These Homemade Sweet Orange Rolls with a Dreamcicle Orange Frosting are ooey and gooey and so fun to make. They're bursting with orange flavor and smothered with a sweet and tangy dreamcicle orange frosting. It's a match made in heaven!

If you love baking cinnamon rolls, you're gonna love this recipe variation. Instead of the sweet cinnamon flavor, this orange rolls recipe is loaded with buttery sugar and orange zest, and that's just the orange rolls. The frosting will soon become your favorite too.

This is a homemade version of Pillsbury Orange Rolls, orange glaze cinnamon rolls.

If you're a huge dreamcicle fan, this orange buttercream frosting is drool-worthy. It has a splash of vanilla flavoring and is bursting with sweet orange zest too. Wowza!

And if you're looking for some other Dreamsicle Recipes, be sure to try our Dreamsicle Cookie Bars and Dreamsicle Cookies too.

More Sweet Roll Recipes

Quick Cinnamon Rolls -These are always a hit and are an easy rendition of the classic homemade cinnamon roll.
Caramel Rolls- These have ooey gooey caramel on top of the light and fluffy cinnamon rolls.
Einkorn Cinnamon Rolls -If you have some gluten sensitivities, try this recipe for homemade cinnamon rolls.
Mixed Berry Sweet Rolls- This one is a variation using a triple berry frozen fruit blend. No need for fresh berries.
Raspberry Sweet Rolls -This one also includes a variety of rolling into heart-shaped sweet rolls. An adorably fun and sweet treat.
Lemon Sweet Rolls-These are bursting with lemon flavor inside and a creamy lemon buttercream frosting on top.

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HOW TO MAKE A YEAST DOUGH:
Ingredients
How To Make
Homemade Sweet Orange Rolls with a Dreamcicle Orange Frosting

HOW TO MAKE A YEAST DOUGH:

There are 3 important things to remember when making yeast dough. Here’s what I call the yeast trifecta!

Yeast (any brand of active dry yeast will work)
Sugars (honey and granulated sugar work great)
Warm milk or water (the temperature of the milk or water should be about 115 degrees. It should be just warm to your wrist. If your water is too cold, it will take the yeast longer to activate. If your water is too hot, it will kill the yeast and your cinnamon rolls won’t rise.)

Mix the water, yeast, and sugar together to activate the yeast:

Whether you’re making rolls, bread or cinnamon rolls, this is the start to your recipe. Mix these 3 things together and let the mixture sit in a warm place for about 5 minutes. You will know if the yeast is activated if the mixture light frothy and bubbles have formed on the surface. Your yeast is activated!

Ingredients

First, start by making the dough for the cinnamon rolls. If you’ve never made yeast dough before, this is a great recipe to start.

YEAST: You can find yeast in the baking aisle at the grocery store. It comes in a few different packages, a small envelope, a small jar, and a large air sealed package, (about 1 lb size) Yeast is what will make your dough light and airy. It is used in baking as a leavening agent, where it converts the food/fermentable sugars present in the dough into the gas carbon dioxide. This causes the dough to rise and expand as when gas is created and forms air pockets or bubbles.
SUGAR: I used white granulated sugar in this recipe. You can certainly use the same amount of honey if you prefer to use natural sugars.
Butter: I used melted butter for this recipe. you can use avocado oil in its place if you’d like. For recipes like french bread where you want a thick outer crust on the bread, you don’t add oil to the recipe. For rolls and for cinnamon rolls, you want the bread to be softer and it doesn’t’ need a thick outer crust. Add a little butter or fat to keep the cinnamon rolls soft.
Water: You can also exchange water for the milk in this recipe. You will want the water temp to be around 115 degrees. Warm temperatures and sugars are needed to activate the yeast. If your water is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
Salt: I like to use pink Himalayan sea salt in my baking. It has extra vitamins and minerals in it that regular table salt doesn’t have. If you don’t have sea salt, regular table salt will work too.
Flour: No need to use bread flour here. Regular, all-purpose flour will work great.
Egg: Eggs help with rising and are a leavening agent. Also, the fats in the yolk help keep the dough tender when baked and lighten the texture.

How To Make

(This is the same as regular dough, it's the filling and the icing that will make all the difference.)

In an electric mixer, add the warm water (If you’re using warm milk, you can heat it in the microwave or on a stovetop in a pan. Be careful not to overheat the milk. If you overheat the milk, let it cool till it is about 115 degrees or barely warm on your wrist)
Add the sugar and yeast, mix. (Let that mixture sit for about 5 minutes or until the yeast mixture is light and frothy.
Add 3 cups of flour, eggs, and salt. Using a dough hook on your mixer, mix the dough for about 2 minutes or until the dough is really gooey and stringy. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add more flour, a half-cup at a time, to the yeast mixture while mixing. Once you have added about 5.5-6 cups flour total, continue to knead the bread. Add the remaining flour slowly with this in mind….The amount of flour you add depends on several factors, some of those factors include how much humidity is in your kitchen and the altitude. Because of these factors, you will want to add flour only until the dough pulls away clean from the edge of the bowl. By watching this important step it will ensure you don’t add too much flour to your dough. If you have flour leftover, no worries. You can dust your countertop lightly with the remaining flour when you roll your dough out.
Once you have added the needed flour, continue to knead the bread with the kitchen aide or boche mixer for another 2 minutes. Turn the mixer off and let the dough sit for about 10 minutes.

orange sweet rolls rising in a baking dish

How To Roll Out

To roll out the best homemade orange cinnamon rolls, you will want to lightly flour your countertop and a rolling pin. Separate the dough into 2 or 3 portions, depending on how big your working surface is. (If you have a large working surface you can roll your dough out in 2 batches. If you have a small working surface you’ll need to do it in 3 batches.) Use your rolling pin and roll the dough out into a rectangular shape. You will want your dough to be about 18? tall by about 24? wide. More importantly, the dough should be about ½? thick in all areas.
If you like really thick pieces of the cinnamon roll, you can make your dough about ⅔? thick and if you like your cinnamon rolls really thin, make the dough closer to ⅓? thick. ½? thick dough makes a really nice cinnamon roll filling/cinnamon roll dough ratio.
When rolling out the dough, it’s helpful to start in the middle of the dough and roll outwards from the center. If the dough is a little sticky, pull back the dough and add some more flour to your baking surface.
Try to keep the dough as symmetrical as possible. This will help keep the size and thickness of the cinnamon rolls the same.

Filling

Once your dough is rolled out, you can add the filling. Melt the butter (about 4 Tablespoons) and brush it on the rolled dough. Sprinkle the white sugar (about ½ cup) on the butter and then sprinkle the orange zest ( about 3 Tablespoons or zest from 2 oranges).

How to Cut:

You can use floss to slide under the roll and cut the rolls into 1? thick slices. You can also use a large knife, that has a little bit of serration, to cut the orange sweet rolls into 1? thick slices.
Lay the rolls in a greased baking sheet about ½?-1? apart.
Continue with this process until all the dough is rolled out, filled with butter, orange zest, and sugar, cut into slices, and rising in the baking dish.

Let the Rolls Rise:

Cover the orange sweet rolls with a light towel and put them in a warm place until they double in size. They should be spongy to the touch.

How long to Bake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the oven is preheated, bake the rolls for about 30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

How To Make Orange Frosting (Dreamcicle Frosting)

Make sure to use soft butter( ½ cup), room temp is best. In an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer down very low and add the powdered sugar (3 cups), ½ teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon orange extract flavoring, 1 Tablespoon finely grated orange zest, and 2 Tablespoons Orange Juice and then mix until all the ingredients are combined. Turn the mixer on high again and beat until fluffy. This makes the best orange buttercream frosting.
Spread a thick layer of this orange frosting recipe on the warm rolls, just out of the oven, paying close attention to evenly coat the edges of the sweet rolls.

If you're a fan of orange dreamcicles or orange creamsicle frosting, You're going to love this recipe. It's also amazing on cakes, cookies and cupcakes.

How to Re-heat Sweet Rolls:

You can add the entire pan of rolls back in the oven on 300 degrees for about 10 minutes or you can place the sweet rolls in the microwave on a paper plate and heat it for about 20 seconds or until warm. Adding an extra dollop of orange frosting to the rolls when reheating makes them even more delicious! Enjoy!

Homemade Sweet Orange Rolls with a Dreamcicle Orange Frosting, here's the recipe. Let me know how they turned out!

homemade orange sweet rolls with orange dreamcicle frosting

Homemade Sweet Orange Rolls with a Dreamcicle Orange Frosting

These Homemade Sweet Orange Rolls with Orange Dreamcicle Icing are ooey and gooey and so fun to make. They're bursting with orange flavor and smothered with a sweet and tangy dreamcicle orange frosting. It's a match made in heaven!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

cooling time 5

Total Time 1

Servings people

Calories 409kcal

Ingredients

Sweet Roll Dough

2 cups
warm water
2 Tablespoons Yeast Rapid Rise
¼ cup Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 Tablespoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
you can also substitute avocado oil for the you can also substitute avocado oil for the
5.5-6
cups Flour All-purpose baking flour

Orange Roll Filling

4 Tablespoons Butter, melted
½ cup Sugar granulated, white sugar
3 Tablespoons Orange Zest or zest from 2 large oranges

Orange Dreamcicle Frosting

½ cup Butter room temperature
3 cups Powdered Sugar plus an extra ½ cup if needed. (Confectioners Sugar)
1 Tablespoon Orange Zest fine orange zest
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoon Orange Extract
2 Tablespoons Orange Juice

Instructions

Sweet Roll Dough

In an electric mixer, a kitchen aid or bosch mixer works great, add the warm water (If using milk, You can warm the milk in the microwave or on a stovetop in a pan. Be careful not to overheat the milk. If you overheat the milk, let it cool till it is about 115 degrees or barely warm on your wrist)
Add the sugar and yeast, mix. (Let that mixture sit for about 5 minutes or until the yeast mixture is light and frothy.
Add the butter, 3 cups of the flour, eggs, and salt. Using a dough hook on your mixer, mix the dough for about 2 minutes or until the dough is really gooey and stringy. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add more flour, a half-cup at a time, to the yeast mixture while mixing. Once you have added about 5 cups flour total, continue to knead the bread. Add flour only until the dough pulls away clean from the edge of the bowl, up to 1 more cup.
By watching this important step will ensure you don't add too much flour to your dough. If you have flour leftover, no worries. You can dust your countertop lightly with the remaining flour when you roll your dough out.

Rolling Out the Orange Rolls

To roll out the orange rolls you will want to lightly flour your countertop and a rolling pin. Separate the dough into 2 portions. Use your rolling pin and roll the dough out into a rectangular shape. You will want your dough to be about 18" tall by about 24" wide. More importantly, the dough should be about ½" thick in all areas.
When rolling out the dough, it's helpful to start in the middle of the dough and roll outwards from the center. If the dough is a little sticky, pull back the dough and add some more flour to your baking surface.
Try to keep the dough as symmetrical as possible. This will help keep the size and thickness of the cinnamon rolls the same.
Once your dough is rolled out, you can add the filling. Melt the butter and brush it on the cinnamon roll dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar on the butter and then sprinkle the cinnamon on the brown sugar. Add raisins if desired.
Starting with the bottom of the dough, roll the cinnamon roll, moving along the dough as you go, roll the dough into a long "pipe or log."
You can use floss to slide under the roll and cut the cinnamon rolls into 1" thick slices. You can also use a large knife, that has a little bit of serration, to cut the cinnamon rolls into 1" thick slices.
Lay the cinnamon rolls in a greased baking sheet about ½"-1" apart.
Continue with this process until ALL the dough is rolled out, filled with cinnamon and sugar, cut into slices, and rising in the baking dish
Cover the cinnamon rolls with a light towel and put them in a warm place until they double in size. They should be spongy to the touch.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the oven is preheated, bake the cinnamon rolls for about 30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Orange Dreamcicle Frosting

Make sure to use soft butter( ½ cup), room temp is best. In an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer down very low and add the powdered sugar (3 cups), ½ teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon orange extract flavoring, 1 Tablespoon finely grated orange zest, and 2 Tablespoons Orange Juice and then mix until all the ingredients are combined. Turn the mixer on high again and beat until fluffy.
Spread a thick layer of this orange frosting recipe on the warm rolls, just out of the oven, paying close attention to evenly coat the edges of the sweet rolls.

Nutrition

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