These Orange Cinnamon Rolls mix up with ease and are so delicious for breakfast, brunch, snack or dessert. The orange zest and vanilla extract give the rolls a Creamsicle-type boost.
The bread machine pan broke in January, and I kinda thought it was the end of the world. However, it wasn’t. This was the result of that happy accident.
You see, previously, I had had a love-hate relationship with my KitchenAid mixer. I think it’s about ten years old this Mother’s Day. FishPapa bought it for me when we lived in Kansas. I never really got the hang of it. Until I had to.
And honestly, I couldn’t have made these rolls, these big, ginormous, fluffy, orange-scented cinnamon rolls in the bread machine. At least not if I wanted them supersized as they were meant to be. So it all worked out okay.
Being brave to make dough in the mixer was a big step, and surprisingly, it wasn’t as messy as I had thought it would be. I used to think that the bread machine was the only mess free way to make dough, but I was wrong.
I might even be smitten with this machine.
Now, don’t worry, if you have a bread machine with a working pan, you can still make these rolls, you’ll just need to make a half batch. This amount of dough will not work in a bread machine.
If you have neither a bread machine nor a stand mixer, you can also make these orange sweet rolls. You’ll need to stir and knead the dough by hand instead.
I’m even more smitten with this easy cinnamon roll recipe.
We’ve had these Orange Cinnamon Rolls many times over the last month. They are so amazingly good. I’m hoping to get up early tomorrow and make them for breakfast. That’s how I want to greet a Monday. Yes, ma’am.
In making several batches in a short amount of time, I’ve also learned which of us in the FishFam like lots of glaze and which like a little. I fall into the lots category. To please the masses, I often leave a bowl of icing next to the pan so that each person can do the glazing himself. Else I go light with a drizzle.
These rolls are a combination of two of my childhood loves: the sweet orangy flavor of the canned orange sweet rolls that are made with every number of Reds, Yellows, and Blues AND the ginormous, homemade cinnamon rolls that my Aunt Sandy used to bake at the Monroe Cafe in South Dakota. Those suckers were huge.
I’ve attempted to bring the hugeness home to California.
Once you prepare the dough in the mixing bowl, you’ll let it rise for about an hour. At that point, flour your work surface, soften some butter, and mix up some brown sugar and cinnamon. Get the rolling pin, your baking sheet, and your unflavored dental floss. Yes, really.
Roll out the dough into a very large rectangle. Mine covered my cutting board and measured about 16×22-inches. Spread the softened butter all over the dough, leaving a one inch border on one of the long sides. Next spread the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over.
Starting on a long side, roll up the dough into a spiral; pinch the outer edge into the roll to seal.
Thanks to a brilliant tip from Amy, I use unflavored dental floss to cut the rolls. Because I wanted to make each roll ginormous and about the same size as the others, I cut off the uneven ends and baked those separately. Then I cut the main section into twelve thick chunks.
Place the rolls evenly on a greased baking dish and let them rise for about 30 minutes.
Ginormous these are. I used this sheet pan in case you need one. I love it!
When they are done rising, they may look pretty puffy. This is good.
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes until golden. Cool them on a rack but glaze them while they’re still a bit warm.
Get them before they disappear!
I have a feeling that you and your family will love these Orange Cinnamon Rolls. Feel free to omit orange or cinnamon for a different flavor roll. I’ve also got these other cinnamon roll recipes for you to choose from:
Orange Cinnamon Rolls
These Orange Cinnamon Rolls are so delicious for breakfast or brunch. The orange zest and vanilla extract give the rolls a Creamsicle-type boost.
Preparation Time:1 hour 50 minutes
Cook time:25 minutes
Total time:2 hours 15 minutes
12 servings
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm milk
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 7 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- juice and zest of 1 large orange
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions:
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, place the water and the yeast. Stir to combine. Allow the yeast to proof for five minutes. It will start to foam and bubble.
- Add the milk, 1/2 cup melted butter, eggs, sugar, salt, 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and the flour to the bowl. Mix with the dough hook until the dough clears the sides of the pan and forms an elastic dough ball. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl and allow it to rest in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about one hour.
- Lightly flour a large work surface. Place the dough on the floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle, about 16×22 inches. Spread the softened butter all over the dough, leaving a one inch border on one of the long sides. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the butter.
- Starting at a long edge, roll the dough into a tight spiral. Seal the outer edge by pinching it into the roll.
- Using unflavored dental floss or a sharp knife, cut off the uneven ends and bake those separately. Cut the main section into twelve thick chunks.
- Grease a large sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Place the rolls evenly in the pan. Let them rise for about 30 minutes.
- About ten minutes into the rise time, preheat the oven to 350°. After this second rise, bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
- Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Combine the powdered sugar with 1 teaspoon orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice.
- When the rolls are done baking, place the pan on a rack to cool. Apply the glaze when the rolls are still warm.
- To freeze: place rolls on a lined sheet PRIOR to the rise and baking. Freeze until firm and place in ziptop bags and store in freezer. The night before serving, remove as many rolls from the bag as you like. Place on greased baking sheet and allow to thaw and rise. Then proceed with baking. See the tutorial here.
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How much cinnamon did you use? I don’t seem to see it in the recipe.
Good catch! I’ve fixed it. 1 tablespoon. Thanks!
I don’t see the fix for the cinnamon on the recipe. Glad to see your reply that it is one T though.
Thanks! I am going to do these for Christmas morning.
I have no idea how that happened. Maybe the corrections to the code reverted to the old. Thanks for pointing that out. Should be fiXED now. Thanks!
These look absolutely delicious! I love those canned orange rolls, and hadn’t found a similar recipe until now! Thank you!
BUT I am not a morning person. 🙂 Any chance these could be frozen at some point in the process and taken out to bake or even refrigerated the night before?
After you roll them you can refrigerate them or freeze them. See this post for tips on that.
cinnamon rolls are my favorite thing ever. in fact, my bday was monday & my husband made them for my dessert instead of a cake. i know we’ll be trying these soon! yum!
Let me know how you like them!
Wow…I’m impressed with how pretty and round you were able to cut these! Mine always look totally squished. Oh well…they taste good. Anyway, Pillsbury orange danishes are SUCH a comfort food for me. We had them at my grandparents’ house every Christmas. I’ve been trying to recreate a homemade version without success. I’ll have to try these!
It’s using the dental floss that makes such a difference.
Planning to make these for Father’s Day morning! When we were first married, those canned Pillsbury orange rolls were our go-to movie watching snack. Excited to make a artificial coloring & flavoring free version! Thanks for the recipe.
Grand slam home run! These rolls were amazing! My whole family loved them. After one bite, my husband deemed them “keepers” and my 7 year old son said “Mom, these are awesome!” Thanks for such a great recipe. I made them the day before and froze them so they could rise on the counter overnight. Easy and delicious!
Yay! So glad you liked them!
These are great !
Glad you enjoyed them!
I haven’t tried these, but I’ve tried other orange juice glazes that have the subtle orange flavor. If you want a much stronger orange flavor and color, you can use same quantity orange juice concentrate (defrosted).
Great tip! Thanks!
I was wondering if you omit the orange stuff, would it make regular cinnamon rolls. My family is not big on the orange rolls. I don’t understand why. I think these would be amazing and could add then to our meal prep.
Yes, just omit the orange and use cream or milk in the icing and you’re good to go. I made them without orange at a recent brunch and they were a hit that way.
We love orange rolls, but not the ingredients in the packaged varieties. I will make these today!
Finally got around to making the dough tonight for breakfast in the morning, so excited and super easy in the stand mixer!! Thanks!
Enjoy!
How did things turn out? I hope you enjoyed them!
I’ve had my eye on this recipe for a long time because my husband’s granny always made the pillsbury orange rolls when we stayed at her house. I’m all about making things from scratch. Especially because my grandmother made excellent homemade cinnamon rolls. She didn’t use a recipe, so none of us know how to make rolls like she did. Anyway, I finally made these orange cinnamon rolls last night and they were amazing. As close to my grandma’s as I’ve ever made, plus the orange makes them nostalgic for my husband (and I love the subtle citrus flavor). I also love how huge they are – as did my kids. The dough was really easy to work with, which is usually where I run into problems with other recipes I’ve tried. I formed the rolls last night and let them rise on the pan in the fridge overnight. I let them come to room temperature for about an hour before baking them this morning. Worked out well! I don’t think the puffed up as much since they were in the fridge, but they were still awesome. Next time I may try to let them stand at room temperature for a little longer. Thanks for a great recipe!