2 in 1 Rolls

It's no secret that I love rolls. They just make any meal better. The great thing about this roll recipe is that it can either be made into dinner rolls, orange rolls, or both which is what I did. They can also be made into cinnamon rolls. Just replace the orange spread and glaze with your favorite filling and frosting for cinnamon rolls. The dinner rolls were soft and a little sweet and the orange rolls, yum. They were soft and sweet with great orange flavor and the glaze was perfect for me. This recipe is going in the "to keep" file.

Dinner Rolls

Our Best Bites

2 c. whole milk (if you're in a pinch, you can use 2%, but whole is best. Don't use 1% or skim.)

½ c. sugar

1/3 c. butter

2 tsp. salt

2 pkgs. Active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp.)

1/3 c. warm water

8-9 c. flour (I only needed 7 cups)

3 beaten eggs

Combine milk, sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts.
Remove from heat. Allow to cool to lukewarm. This takes quite awhile. This step is really important because if the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until bubbly.
In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 c. flour and milk mixture. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Add yeast mixture and beat on high for 3 minutes.

Stir in as much remaining flour as needed to make a soft dough. This dough should be very soft; it will stick to your finger when you touch it, but it will firm up during the rising process. Part of what makes these rolls so good is that they're so soft and light; if you add too much flour, they will be heavy and dense. Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and scrape dough into sprayed bowl. Place in a warm place, cover with a clean towel, and allow to rise 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Lightly flour your work surface and turn dough out onto surface. Divide in half. (Only do this if you want half orange rolls. Otherwise make into 24 rolls instead of just 12).

Spray a 9x13 glass pan with cooking spray. Roll first portion of dough into a rectangle and then cut it into 12 equal-sized pieces. A pizza cutter works great for this. This dough should be very easy to work with, almost like play dough. Shape each piece into a ball and place in prepared pan. Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise.

When dough has about 15-20 minutes to go (depending on your oven), preheat oven to 375. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Rub butter on tops of rolls.

Orange Rolls

adapted from Our Best Bites

The recipe above will make 12 dinner rolls and 12 orange rolls or 24 of one kind.

After you have divided the dough in half:

For the filling:

7 Tbsp. butter

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. grated orange peel.

Combine butter, sugar, and orange peel. Roll dough out into a rectangle, about 8 inches by 18 inches. Try and keep it as close to a rectangle as you can. Spread butter mixture over rectangle and roll the dough up.

Before you cut them use dental floss to mark where you will cut the dough.

To cut the dough, slip the dental floss under the log, make sure the ends line up, and then criss-cross the ends to cut the dough. This makes a much cleaner cut than using a knife. Place each piece into a sprayed muffin tin (or cookie sheet).

Cover with a clean cloth and allow both doughs to rise about 45 minutes in a warm place.
When dough has about 15-20 minutes to go (depending on your oven), preheat oven to 375.

Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes. Allow to cool. Then apply glaze.

For the glaze:

Mix together 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 3 T. freshly squeezed orange juice and 1/2 tsp. Grated orange rind. This was still really thick for me so I added a couple tablespoons of milk to thin it out. You could also use more orange juice.

Posted by: Sallie