There is nothing like a warm and gooey cinnamon roll on a lazy weekend morning. But turn them into orange sweet rolls and it's like eating sunshine. That bright citrus flavor cuts through the sweetness, giving you just enough bite. It's perfect for a summer morning.

And during a pandemic, what is better than having cinnamon or orange sweet rolls during the middle of the week? It's like comfort food, right?

I used a recipe I found on Pinterest from Money Saving Mom for easy bread machine cinnamon rolls. I've tried out the basic recipe in the past and it was heavenly. But I wanted to try making them into my favorite orange sweet rolls instead. We had some clementines we needed to eat and they are the perfect size to get a little zest from! And now that the weather is getting a little warmer, I'm craving fruity flavors.


Since this recipe whips up two round cake pans full, I wanted to share with my sister, Caitlin. We've been doing door drops to share baked goods with them, waving at them from a safe distance with masks on when they come to the door to get their gift. It's been nice to see their faces.

Because my sister is still breastfeeding her daughter who is currently sensitive to the cow protein in dairy (and she loves to eat the same food as mom and dad), everything we do for Caitlin and Alira has to be dairy/milk free. And that meant replacing the milk in the dough and icing with a substitute.


I also wanted an intense orange flavor, so I chose to replace the 1 cup of milk with a half cup plus 2 tablespoons of almond milk and a half cup of orange juice. I also added in zest from 1 clementine into the dough. For the icing, I replaced the milk with almond milk, the vanilla extract with orange extract and added the zest from 1 clementine.

Throwing all the ingredients into your bread machine makes these rolls a snap to make. You can even make the dough and leave the prepared unbaked rolls in the fridge overnight so all you have to do is pop them in the oven the next morning.


And let me tell you, these orange sweet rolls were a big hit! My niece got a little chunk of one to eat and my sister said she loved it so much she gobbled it right up. There weren't much in the way of leftovers, but if you have any, cut apart the individual rolls and wrap them in foil to freeze them.

Irresistible Bread Machine Orange Sweet Rolls

Dough:
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons warm milk (or your choice of milk substitute, I used unsweetened almond milk)
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons oil
1 egg, lightly beaten, plus 2 egg whites
zest of 1 clementine (about 1/2 tablespoon)
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups flour (add in an additional tablespoon at a time if dough seems to wet after the first few minutes of mixing)
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons yeast

Filling
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Icing
1 tablespoon milk (or your choice of dairy free substitute, again I used unsweetened almond milk)
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
4 tablespoons (or less) butter, softened
1 teaspoon orange extract
zest of 1 clementine (about 1/2 tablespoon)


Directions
First, take out your butter for the icing so it has time to soften as you do the rest of your work.

Then begin by putting your ingredients into your bread machine bowl in the order listed and run the dough cycle. Check on it after the first few minutes of mixing to see if you need to add any extra flour. (I ended up having to add 4 extra tablespoons of flour to get the right consistency. The dough should form a nice ball when mixing and kneading in the machine.)

As your dough is mixing and rising in your bread machine, create your filling. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and set it aside. Also, grease two round cake pans and set them aside.

When the dough cycle is done, flour your counter and roll the dough into a large rectangle. The thickness is up to you, but you don't want it thicker than a quarter inch. I personally prefer going a little thinner so I have plenty of layers to my rolls. (You can now also begin to preheat your oven to 325 degrees if you plan on baking these off right away. If you live at altitude like I do, heat your oven to 350 degrees.)

Next, brush the melted butter over the surface of your dough. Then sprinkle on your brown sugar and cinnamon filling. Roll up your dough into a log and cut it into 10 to 15 rolls and place them into your greased cake pans. I like to cut the whole log in half and then each half in half and so on so I get nice even rolls.

At this point, you can bake them off or cover the unbaked rolls in plastic wrap and leave them in the fridge overnight along with the icing.

Bake your orange sweet rolls at 325 degrees (350 degrees for high altitude) for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

As the rolls bake, I like to whip up the icing. The original recipe only called for 1 teaspoon of milk but every time I've made this recipe, I've ended up using 3 teaspoons (equals 1 tablespoon) of milk. Mix your icing ingredients together until smooth and incorporated.

Spread the icing on the rolls as soon as they come out of the oven then serve and enjoy warm.


Thanks to Money Saving Mom for sharing this recipe that one of her readers shared with her. It is definitely a keeper and even delicious when using a milk substitute!