Easy Orange Rolls

My easy orange rolls recipe includes soft sweet rolls with a deliciously buttery and zesty orange filling that are topped with a sweet orange glaze.

Orange rolls are a Southern treat originating in my home state, Alabama. In fact, Alabama has a few places that are known for their orange rolls, served alongside your lunch plate or placed upon your table in baskets. But… I’ve never even tried any of those. Yes, I am probably the only person in Alabama who has never eaten at All Steak in Cullman. But I never did say I was well-traveled! 

Orange rolls are small and dainty but they are big in flavor. They are somewhat like a cinnamon roll in concept, but not much like it at all in taste. We start with frozen bread dough and we add a filling made with butter, orange juice concentrate, sugar, and orange zest. Sounds tasty already, right? Then we roll the dough and shape the rolls to look like mini cinnamon rolls. They need a little bit of time to proof before we bake them in the oven.

The final piece of the puzzle is a sweet orange glaze brushed on top of the homemade orange rolls, which is made by combining the orange juice concentrate with powdered sugar. Then it’s time to enjoy an orange sweet roll! These easy orange rolls are so delicious. You’ve got the soft bread dough, the filling that’s simultaneously buttery, sweet, and zesty, and then the sweet orange glaze on top.

I hope you enjoy my simple take on orange rolls and that you get to try them soon because they are surprisingly low fuss and supremely divine!

Recipe Ingredients

• Frozen orange juice concentrate
• Butter
• Orange
• Granulated sugar
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Frozen bread dough

How to Make Easy Orange Rolls

First, you need to set your frozen bread dough on a plate, cover it, and allow it to thaw completely.

Then we’re going to place our softened butter, a heaping tablespoon of orange juice concentrate, and the orange zest in a medium bowl.

Mix the orange roll filling together until it is well combined.

Now roll out your thawed bread dough on a well-floured surface.

I would estimate that this is about 17 inches long and 6 or 7 inches tall.

Now dollop the orange filling onto the rolled-out dough…

 And spread well, leaving about 1/2 an inch around the sides.

Sprinkle it with sugar.

We’re only using 2-3 tablespoons of white sugar here because it doesn’t take much.

Now, to make our small little orange rolls, we take a pizza cutter and cut right down the center of the dough to divide it into two long skinny rectangles.

Starting on the inside, roll 1/2 of your dough up into a log and squeeze it together lightly to help it hold.

Repeat with the other one.

I then cut each log into 12 equal-sized pieces.

I don’t use the end pieces but if you want to use them, just place them in a separate small baking dish.

Grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin and place one roll into each muffin cup.

Cover with waxed paper or a cloth towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

They should look like this.

Now bake your orange rolls in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

To make the glaze…

We’re going to mix together about a cup of confectioner’s sugar and two to three tablespoons of orange juice concentrate until it’s nice and smooth.

I like to use orange juice concentrate because it gives you that POP of orange flavor that I love so much.

 Brush the glaze over your warm orange rolls.

ENJOY! 

Storage

• Store leftover homemade orange sweet rolls in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days. I recommend reheating quickly in the oven or air fryer before serving.
• Baked rolls can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before reheating as above.

Recipe Notes

• I get my dough at the grocery store in the freezer section. Rhode’s bread dough sells packages of three frozen loaves like this and Kroger has their brand that usually comes in packages of four or five loaves. 
• Here’s a dough tip: It will be hard to roll out and take some muscle, so I roll it out as best I can and then let it sit for 5 minutes. This relaxes the dough. After 5 minutes, finish rolling it out to the size you want it to be and it will be much easier.
• Place the remaining orange juice in a zipper seal bag and freeze it until the next time you make orange rolls.
• To make an orange cream cheese glaze, use the same ingredients but also add 4 ounces of softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup of softened butter. Beat ingredients together using a hand mixer and then spread it onto the rolls while warm.
• For an orange cinnamon roll recipe instead, mix a couple of teaspoons of ground cinnamon with the granulated sugar before sprinkling it over the orange butter filling.
• Speaking of, you can swap the granulated sugar for brown sugar if you like for a more caramelized flavor.
• If you have extra zest, feel free to add it to your glaze as well. The more orange flavor, the merrier!
• I use salted butter for my filling, but if you only have unsalted butter on hand that’ll work just fine. You can even add a pinch of salt if you feel like it’s missing that little something!

Recipe FAQs

Where did orange rolls originate?

Orange rolls originate from the Vestavia Roman Rooms in Birmingham, Alabama. Baker Mrs. Ewing Steele debuted her orange rolls here and then shared her recipe with various country clubs in Birmingham over 70 years ago. Today, the orange roll is associated with Birmingham’s The Club, which serves over 1000 fresh orange rolls daily. Traditionally, they were served alongside every meal and were not available on the menu.

How do you make gluten-free orange rolls?

All you need to make gluten-free orange rolls is to use a loaf of gluten-free bread dough. The remaining ingredients are naturally gluten-free.

Can I make orange rolls ahead of time?

Yes, after you place the orange rolls in the muffin tin, cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge so the rolls can rise overnight. Then the next day, remove the muffin pan from the fridge and allow the rolls to sit at room temperature for 45 minutes up to an hour before baking.

Check out these other orange-flavored treats:

Easy Mandarin Orange Cake (a.k.a. Pig Pickin Cake)

Orange Meringue Pie

Aunt Sue’s Orange Juice Cake

Orange Challah Bread

Orange Creamsicle Cakes In Jars

Easy Orange Cake Recipe With Glaze

 

I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

~Abraham Lincoln