Orange Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

It’s the sweet treat you never knew you needed: Orange Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing! Made with light, fluffy dough, a sweet filling bursting with orange flavor, and cream cheese icing spiked with zest. You’ll fall in love at first bite!

I love making cinnamon rolls. They’re a common treat that I make for my loved ones! Now, there’s no way for me to ever get sick of cinnamon rolls, I was craving something a little different. I know orange creamsicle can be, for some twisted reason, a controversial flavor combination, but it’s one I’m obsessed with.

I went all out with the orange flavor. Freshly squeezed juice in the dough, the filling is made with sugar, butter, and tons of zest, then we have my favorite cream cheese icing recipe with… you guessed it… a dash of orange zest. They were so good, we had to give the majority away to our neighbors to avoid eating all 12 between the 2 of us within the evening.

Ingredients

Click “Jump to the Recipe” at the top of the page or keep on scrolling to the recipe card for full ingredient amounts and recipe instructions. Below you’ll find useful tips and tricks to make sure your orange rolls come out perfect.

• Yeast – I used active dry yeast. You can use instant yeast instead. In that case, you can skip the first step, but it’s a step I like to do regardless of the type of yeast I’m using to make sure it’s still alive.
• Milk – Any type! Even non-dairy alternatives will do.
• Sugar – Granulated sugar and icing sugar, aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar.
• Orange – You’ll need zest and juice. Since you need 2-3 oranges worth of zest, may as well use some freshly squeezed juice, right?
• Eggs – I used large eggs.
• Vanilla – Extract, paste, or fresh vanilla bean.
• Flour – I used all-purpose. Bread flour will work too. Cake flour isn’t ideal.
• Salt – As much or little as you prefer.
• Butter – I like to use unsalted to have full control over the saltiness. Especially important for sweet recipes!
• Cream cheese – While you can substitute the cream cheese icing for a regular glaze, I highly recommend giving it a try for your first batch. the orange creamsicle flavor is unmatched.

How to make orange rolls with cream cheese icing

Dough

1. Yeast: Whisk the yeast. milk, and 1 tbsp of the sugar together in a bowl. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes or until it gets foamy.
2. Start the dough: Whisk the orange juice, eggs, and vanilla into the yeast mixture. Stir the flour, salt, and remaining sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer, then add the wet ingredients and butter.
3. Finish the dough: Attach the dough hook, and mix on medium-low speed until a shaggy dough forms. Increase the speed medium-high and continue to knead for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is soft and elastic. It should be slightly sticky while still pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Proof: Lift the dough ball from the bowl, lightly spray the bowl with cooking spray, place the ball back into the bowl, then spritz the top of the dough as well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm, draft-free environment for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.
5. Roll: Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 12″ long and 16″ wide.

Filling

1. Butter: Make sure your butter is softened and easily spreadable. Spread it, edge-to-edge, over the rolled-out dough.
2. Orange sugar: Mix the sugar and orange zest together. Sprinkle it over the butter. Use a spatula to gently spread any lumps that may have formed from the moisture in the orange zest.
3. Roll: Starting from the end closest to you, tightly roll the dough. I like to start in the middle and use my hands to slowly roll out to the sides. Repeat this method until you get to the end of the dough. Pinch the end completely to seal the roll.
4. Mark: Use a sharp knife to mark the center of the roll. Mark the center of each half, then mark each quarter into thirds. This should give you 12 equally-spaced marks along the roll.
5. Slice: Wrap a piece of dental floss around the roll on your first mark. Pull each end to slice all the way through. This will give you perfect rolls without squishing them. As you slice them, place each of the rolls in a generously buttered baking dish.

Bake & Make Icing

1. Last proof: Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Preheat the oven to 350F and let the rolls rise for 20-30 minutes as the oven comes to temperature.
2. Bake: Remove the towel or plastic wrap from the dish. Transfer to the oven and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown.
3. Icing: Add all the icing ingredients to a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Spread the icing over the orange rolls once they are warm, not hot. Slice between each roll and serve.

Troubleshooting your dough

Yeast

The yeast must foam up in step 1. No foam? No rolls! Stop and check this section out to decipher what may be wrong. The dough will not rise if your yeast isn’t activated resulting in dense, unappetizing rolls. This could be because:

• The temperature of the milk was off. If it’s cold, the yeast won’t have an environment to thrive. If it’s hot, it can kill the yeast. The water should be around 110F/45C; warm to the touch. Like baby formula. I just microwave it for 10-15 seconds at a time and dip my finger until it feels warm.
• Your yeast has died. Remember that yeast is actually a living organism. Even within the expiry date, it can die and be ineffective.
• Your yeast hasn’t been stored properly. It needs an airtight container; I like to buy jars of yeast rather than packets. I also keep it in my freezer; it lasts much longer.

Dough

First thing’s first: lets get the texture of your dough right:

• If it’s too sticky: Add 1 tbsp of flour at a time, mixing it in completely, until the right consistency is achieved.
• It’s too dry: Mix in a splash of milk or orange juice at a time, until completely blended into the dough, until the right consistency is achieved.

The yeast bloomed for you no problem, the texture is perfection, but the dough doesn’t seem to be rising. Here’s what you can do to fix that issue:

• Even when I’m not shooting for the blog, I’ll take a before photo of my dough for comparison. If there has been some action, just be patient and give it time. It’ll rise!
• Your dough will rise beautifully in a warm, draft-free environment. Slow risers are often a cause of a cold room. I usually preheat my oven to the lowest temperature, turn it off, and voila. It’s a perfectly toasty spot for your dough to rise.

Tips for making perfect orange rolls

• Use a Microplane to get the perfect zest from your orange. The pieces don’t come out too big, so the zest will mix with the sugar perfectly to make sure you have no bitterness.
• Why buy a jug of orange juice when you have a few fresh oranges handy?? I ended up needing 3 oranges for the zest. That meant freshly squeezed juice in the dough.

How to store orange rolls with cream cheese icing

Topped with the icing, your orange rolls will last about 3 days stored in the fridge. You can either cover the baking dish well with plastic wrap or bees wrap and store the rolls like that. If you only have a few left, transfer them to a sealable airtight container.

If you plan on freezing your rolls, you can do this either:

• Unbaked: After slicing the rolls and placing them in the baking dish, immediately wrap it well with both plastic wrap and foil. Transfer to the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Let them thaw completely at room temperature. This will also act as their second rise before baking.
• Baked: Let the rolls cool completely to room temperature. You can either wrap the baking dish well with plastic wrap and foil or transfer them to an airtight container. They will last for up to 6 weeks frozen.

If you plan on freezing your rolls, keep the icing off and whip it up fresh to serve. Cream cheese icing doesn’t bode well in the freezer.

Looking for more delicious baked goods? Try these:

• Crème Brûlée Donuts
• Cinnamon Rolls
• The Best Banana Bread
• Mini Mixed Berry Cheesecake Pies
• Cinnamon Roll Blondies

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