Orange Sweet Rolls

My most favorite breakfast (other than EGGS!) growing up were when we bought the orange sweet rolls ... you know the ones you can buy in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. That orange glaze. That warm ooey gooey goodness. Last night, I was craving that orange sweetness. So, I decided to make a batch for breakfast on Saturday morning. And, oh my goodness, I'm so glad I did. The comment made by Nathan after eating one was the following: "So, if we we only had one day left to live, would you make us each a tray of these and let us eat them all?" Mission accomplished. Delicious. I got this recipe directly from Sally's Baking Addiction. Check out her website! She has a LOT of great recipes!

Orange Sweet Rolls
Ingredients:
DOUGH
1 package active dry yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
1/2 cup warm water
fresh orange zest from 1 medium sized orange
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 - 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
FILLING
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
GLAZE
1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
1 Tablespoon orange juice
fresh orange zest from 1 medium oranges
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Make The Dough: Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water for about 1 minute. No need to use a thermometer for the water's temperature, but to be precise: about 105-115F degrees. Stir the yeast/water around. Then add orange zest, orange juice, sugar, salt, egg, butter, and 1.5 cups of flour. Beat everything together on low with a handheld mixer, scraping down the sides as needed. (A mixer is definitely needed to break up all the butter and beat everything to the proper consistency.) With a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough easy to handle - about 1.5 - 2 more cups. You are looking for a dough that is not sticky and will spring back when poked with a finger.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands for about 5-6 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1.5 hours.

2. Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving room on the sides. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling in, roll into a 10x15 inch rectangle. I used a ruler for accuracy. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick, even at the corners.

3. For The Filling: in a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon. Spread the dough rectangle with softened butter and sprinkle generously with all of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Tightly roll up the dough and cut into 16 even rolls (1 inch in width each) with a very sharp knife. Arrange them in the prepared baking pan, cut sides up. Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes - 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Cover the rolls with aluminum foil and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until they are lightly golden in color. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for about 15 minutes.

4. Make The Glaze: In a small bowl, mix together all of the glaze ingredients and drizzle over rolls before serving. Add more orange juice to thin out, if needed.

Make ahead tip: Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up before enjoying. You can also freeze the unbaked rolls and here's how: let the rolls rise through step 4. Then, bake the rolls for only about 10 minutes at 375°F. Cool completely, then cover tightly and freeze. Take the rolls out of the freezer and put into the refrigerator a few hours before serving. Then, finish baking them.

This is what I did. Overnight worked fabulously! To make this recipe using an overnight method: prepare through step 4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and let rise, about 1 hour.