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Best Homemade Orange Rolls With Cranberries Recipe

These orange cranberry rolls are filled with a refreshing winter flavors such as whole cranberries and zesty citrus for a lovely roll recipe everyone loves!

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Need a fresh new breakfast for Christmas morning Or Thanksgiving morning? Try these soft and fluffy Orange Rolls with Cranberries! Sweet and seasonal these rolls are sure to be a hit with your whole family!

Start with an easy homemade yeast dough as you make for homemade cinnamon rolls but instead of making plain old cinnamon rolls you take them to the next level. Elevate your rolls by filling them with orange zest and orange-infused cranberries and baking them to perfection. Then once they’re cooled you ice them with a sweet orange glaze. Orange rolls done right!

Orange frosting on top of orange rolls with cranberries.

One of the best things about cranberry orange rolls is their unique flavor. The combination of the sweetened citrus orange flavor and tart cranberries creates a delicious and festive flavor that everyone will love. The cranberries add a nice burst of flavor and a touch of holiday cheer to the rolls, making them a perfect addition to any holiday breakfast spread.

Orange Cranberry rolls frosted in a pan.

Make these overnight rolls

To make these rolls for an early morning holiday breakfast simply make them up until they are rolled, cut, and in the pan. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Cranberry Orange roll with cranberry orange filling on a plate with a fork.

The next day remove them from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature and finish rising. Then bake and ice as directed up fresh cranberry and orange sweet rolls for the whole family!

Ingredients for orange cranberry rolls.

What you need:

  • All-purpose flour
  • active dry yeast
  • White sugar
  • salt
  • whole milk
  • eggs
  • cranberries (can use fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries)
  • orange juice
  • fresh orange zest
  • powdered sugar
  • vanilla
  • melted butter
  • stand mixer with paddle attachment and dough hook attachment Or you can knead by hand directions below
  • plastic wrap
  • wooden spoon
  • large bowl or mixing bowl for a stand mixer
  • 9×13 baking pan
Orange cranberry rolls with oranges and cranberries.

Do I need a mixer to make yeast dough?

Absolutely not. They make it EASIER but they are by no means a necessary tool. In fact, until modern times things like this were just done by hand. Stir up the dough in a large mixing bowl and then follow the directions below to knead this sweet roll recipe OR any yeast dough you want to make.

Close up of a cranberry orange roll on a plate with a fork.

To Hand Knead Yeast Dough

Once you’ve mixed the milk and eggs into the dry ingredients stir in the bowl until the dough comes together in a ball. Then drop on a clean and lightly floured surface. Press the dough out in front of you using one or both hands, then grab it, fold it back over itself, and press out again. If it’s sticky you can add a little more flour to the counter, don’t add a lot of flour or you’ll have dry dense rolls.

Inside an orange cranberry roll.

For best results keep kneading until the dough is soft and silky, about 6-8 minutes. That feels like a long time but once you get in a rhythm you’ll be surprised at how fast the kneading goes. You can check for gluten development but tearing off a small piece and seeing how it stretches out. If it stretches very thin without tearing it has developed enough gluten. If it tears then you need to keep kneading the dough for another couple of minutes.

To prove yeast dough

Yeast doughs need time after kneading to rest and double in size. If your gluten was developed properly by kneading it into a soft dough then the rising time in a warm place won’t be much longer that about an hour or so. Let the dough rise in a covered greased bowl in a warm place.

Do not overprove your dough, it should only just about double in size before your push the air out of it. Keep an eye on it while it’s rising. Beware the warm oven method of prooving dough, it has a way of being too warm and I often end up over proving dough in there.

Orange cranberry roll on a plate with cranberries, sliced orange, and a bottle of milk in the photo.

To store Leftover Sweet Rolls

Store leftover rolls in an airtight container on the counter for a day. Then they should probably go in the fridge. You can reheat them if you like. They do well in the microwave or in the oven. Believe it or not, the air fryer is a nice way to reheat leftovers. Stored and reheated rolls will not be as tasty as they were fresh but they can still be enjoyed with a cup of coffee or hot tea.

Other great breakfast ideas for special mornings

Try these Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls for a warm and spicy fresh sweet roll that everyone loves! Make Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes for a quick and easy way to make delicious cinnamon rolls. We love these Apple Cinnamon Rolls, full of chopped apples, and spices and baked on a caramel pecan topping.

Or make Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls that start with a cake mix but end up as sweet rolls! Or try this Sausage Frittata for a less sweet breakfast everyone loves.

Orange Cranberry Rolls

5 from 39 votes
These orange cranberry rolls are filled with a refreshing winter flavors such as whole cranberries and zesty citrus for a lovely roll recipe everyone loves!
Course: Bread, Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 3 hours
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 9 Servings
Calories: 403kcal
Author: Laura
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Homemade Sweet Roll Ingredients:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 packet active dry yeast
  • cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon orange zest *optional*

Filling:

  • 1 ½ cups cranberries can use fresh or frozen
  • 1 Tablespoon orange zest
  • cup sugar
  • ¼ cup orange juice or lemon juice

Orange Icing Ingredients:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon orange juice
  • 1 Tablespoon orange zest
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 Tablespoon butter melted

Instructions

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients for the rolls together, and stir on low speed to combine
  • Fit stand mixer with dough hook/spiral if not using a stand mixer follow kneading directions in the notes section of this recipe card
  • Warm milk to about 110º degrees, and it add to flour mixture
  • Add eggs to stand mixer, and the extra orange zest if using
    Adding milk and eggs to the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
  • Turn the mixer to 2 and mix until combined
  • Continue mixing to knead the dough for 7 minutes.
  • The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl as it kneads, but still be tacky. If the dough is overly sticky, add a small amount of flour to reach the desired consistency
  • When dough is done kneading, it will be smooth and very sttretchy if its not stretchy and it tears, knead it longer if it's ready then remove the bowl from the mixer and remove the dough hook
    Properly kneaded bread in a mixing bowl.
  • oil a clean bowl, shape the kneaded dough into a ball, place it in the oiled bowl, turn to coat, then cover, and let rise until doubled in size in a warm, draft-free place. This should take 45-90 minutes depending on your kitchen temperature
  • While dough is rising, combine cranberries, sugar, orange zest, and orange juice in a saucepan
    Cranberry filling for orange rolls in a saucepan.
  • Bring to a simmer, and simmer until cranberries split
    Cranberries in a saucepan boiling until they split.
  • Blend with an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender/food processor and blend carefully to avoid burns, Cranberry sauce should be about the thickness of gravy but will thicken as it cools
    Finished cranberry filling for orange rolls cooling in saucepan.
  • Let sauce cool while dough rises
  • generously grease an 9×13 inch baking pan, set aside
  • When dough has risen, press the air out of it
    Prooved sweetroll dough ready to be pressed down.
  • then place on a clean counter and roll out into an 8-9×15 inch rectangle
    Rolled sweet roll dough on a countertop.
  • Spread cranberry jam over dough to within ½ an inch of the edges
    Cranberry filing to be spread on a the sweet roll dough.
  • Roll up dough the dough from the long side, not too tight, not too loose
    Rolled sweet rolls dough filled with cranberries ready to be cut.
  • Cut into 9-12 slices, making 9-12 rolls, you can adjust how many rolls you make and what size pan to use, if you make bigger rolls, use a smaller pan
    Sliced sweet rolls ready to go in a prepared pan.
  • if you want to bake them the next day stop here and follow the directions in the notes section
  • Arrange in the greased baking pan, and allow to rise for 30-45 minutes
    Sliced cranberry orange rolls in a baking dish ready to rise.
  • Preheat oven to 350º
  • bake rolls for 25 minutes, or until golden brown
  • Remove from oven and let cool
  • While rolls cool, Combine icing ingredients and spread over baked rolls
    Mixing the icing ingredients together for the sweet rolls.
  • ice the rolls while they're in the pan
    Spreading icing over sweet rolls with spatula in front of greenery and a bottle of milk.

Notes

You can add a Tablespoon of Orange Zest to the dough as well as the filling AND the icing if you want the rolls to have a dash of citrus as well.
Make these overnight rolls:
To make these rolls for an early morning holiday breakfast simply make them up until they are rolled, cut, and in the pan. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day remove them from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature and finish rising. Then bake and ice as directed up fresh cranberry and orange sweet rolls for the whole family!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 403kcal | Carbohydrates: 84g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 547mg | Potassium: 169mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 145IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 3mg
laura sampson

About Laura

Laura is on a mission to teach modern family oriented women how to make old-fashioned foods new again. A wife and mom of 3 boys, Laura understands the struggles of trying to serve a home-cooked meal each night. She provides recipes and cooking hacks for busy moms to create dishes they may think take more time or skill than they have to make. Read more...

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