Best Homemade Sourdough Orange Rolls with Glaze

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When you bite into these homemade sourdough orange rolls you’ll taste the bright orange flavor throughout the entire roll from the sourdough rolls themselves to the sweet, buttery filling, and the cream cheese glaze on top.

sourdough orange roll on white plate with sliced oranges and flowers in a vase in background

Orange rolls and cinnamon rolls are a staple in our home on Christmas morning. I’m not quite sure why that became our Christmas tradition, but it has stuck through many years. If I had to choose between cinnamon or orange rolls, I would choose orange rolls hands down. So, naturally I wanted to create a sourdough version of these rolls to bake this upcoming holiday season.

If you love recipes that highlight citrus fruit, then you’ll also enjoy these Glazed Orange Cranberry Sourdough Scones and this Chocolate Orange Cranberry Sourdough Bread.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe:

  • Make-ahead option – You can make the dough up to 3 days in advance and keep it in the refrigerator after the bulk rise until you are ready to make the rolls. Or, make the rolls and freeze for later. See instructions below under “storage”.
  • These rolls are long-fermented which helps make the grains more digestible and easier on the gut.
  • Unlike the orange rolls you will find at the grocery store, these rolls are made with real ingredients like sourdough, fresh orange juice and orange zest, butter, and cream cheese.

Sourdough Tips

If this is your first time making sourdough or you want to improve your methods, make sure to check out my tips on How to make Sourdough Starter More Active.

Tips for Sourdough Orange Rolls:

  • This recipe calls for fed sourdough starter, which means you should feed your starter at least 4-12 hours before you begin making the rolls. This will give your starter time to become active and bubbly and help your rolls to rise.
  • Make sure to soften your cream cheese ahead of time for the creamiest, smoothest cream cheese orange glaze.
  • If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can always use your hands to knead and mix the dough.
  • Two large navel oranges will give you enough zest for this recipe. However, if you’d like enough freshly squeezed orange juice you will need three oranges, or you can supplement with storebought orange juice.
pan of orange rolls with single roll on a plate

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Ingredients for Orange Sweet Rolls:

Dough ingredients:

Active sourdough starter

Whole milk or heavy cream

Orange juice

Butter

Honey or pure maple syrup

Sea salt

Unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour

Filling:

Butter, softened

White sugar, brown sugar, or Sucanat 

Orange zest

Orange glaze:

Cream cheese, softened

Butter, softened

Powdered sugar

Orange juice

Vanilla extract

pan of sourdough orange rolls with s-atuoa

Tools You May Need:

Nonstick ceramic baking pan

Stand mixer

Solid wood rolling pin

How to Make Homemade Orange Rolls:

The Day Before

Feed your sourdough starter 4-12 hours before you begin to make the dough.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter, milk, and honey over low heat, stirring often, until the butter is melted. For best results, let the mixture cool so it is not scalding hot before continuing with the next step. If it is too hot, it will kill the bacteria in the sourdough starter and the dough will not rise.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using a dough hook attachment, combine the fed sourdough starter, warm milk mixture, orange juice, and sea salt. Add the all purpose flour a cup at a time at low speed just until the dough forms into a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Don’t add too much flour or the dough will become tough and dry.

Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to do a bulk rise and ferment overnight, or for 8 to 24 hours, at room temperature. I speed up this process when I’m in a hurry by placing it in my oven with just the oven light on. You can also try placing it near your woodstove if you have one.

The Next Morning

Use a dough scraper to scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Dust the rolling pin with flour if needed.

dough with filling rolled up and cut into rolls

Make the Filling

Add the softened butter, sugar, and orange zest to a small bowl. Beat until combined. Spread the filling evenly onto the dough, except for a 1/2 inch border around the edges.

Roll the dough up lengthwise, rolling it as tight as you can. Pinch the ends of the dough into the roll. Using dental floss, cut the large roll into 12 equal parts.

baked orange sourdough rolls in pan without glaze

Bake the Rolls

Place the rolls in a 9×13 baking pan lined with greased parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and let the rolls do a second rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. Bake the sourdough orange rolls for 20-25 minutes until rolls are a light golden brown.

Frost the Orange Rolls

In a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to whip together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Then, add powdered sugar, orange juice, and vanilla and mix again until smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl as you go.

Using a knife or spatula, spread the orange glaze evenly over the rolls. Serve warm and enjoy!

Storage:

Baked rolls: Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Unbaked rolls: You can freeze sourdough orange rolls to bake later. After cutting into rolls, place the rolls on a baking sheet to freeze individually. Then, place frozen rolls into a ziploc bag. To bake, place in a 9×13 pan lined with greased parchment paper and allow to come to room temperature before baking.

More Sourdough Christmas Recipes:

pinterest pin

If you make this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars!

Sweet Sourdough Orange Rolls

Sweet Sourdough Orange Rolls

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Additional Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 9 hours 25 minutes

When you bite into these homemade sourdough orange rolls you'll taste the bright orange flavor throughout the entire roll from the sourdough rolls themselves to the sweet, buttery filling, and the cream cheese glaze on top.

Ingredients

  • Dough:
  • ¾ cup milk
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 2 Tbsp honey or pure maple syrup
  • ½ cup sourdough starter
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 3 - 3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • Filling:
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup white sugar or sucanat
  • 2 Tbsp orange zest
  • Orange Glaze:
  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 2 Tbsp butter, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
  • ½ tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Feed your sourdough starter 4-12 hours before you begin to make the dough.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using a dough hook attachment, combine the fed sourdough starter, milk, orange juice, melted butter, honey, and sea salt. Add the all purpose flour a cup at a time just until the dough forms into a ball.
  3. Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise and ferment overnight, or for 8 to 24 hours, at room temperature.
  4. Use a dough scraper to scoop the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Dust the rolling pin with flour if needed.
  5. Add the softened butter, sugar, and orange zest to a mixer. Beat until combined. Spread filling evenly onto the dough, except for a 1/2 inch border around the edges.
  6. Roll the dough up lengthwise, rolling it as tight as you can. Pinch the ends of the dough into the roll. Using dental floss, cut the large roll equally into 12 smaller rolls.
  7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the rolls into a 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes until rolls are lightly golden brown.
  8. In a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to whip together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Then, add powdered sugar, orange juice, and vanilla and mix again until smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl as you go.
  9. Using a knife or spatula, spread the orange glaze evenly over the rolls.
  10. Serve warm and enjoy! To store, keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

  • Make sure to soften your cream cheese ahead of time for the creamiest, smoothest cream cheese orange glaze.
  • If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can always use your hands to knead and mix the dough.
  • Two large navel oranges will give you enough zest for this recipe. However, if you'd like enough freshly squeezed orange juice you will need three oranges, or you can supplement with storebought orange juice.

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