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These Homemade Orange Rolls are light, fluffy, and soft with just the right hint of orange flavor. One of the easiest and tastiest roll recipes ever!
Why I Love These Rolls
These Orange Rolls are unique in that the glaze is on the BOTTOM of the rolls! The glaze becomes gooey and sticky and it makes them taste extra delicious. They are easy to make and are melt in your mouth yummy. This orange rolls recipe is so much better than the store bought Pillsbury orange rolls. The fluffy, fragrant rolls are baked with a sweet orange glaze and perfect for any special occasion, Christmas morning, or just a cozy weekend at home. I like to make them ahead of time or keep them in the freezer so I can have them on hand anytime I need a delicious treat for breakfast or brunch.
🩷 Heidi
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Butter – used in both the dough and filling; unsalted lets you better control the salt and melted butter makes a rich, tender swirl.
- Milk – warm whole milk gives the softest, richest rolls, though 2% milk works fine if that’s what you have.
- Eggs – add one large egg at a time to enrich the dough and help it rise light and fluffy.
- Sugar – sweetens both the dough and filling, and a little bit helps activate the yeast.
- Salt – balances the sweetness and boosts flavor; use table or kosher salt, whichever you keep on hand.
- Yeast Mixture (hot water, quick-rise yeast, a little sugar) – proof together in hot-but-not-boiling water to create a foamy, active yeast base for the dough.
- All-purpose flour – builds the structure of the rolls; add more if the dough feels too sticky and keep extra for flouring your work surface.
- Oranges – zest and juice flavor the filling with bright citrusy sweetness.
How to Make Orange Rolls
- Heat butter and milk until hot, then let cool slightly. Add yeast to warm water with sugar until foamy. In a mixer with dough hook, combine eggs, remaining sugar, and salt, then mix in 1 cup flour. Add cooled milk–butter, another cup of flour, then the foamy yeast and remaining flour. Knead about 5 minutes, transfer to a greased bowl, cover, and let rise.
- Zest the outside of two large oranges, and combine it with sugar and melted butter. Add freshly squeezed juice to the mixture. Mix together and set aside.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle. Spread the orange zest, sugar and butter mixture all over the rectangle, about a quarter inch thick. Roll up lengthwise into a log shape.
- Use unflavored dental floss to slice the dough log into 1-inch rolls without squishing it: slide the floss under the log, lift the ends, cross them over the top, and pull to cut, either halving the dough repeatedly to get 15 to 16 rolls or cutting at 1-inch intervals.
- Place each roll into a baking pan and loosely cover it with oiled plastic wrap. Let them rise for another 30 minutes while you preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the rolls for about 20-25 minutes until they’re golden brown.
- Optional: Frost with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting.
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 oz of cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (from about 1 orange)
- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
Instructions:
- In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, orange zest and fresh orange juice.
- Start with 1 tablespoon of orange juice and add more as needed to reach your desired consistency. You want the frosting to be smooth and easy to spread, but thick enough to stay on the orange roll.
- Once the frosting is well combined and reaches the desired consistency, it’s ready to use.
- Spread the orange cream cheese frosting over the slightly warm orange rolls.
- Allow the frosting to set before serving the orange rolls.
- If you prefer a thicker frosting, you can add more powdered sugar. If you want a thinner frosting, add a bit more orange juice.
Recipe Tips
- For fluffy, light rolls, use room temperature ingredients.
- Knead the dough for at least five minutes using a dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic texture.
- Give the dough proper proofing time. Once the rolls are shaped and in the pan, let them proof for a half hour before baking.
- For extra flavor and texture you can add a handful of nuts, raisins or chocolate chips into the orange filling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. If using active dry yeast, proof it the same way in warm water with a little sugar, but expect the dough to take a bit longer to rise, usually an extra 15–20 minutes per rise.
Scalding (heating until hot but not boiling) helps the butter melt evenly and creates a warm liquid that encourages a good yeast rise; just be sure to let it cool so it doesn’t kill the yeast.
No, the rolls are delicious with just the bottom glaze, but the orange cream cheese frosting adds extra citrus flavor and sweetness, making them taste more like bakery-style sweet rolls.
Yes. You can use a plain cream cheese frosting or your favorite vanilla icing if you want less orange flavor on top.
Add flour a little at a time (a few tablespoons) until the dough is soft and slightly tacky but not overly sticky; it should pull away from the sides of the bowl and feel elastic after kneading.
They’re ready when the tops are evenly golden brown and the center rolls feel set (not doughy) when gently touched, usually around 20–25 minutes at 350°F.
Definitely. Chopped pecans, walnuts, raisins, or even mini chocolate chips can be sprinkled over the orange filling before rolling for extra flavor and texture.
Make Ahead & Storage
- Make Ahead: After rolling and cutting the orange rolls, cover with greased plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bring to room temperature, let them rise for about 30 minutes, then bake as directed.
- Storing: Keep leftover rolls covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (in an airtight container, sealed bag, or tightly wrapped in plastic).
- Freezing Before Baking: Freeze cut rolls on a baking sheet until solid, then store in an airtight container or freezer bag. When ready to bake, place in a greased pan, let thaw at room temperature, then bake.
- Freezing After Baking: Cool completely, wrap tightly, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature, then warm in the oven until heated through.
Orange Rolls
Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup hot water, not boiling
- 4 1/2 teaspoons quick rise yeast
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 7 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 oranges
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest, (finely grated)
- 1-2 tablespoons orange juice, (fresh squeezed)
Instructions
- In a pan, scald the butter and whole milk. Do not bring it to a boil. Take it off the heat and set aside.
- In a separate container, combine warm water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Set it aside and move on to the next step.
- In a stand mixer with a dough hook, add 2 eggs, ½ cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt. Give a quick mix with the hook, then add 1 cup of flour and mix again to barely combine it. Add the cooled milk/butter to the mixer and mix on low then add another 1 cup of flour.
- While it's mixing, add the foamy yeast mixture. Then slowly add the remaining flour about 5-5 ½ cups.
- Let it knead on medium speed for the next 5 minutes until the dough is a nice elastic and not as sticky.
- Oil a large bowl and coat the dough in the oil on the top, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1 hour.
- Zest the two oranges and juice them into a bowl. Add sugar and melted stick of butter. Stir.
- Spread out the dough into a large rectangle about ¼ inch thick.
- Spread half of the orange mixture onto the rectangle dough.
- Pour the other half onto a greased baking sheet and spread evenly.
- Roll the dough up length wise, and cut out the orange roll 1 inch thick. It will be a bit messy, but will taste and still look amazing.
- Place the 1 inch rolls into prepared pan and loosely cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let them rise for 30 min then preheat your oven to 350.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until they are a golden brown.
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar and orange zest and beat with mixer until smooth. Mix in the orange juice last 1 tablespoon at a time to reach the best consistency.
- Spread slightly warmed or cooled orange rolls.
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
Notes
- Because there is a delicious orange glaze on the bottom of the pan, you may choose to serve these rolls plain. However, the orange cream cheese frosting over the top makes these rolls extra sweet.
- If you want to try more of a plain frosting over the top, try our cream cheese frosting recipe. Spread it over the top as you would cinnamon rolls.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Hi Heidi;
Important; Have asked this from a lot of bakers.
Need to HALVE the recipe. We are only two and the rolls get dry and hard. How do we halve this orange roll recipe? I want them very soft and not brown. Pls response today Sat. 3-2-24. Many thanks Linda
PS; Why do my fresh yeast not foam??
Hi Linda, we haven’t halved this recipe before, so I am not sure how they would turn out! Let us know how it goes if you try it! If your yeast did not foam, that means your water was not the right temperature. It should be warm – not hot and not cold.
What size baking sheet are you using?
A 13×18!