Made with my favorite sweet roll dough, these cranberry orange rolls are rich and fluffy, loaded with fresh orange flavor and filled with a delicious cranberry jam! Topped with a sweet orange glaze – I know your family will love this cranberry orange roll recipe!

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We’re taking the much loved, Homemade Orange Sweet Rolls to the next level! If you’re a Homemade Cinnamon Rolls fan, this seasonal variation is one you’ll soon fall in love with! My kids can’t decide between this one and my Biscoff Cinnamon Rolls for their favorite. But really, I think every Holiday celebration should include these Cranberry Orange Sweet Rolls!

We always find a way to include cranberries into our treats all December long. My Mom’s Cranberry Bread is another favorite that we give away for neighbor gifts!

Orange Rolls have always been a treat we love enjoying on Christmas morning! Adding fresh cranberries to an already amazing sweet roll is just about as close to bread heaven as you can get! During the Holiday season, cranberry and orange are two flavors that go so well together!

How to bake with yeast

Working with yeast dough can be intimidating at first, but the more you do it, the more comfortable you will get! Yeast is a living organism that just needs the right conditions to thrive. It feeds off of sugar and starches. When it feeds, it releases carbon dioxide gas in the form of air bubbles in the dough. This process is also known as “fermentation”. This is what gives bread dough its volume and airy texture.

If you want more information about yeast, check out my article about Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast. I also have a Guide to making Sourdough Starter, which is how to make a natural yeast.

Ingredients

There are some unique ingredients in this recipe that makes it so delicious!

Bread flour: Most bread recipes will use bread flour. It has a higher protein content (11-13%) than an all-purpose flour. Higher protein flours also mean a higher gluten flour – yielding a bread with a strong crumb structure.
Powdered milk: In baked goods it provides a creamier flavor and helps yield a more golden brown color when baked. If you are looking for a non dairy option, try using a milk powder substitute like coconut, soy or rice powder.
Eggs: Eggs in bread help to create a fluffy, big rise. They are perfect for these rolls, since it’s meant to be soft and fluffy.
Potato Flakes: The starches absorb liquid, yielding a bread that stays moist and fresher longer. These won’t dry out after a day, but stay soft for several days!
Butter Flavor Shortening: The butter flavor gives it a more rich, butter flavor. If you can’t find the Butter Flavor Shortening, use plain shortening – it will still turn out amazing! If you prefer to not use shortening, you can replace it with butter (in addition to the butter already called for in the recipe).
Fresh Orange Zest: The flavorful impact of fresh orange zest can’t be beat! Using it in the butter filling and in the orange glaze will give these sweet rolls amazing flavor!
Cranberries: Use either fresh or frozen cranberries for the filling. Cooking them on the stovetop with fresh orange zest and orange juice will help infuse that amazing flavor into the cranberry filling! The color will stay vibrant and beautiful, even after baked into the rolls!

Orange Cranberry Sweet Roll dough in a mixer.

Mixing the Homemade Dough

You will love baking with this dough! It’s such a pillowy, soft dough that’s so easy to work with! You can use it for sweet rolls and dinner rolls! Often I’ll mix up a double batch of dough and make my Cranberry Orange Sweet Rolls for dessert and a dozen Homemade Crescent Dinner Rolls for dinner.

This is also the same dough I use for my Homemade Cinnamon Rolls. It’s such a versatile dough you’ll love!

You will need a stand mixer to make this dough. The recipe provided is a smaller version that you can make if you have a smaller mixer, like a Kitchen Aid. I usually double this recipe and make it in my larger, Ankarsrum mixer. Whichever you choose, make sure you know the mixing capacity of your mixer. You don’ want to risk overloading it and burning out your motor.

Measure out all of your ingredients ahead of time. I suggest weighing your ingredients with a kitchen scale for best results.
In a large bowl, combine the warm water, powdered milk, potato flakes, sugar, salt, yeast. Whisk them together – this helps to break up the powdered milk and potato flakes and gets all of those ingredients incorporated before adding the heavier ingredients. Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add the eggs, room temperature butter and shortening. Add 3 cups of the flour (about half) and mix on low, just until all of the ingredients are combined and smooth.
While the mixer is on low, gradually add two cups of the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. This is where getting to know your dough comes into play. You’re looking for the dough to clean the sides of the bowl as it’s mixing. It should be concentrated around your dough hook. Once you get it to this point, stop the mixer and lightly tap on the dough with your finger. If it feels soft, but not wet and is cleaning the sides of the bowl, it’s ready to knead. Return to mixing it on low and allow your mixer to knead it for 8 minutes.

My number one tip for mixing this dough

Avoid the urge to add more flour. This dough is very soft and easy to work with – it’s very forgiving! You may see a little bit of dough sticking to the sides of the bowl when it’s kneading – don’t panic! Go by how it feels. You want to use just enough flour so that it doesn’t feel wet or excessively sticky.

Too much flour in your dough will give you dry, dense rolls. You can always add a bit more flour after it has kneaded if it’s too sticky to work with.

Double Rise

Like most bread doughs, this roll dough will have a double rise – meaning you will let it rise twice. Remember, the process of “rising” is simply allowing the yeast to feed and create those magical air bubbles in the dough.

The first rise happens right after the kneading is over, but before you divide and roll out the rolls. The first rise in bread making is called the “Bulk Fermentation”. It is vital to the development of your dough structure. It creates important volume and gluten development. You’ll see that after the bulk fermentation, your dough will be much easier to work with!

For the first dough rise, place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Put it in a draft-free place in your kitchen. The first rise typically takes about 60-90 minutes, depending on the ambient temperature of your kitchen. You want to keep your dough covered, in a warm place in your kitchen. You are looking for your dough to double in size.

The second rise happens after you have shaped the rolls and place them onto the pan. This is called “proofing”. The second rise will usually take about half of the first rise time. Your beautiful homemade orange rolls will puff up to double in size at this point, usually taking about 45 minutes.

The cranberry sauce will thicken as you cook it on the stove top.

Making the Cranberry Sauce

The cranberry sauce is almost like a jam and will be the only thing you spread onto the dough for a filling. Cooking it on the stovetop with the brown sugar, orange zest and orange juice will give it an amazing sweet and citrusy flavor! You can use either fresh or frozen cranberries. While the sugar will add some sweetness, the jam will also retain a little bit of tartness from the cranberries – making it the perfect flavor companion to the sweetness from the dough and orange icing!

In a medium saucepan, add the cranberries, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice and a pinch of salt. Combine the ingredients, stirring occasionally and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to a low to medium low setting so that the mixture is simmering. Stirring constantly, continue to let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes as it thickens up.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir the melted butter into the cranberry mixture.
Let the cranberry jam cool to room temperature before spreading it onto the dough.
Refrigerate any leftover cranberry sauce for up to one week.

This jam is so delicious! It could easily be used as a topping for toast, pancakes, waffles or even on turkey sandwiches! It’s hard to resist just eating it with a spoon!

Roll up your dough tightly to create more swirls and cranberry flavor in your orange rolls.

Rolling up your sweet rolls

Get your work space all ready with everything you need at your fingertips. You’ll need a small bowl with flour, a rolling pin, floss, your orange filling and brown sugar.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces, about 28-30-ounce portions. If you don’t have a scale you can eyeball it. Round each portion to an oval shaped ball by pulling and tucking the dough under. This will make it easier to roll out into a rectangle.
Flour your work surface and roll the dough out to a rectangular shape, about 10 inches by 18 inches and 1/4 inch thick.
Spread the cranberry jam on the dough, leaving an inch border on the top side of the rectangle. Leaving this border will help in sealing the dough shut when rolled up.
Start with the long side, closest to you and working from left to right begin to roll the dough up. You can tug and pull as you go which will tighten the roll and make more swirls.
Once it’s all rolled up, pinch the seam shut.
Using a piece of dental floss, make a light indentation where your cuts will be. Each of these roll outs will give you 9 rolls. This will be your guide to know where to cut and to help make them all the same size.
When ready to make your cuts, slide the floss under one end of the dough, bring the ends of the floss up, cross them over and tug to cut through the dough to make a 2-inch-wide roll. Continue to cut to get 9 equal sized sweet rolls.
Place the rolls on a greased baking pan about 1-2 inches apart. You could also bake them in a metal, ceramic or glass baking dish like a pie pan or casserole dish. Just keep an eye on your rolls as they bake since different type baking dishes will cook them slightly differently. Cover with clean kitchen towel for about 45 – 60 minutes, or until they at least double in size.

Let your rolls rise until they double in size.

Make Ahead Options

I have a couple of ways you can prepare ahead of time so that you can have freshly baked cranberry orange sweet rolls without having to start from the very beginning!

Freeze rolls to bake for later: After rolling up and placing the rolls on a nonstick cookie sheet, put the entire pan in the freezer and allow the rolls to freeze for 24 hours. Once frozen, remove the sheet pan and you can pop them off and place them in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for later use. When baking frozen rolls, remove them from the freezer bag and place on a baking sheet. Allow them to rise and bake as usual. Rising frozen rolls could take 3-5 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is.
Make the dough the night before: Refrigerate it overnight – no more than 8 hours or it may overproof. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, deflate and roll it out to shape the sweet rolls. No need to let it come to room temperature. Fill the rolls and let them rise one more time before baking, They should rise quickly, about 45 minutes, depending on how warm your kitchen is.

Bake your sweet rolls until the edges are slightly golden.

Icing your sweet rolls

Make sure your rolls have cooled completely before icing. Mixing up an icing that is on the thicker side will ensure two things: it sets up nicely and doesn’t soak into your rolls & the orange flavor will be much more present in each and every bite! Allow the icing to set for about 10-15 minutes. While the icing recipe suggests using milk, you can definitely use the juice from your orange instead – it will turn out wonderful! I prefer to use milk as it gives the orange icing a more creamy texture and flavor.

These cranberry orange sweet rolls are perfect for Christmas morning

Your family will absolutely love these cranberry rolls! It’s the best sweet roll recipe for the perfect Holiday breakfast or anytime you want to enjoy an amazing sweet and tart citrus treat! Try this recipe today!

More Recipes You’ll Love

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