Homemade Orange Sweet Rolls Recipe

These bright and fresh homemade orange sweet rolls start with a soft and buttery homemade dough, and are rolled up with a zesty citrus-cinnamon-sugar filling. Like my overnight cinnamon rolls recipe, today’s rolls are make-ahead friendly. A generous drizzle of orange icing over the warm rolls seals the deal: citrus lovers may never go back to regular cinnamon rolls!

Can you think of a more cheerful way to say good morning than with fresh, warm homemade orange sweet rolls? The smell alone is enough to get anyone out of bed—sunshiny citrus paired with the nostalgic fragrance of gooey cinnamon buns… I’m up, I’m up!

Today’s rolls are like a sequel to my raspberry swirl sweet rolls. Though the two dough recipes are different, but they are both fruity little spin-offs of your classic cinnamon rolls.

Here’s Why You’ll Love Today’s Rolls

• Bursting with real orange flavor
• Gooey cinnamon roll goodness
• Sticky, caramelized bottoms
• Pillow-soft, fluffy, buttery dough
• Drippy citrus-kissed icing that melts into every swirl

Use a Rich Dough for Orange Sweet Rolls

This is a rich dough, which means that it’s prepared with fat like milk, butter, and eggs. Lean doughs, on the other hand, are made without much fat and produce crusty, chewy bread like homemade bagels, artisan bread, and pizza dough.

Ingredients You Need for the Dough

• Milk: Whole milk makes for the best, richest-tasting sweet rolls. Nondairy or lower-fat milks will work in a pinch, but for best results, I recommend whole milk.
• Sugar: White granulated sugar gets the yeast working, and lightly sweetens the dough. You’ll also use it in the filling, though you could use brown sugar in the filling instead, if desired.
• Yeast: You need 1 Tablespoon of yeast, so a little more than 1 standard packet. You can use either instant yeast or active-dry yeast. (More on this below.)
• Butter: While my chocolate sweet rolls uses melted butter, we are using softened butter here and that’s because we’re also adding orange juice; we don’t want too much liquid.
• Oranges: You need both the zest and the juice, for the dough as well as the filling and icing, so pick up 2 or 3 fresh oranges.
• Eggs: Adds richness, and binds the dough together.
• Salt: Essential for flavor.
• Bread Flour: For best texture, I recommend bread flour. The same amount of all-purpose flour works and the rolls will still be wonderfully rich and soft. However, the rolls are a little chewier and flakier when using bread flour.

Do Orange Rolls Taste Like Cinnamon Rolls?

Cinnamon is in the filling, which complements the fresh orange flavor so beautifully. As far as the process goes, we’re essentially making homemade cinnamon rolls but with a citrus twist.

If you’ve made homemade cinnamon rolls before, this process isn’t anything new. Make the dough, knead it, let it rise, punch it down, roll it out, add the filling, roll up jelly-roll style, cut into rolls, let them rise until puffy, then bake.

Start by proofing the yeast with a little sugar and the warm milk. You’re looking for a foamy surface, just like this:

After the dough comes together, knead by hand or use a stand mixer with a dough hook..)

This rich dough is supposed to be very soft, so don’t add more flour than absolutely needed. Embrace the softness and a sticky work surface because if you don’t mind the mess, you’ll be rewarded with the richest, flakiest orange sweet rolls.

The dough is now ready to rise. Here is the soft dough before and after the 1st rise:

Punch the dough down and roll it out. Spread butter all over the surface, and then top with the remaining filling ingredients: a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, and lots of fresh orange zest.

Roll the dough up with the filling and cut into rolls. Place them into a greased baking pan and let rise for just about 30 minutes.

Here are the rolls before and after the 2nd rise. See how puffy they get?

The best part: as the rolls bake, some filling drips down into the pan, creating sweet and sticky caramelization underneath the rolls. That paired with the orange icing? Consider this a pan of sunny, golden bliss.

Orange Icing & Other Topping Options

You only need 3 ingredients: confectioners’ sugar, fresh orange juice, and vanilla extract. Other topping options include vanilla icing, or the cream cheese icing from homemade cinnamon rolls or raspberry sweet rolls.

These sweet rolls bring it all: pillowy, buttery dough, vibrant citrus flavor, a caramelized base that forms as the rolls bake (!!!), and a glossy orange icing that’s as beautiful as it is delicious. There’s just nothing like sweet rolls made from scratch, especially when they’re kissed with real orange flavor.

These make for an extra special Easter, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day brunch recipe!