can occasionally find them used when someone is upgrading.
Approximately how many does the orange roll recipe make? They look and the recipe sounds amazing!
This recipe makes about 3 dozen orange rolls 🙂
I am going to make these for a friend’s baby shower. I was wondering if you think they would be better the night before or should I wait until the morning of? They look delicious!
Hi Haley, Sounds like fun! I would definitely make them the morning of!
Have you ever made these ahead of time and froze them?
Hi Maria, I haven’t but I think it would work well. Let me know if you try it!
plain or self-rising flour in orange rolls
All-purpose flour 🙂
Very nice and tasty orange sweet rolls.
Step 9 states to let the rolls rice “once more”, but I can’t find mention of a first rise. I’ve never made sweet rolls without a double rise, but also never made them with this many rest periods. I’m going to make them now with instructions as listed so I’ll find out soon enough. 🙂 Still curious, though.
Yummy! Pinning!
These are Bryce’s FAVORITE! I’m so glad you posted the recipe! Love you!!
Oh wow these look fantastic and yummy! Pinned!
These look delicious!! Pinning this.