Yeast Rolls, Part 3: Orange Sweet Rolls

Here's the next installment in my yeast rolls adventure: orange sweet rolls. I used Rebecca Rather's yeast roll recipe (see previous post) and made up my own orange glaze. They turned out bright-flavored and delicious with that perfect soft texture.

You could go about these two different ways... Bake the yeast rolls as directed and then drizzle with orange glaze while they're still hot from the oven. But I wanted to have some orange flavor inside the rolls. So I very casually pressed out each dough wad in my hand and spread some orange glaze on it. Then I rolled it up and popped it in the muffin pan. Since I was trying several variations from just one batch of the dough, I left it plain. But next time, I might try mixing up a whole batch of just the orange rolls and incorporating some orange zest into the dough for a little more uniform flavor. But you don't have to go to that much trouble. These were really simple this way and very satisfying.

You'll notice one exotic ingredient used in the glaze, Fiori di Sicilia extract. It's an all-natural extract with the flavors of orange and vanilla, kind of a more exotic creamsicle flavor. It's unbelievably good. You can order it from the King Arthur Flour baker's catalog online. Once you have it, you'll find lots of things to use it in. Italians use it in pannetone. But if you don't have it and want to try these right away, no worries. It just gives it a little extra layer of lusciousness. (Substitute vanilla.)

To bake these for breakfast, assemble them in the muffin pans the night before and then return to the fridge. Pull them out and let rise just before baking.


Orange Sweet Rolls

2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp.
zest of 1 orange
3 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 teaspoon fiori di sicilia extract or vanilla
dough for yeast rolls (see previous post)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine powdered sugar, butter, orange zest, juice and extract. Stir together well to combine completely.

Grease regular size muffin pan.

Cut off pieces of the yeast roll dough (after it's overnight rise), the size of golf balls. Using your hands, press out dough into a rough rectangle the length of your hand. Spread with glaze. Roll up and place in muffin cups.

At this point, you can freeze the dough. Assemble them in giveaway aluminum 6-pack muffin pans, wrap tightly with foil, and then in an airtight freezer bag. To bake, remove from freezer, unwrap, let thaw and then follow the directions below.

Let rise on stovetop until they are 1-inch above the muffin pan, approximately 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Bake 12 minutes until golden on top. Remove from oven and remove from pan to cool on platter or rack. Drizzle with remaining glaze while still hot so that it will melt down the sides.

Best served same day, but if you find yourself with some left over the next day, just pop them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to restore their cloudlike texture.

Makes 2 dozen sweet rolls.

Adapted from The Pastry Queen Christmas by Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman.