Orange Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas Brunch

The smell of Orange Cinnamon Rolls in the oven on Christmas morning (or any morning for that matter) is like no other. The perfect sweet for brunch. Read on for the recipe!

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Ingredients:

Dough

1 package active dry yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)

1/2 cup warm water

fresh orange zest from 1 medium sized orange

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3.5 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

Glaze

1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar

1 Tablespoon orange juice

fresh orange zest from 1 medium oranges

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Make The Dough: Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water for about 1 minute. No need to use a thermometer for the water's temperature, but to be precise: about 105-115F degrees. Stir the yeast/water around. Then add orange zest, orange juice, sugar, salt, egg, butter, and 1.5 cups of flour. Beat everything together on low with a handheld mixer, scraping down the sides as needed. (A mixer is definitely needed to break up all the butter and beat everything to the proper consistency.) With a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough easy to handle - about 1.5 - 2 more cups. You are looking for a dough that is not sticky and will spring back when poked with a finger.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands for about 5-6 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1.5 hours.

Line the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll into a 10x15 inch rectangle. I used a ruler for accuracy. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick, even at the corners.

For The Filling: in a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon. Spread the dough rectangle with softened butter and sprinkle generously with all of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Tightly roll up the dough and cut into 16 even rolls (1 inch in width each) with a very sharp knife. Arrange them in the prepared baking pan, cut sides up. Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes - 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Bake for about 20 minutes, until they are lightly golden in color. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for about 15 minutes.

Make The Glaze: In a small bowl, mix together all of the glaze ingredients and drizzle over rolls before serving.

Recipe is adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction.

View it on her site here!

With these Orange Cinnamon Rolls, my Orange and Eucalyptus Wreaths, and my Orange decorated Christmas Tree, I was clearly really into oranges this Holiday Season.

Also these are presented on my favorite plates, blue china is a dream.

For more of my favorite recipes, follow on Bloglovin'!

Also be sure to check out Sally's Baking Addiction!