Make-Ahead Orange Rolls

Close up of Make ahead orange rolls in basket with green napkin

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5 from 3 votes

Make-ahead orange rolls are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Absolutely the best thing on your dinner table.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Total Time5

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: baking, bread, Make-ahaead Orange Rolls

Servings: small rolls

Calories: 143kcal

Author: Tara Teaspoon

Ingredients

Cooking spray
2 envelopes active dry yeast (or 5½ teaspoons)
¼ cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
2 large eggs
¼ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup plus 5 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened (divided)
2 tablespoon finely grated orange zest, divided (from about 2 oranges)
3½ to 4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for work surface
2 cups plus 3 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, (divided)
2 to 3 tablespoon orange juice

Instructions

Coat a large bowl with cooking spray; set aside. In another large bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer), sprinkle yeast over warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add warm milk, eggs, granulated sugar, salt, ¼ cup butter and 1 tbsp orange zest. Gradually add flour, mixing with a wooden spoon, or the dough hook, until a dough forms. (mix dough with 3½ cups of the flour and add the last half a cup as needed to create a dough that is sticky, but not too wet). Knead until dough is shiny and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes (if using a mixer, knead on medium speed).
Transfer dough to prepared greased bowl, turning to oil the top, cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, 45 minutes to 1½ hours depending on the warmth of the room.
For filling: In a bowl, mix together 3 tbsp confectioners' sugar, remaining 5 tablespoon butter and 1 tbsp zest; set aside.
Lightly coat two 12-cup standard muffin pans with cooking spray; set aside.
On a well-floured work surface, knead dough 2 to 3 times to release air pockets. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to an 18-by-14-inch rectangle. Brush some filling over half of rectangle and fold over top half to enclose. Brush some filling over top, as above, and fold to enclose. Let rest 5 min.
Roll out to a 16-by-10-inch rectangle and brush half with remaining filling, as above, and fold to enclose. Cut onto 24 2-inch squares. (For larger rolls cut into 20 equal-sized squares).
Place squares, cut side up, in prepared pans. Coat two sheets of plastic wrap large enough to cover each pan with cooking spray; place, coated side down, over pans. Tightly wrap pans with plastic wrap or foil if freezing for up to 10 days. Or let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes until doubled in bulk. While rolls rise, heat oven to 350ºF.
If frozen: On the day of baking, remove outside wrapping, leaving coated plastic wrap loosely over tops. Let dough thaw and rise until almost doubled in bulk, 2 to 2½ hours.
Heat oven to 350°F and place rack in center. Bake rolls until golden, 15 to 18 min. Rotate pans as needed if there are oven hot spots. Transfer pans to a wire rack and cool 5 min. Transfer rolls to rack and let cool completely.
For icing: In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 2 cups confectioners' sugar and just enough juice to make an icing. Drizzle over rolls.

Video

Notes

• The make-ahead trick is to make the dough, assemble and cut the rolls and then freeze them before the dough has it's second and final rise. When you pull them from the freezer to thaw they simply complete their rise then and go into the oven!

• To make the rolls the same day, forego freezing; let them rise 15 to 25 minutes (depending on the warmth of the room) after placing in the pans and bake as directed.

Froze the rolls and don't have oranges on hand for the icing?

• If you have it, you can use frozen orange juice concentrate, or prepared orange juice to make the icing. Add it to taste, along with water if needed, to make an icing you can drizzle.

Nutrition