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Orange Rolls

Source of Recipe

"The Southerner's Cookbook: Recipes, Wisdom, and Stories"


Recipe Introduction

"In Cullman, Alabama, the All Steak Restaurant has been luring travelers with the promise of world-famous orange rolls — a citrusy-sweet take on cinnamon breakfast rolls - since before Interstate 65 cut a swath west of town. All Steak's current owner, Matt Heim, keeps the recipe close to the vest, although he'll be happy to package a dozen to go. Since Alabama's other iconic purveyor, Sister Schubert, recently discontinued her frozen, ready-to-bake version, we applied some ingenuity to reinterpret these puffy little pinwheels for home cooks. Nothing succeeds like excess, so we went for orange in every step: tender yeasty dough sweetened with juice, buttery filling flecked with zest, and tangy marmalade stirred into the glaze."

List of Ingredients

For the dough:
â—¦ 1 â…“ cups warm water (103° to 110° F)
â—¦ ¼ cup sugar
â—¦ 1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
â—¦ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
â—¦ 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, melted
â—¦ 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
â—¦ 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
â—¦ 1 large egg
â—¦ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
â—¦ 4 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling:
â—¦ ½ cup sugar
â—¦ 2 tablespoons orange zest
â—¦ 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the glaze:
â—¦ 1 cup confectioners' sugar
â—¦ ¼ cup orange marmalade
â—¦ 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Place paper muffin liners on two baking sheets. Spray the liners with cooking spray.

For the dough:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast. (The water needs to be warm — 103° to 110° F — but not so hot it kills the yeast. Check the temperature with a kitchen thermometer). Let the mixture sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Whisk the melted butter and shortening, the orange juice, lemon juice, egg, and salt into the yeast mixture until combined. Gradually add the flour and mix until just combined. Change the whisk attachment to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until a smooth dough forms, about 7 minutes (the dough will be sticky).

For the filling:
Combine the sugar and zest in a small bowl; set aside. Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface. Divide the dough in half. Roll one piece of dough into a 20-by-12-inch rectangle about ¼ inch thick. Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and sprinkle evenly with half of the sugar mixture. Using a pizza wheel or knife, cut the dough into 1 ½-inch strips. Tightly roll the strips and place them in the prepared muffin liners. Repeat with the remaining dough, butter, and sugar mixture. (If the spiral forms a cone, press the middle of the roll to flatten it.) Cover the rolls with a clean towel and let rise in warm spot for about 30 minutes.

For the glaze:
Whisk together the confectioners' sugar, marmalade, and orange juice in a medium bowl; set aside.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400° F. Bake the rolls until golden brown, 12 to 16 minutes. Brush the hot rolls with the glaze. Serve.

Makes 24 rolls