Orange Sweet Rolls

Saturday was cooking club day and I planned to make the rest of May’s Sweet as Pie picks, since Mom, Daddy, and Grandmother were coming down to help us do some packing and I’d have an audience.  I got started early with Orange Sweet Rolls, a variation on Pioneer Woman’s favorite cinnamon rolls.

I started by heating milk, oil, and sugar until warm enough to stir in the yeast.

My handy-dandy instant read thermometer that Daddy got me for Christmas one year. I use it all the time.

I added the yeast mixture to 4 cups of all-purpose flour and then put the dough aside to rise for about an hour.

Risen dough. I thought the dough looked really wet at this point and I ended up adding more flour just to get it to a point where I could work with it.

After adding some more flour, baking soda, and baking powder, I split the dough in half and rolled each piece into a large rectangle.  Then it was time for the filling.

The first layer - melted butter (naturally).

Orange marmalade, brown sugar, and just a bit of salt were layered on next.

I love brown sugar. I could eat it by the spoonful. I don't. But I could.

Next, I rolled the dough and filling, sliced the rolls, and placed them in buttered pans.

Not very pretty at this point, but that's okay. We'll call them "rustic".

This recipe makes a lot! Once you have the rolls in the pan, let them rise for another 20 minutes or so.

After baking for about 16 minutes.

While the rolls were baking, I made the icing.  I zested and juiced 2 oranges, then added some milk and powdered sugar.  I think I must have had gargantuan oranges though because my icing was WAY too thin.  I tried my best to thicken it, but just gave up and went with it while it still tasted good.  Worked just fine!  I drizzled icing on each pan of rolls when they came out of the oven.These were delicious and the recipe made nearly 4 full pans of rolls.  However, they took a bit of time to make so I’ll probably only pull this one out on special occasions.  They definitely compare favorably to my favorite store-bought orange rolls by Sister Schubert.  And the best part is, there are plenty to share and enjoy for days!