In a large bowl, combine warm water, powdered milk, potato flakes, sugar, yeast and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk. Pour into the mixer bowl and secure the dough hook attachment to your mixer.

Add the butter, butter flavored shortening and eggs. Add 3 cups of the bread flour. Mix for about 30 seconds until ingredients are incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula.

Turn mixer on low and add 2 more cups of the bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time. After adding the 2 cups of flour, let dough continue to mix for about 1 minute. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. If dough is not mostly cleaning sides of the bowl, add more flour 1/4 cup at a time until it cleans the sides of the bowl. Stop the mixer and check the dough by gently pressing your finger into it. If the dough does not stick to your finger, it should be ready to knead. *When in doubt, it’s always best to go lighter on the flour. You can always add more flour, but you can’t take flour away. Too much flour in your dough will give you dry, dense rolls.

Knead on low speed for 5 minutes.

Remove dough from mixer and place in a greased bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.

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 until it thickens into a jam consistency.

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.

Divide dough into two 28-30-ounce portions. If you don’t have a scale, you can eyeball it. Round each portion to an oval shaped piece of dough by pulling and tucking it under. This will make it easier to roll out into a rectangle.

Flour your work surface and roll dough out to a rectangular shape, about 10 inches by 18 inches.

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 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 large sweet 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 orange roll. Continue to cut to get 9 equal sized sweet rolls.

Place rolls on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet about 1-2 inches apart. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let proof for about 45-60 minutes, or until they double in size.

Bake in a fully preheated 350°F oven for 18-24 minutes or until edges are just golden brown. Allow to cool before frosting.

Top with my Orange Zest Glaze.

In a medium bowl, sift the powdered sugar. Add the orange zest and vanilla. Add 1-2 Tablespoons of milk at a time and mix with wire whisk. Continue to add just enough milk to get it to a thick glaze (similar to the thickness of Elmer’s glue). If you accidentally add too much milk, just add a bit more powdered sugar and whisk…add enough to get that thick consistency. (You may substitute the milk with orange juice, but it sets up better with milk.)

Drizzle over cooled orange rolls. The glaze should set up within 10-15 minutes. Using a thick glaze like this will yield a stronger orange flavor to your orange rolls and prevent it from getting absorbed by the rolls.

Serve and enjoy!