Go Back
–+ servings
Top view of the best homemade orange rolls with cranberry sauce.
Print Recipe
5 from 39 votes

Orange Cranberry Rolls

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!
Prep Time3 hours
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Bread, Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 9 Servings
Calories: 403kcal
Author: Laura

Ingredients

Homemade Sweet Roll Ingredients:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 packet active dry yeast
  • ⅓ 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
  • ⅔ 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 9x13 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 8-9x15 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