Cranberry Sweet Rolls with Orange Cream Cheese Icing

5 from 3 votes

Cranberry Sweet Rolls with Orange Cream Cheese Icing

Sweet, tart, pretty and so tasty, these cranberry sweet rolls are made with the same dough as cinnamon rolls and spread with homemade cranberry sauce. Ice them with the easy orange cream cheese icing.

Prep Time20

Rising1 30

Total Time1 50

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: Canadian

Servings:

Calories: 298kcal

Author: Jacqueline Piper

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Rolls

1 cup milk warm
¼ cup granulated white sugar
¼ cup oil
2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast or active dry, see notes
1 large egg at room temperature
4 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ recipe cranberry sauce 1 cup

For the Icing

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature 1 brick/package
½ cup powdered sugar sifted
1 large orange zest and juice*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Rolls

Mix the dough by adding the milk, oil, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. If using instant yeast, move on immediately. If using active dry yeast, let sit for 10 minutes or until foamy on top.
Add the egg and mix it in.
Add the flour and salt and mix to bring together. Knead for about 5 minutes or so.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set somewhere to rise for an hour or until doubled in size. (I use the inside of my oven with the temperature turned OFF and the light turned on).
Roll the dough into a large rectangle (approximately 12 x 36 inches)
Leaving half an each on a long side, spread the rest of the dough with the cranberry sauce.
Roll the dough up into a log, starting with the long edge opposite of the bare edge. Pinch the seams into the roll.
Cut the log into 12 equal portions. you can do this by cutting the dough in half and then each of those halves in half again to get 4 portions. Cut each of those 4 portions into 3 more portions to get 12 total portions. Place rolls into baking pan.
Cover and let rise for 30-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
Bake the rolls for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Let rolls cool.

For the Icing

Make the icing by combining the cream cheese, sugar, orange juice, orange zest and the vanilla extract. Whip into smooth icing.
Once rolls have cooled a bit, spread or spoon the icing on.

Video

Notes

Notes –

Use your oven, with the temperature turned OFF and the light turned on for rising dough.
When measuring flour, I go by 120 grams per cup. If you’d like to use cup measurement for the flour, then measure lightly by scooping your flour into the measuring cup, and not digging your cup into the flour. You’ll get the best results by using a scale though. Start with about 75% of the flour and add more as needed.
I used a Cara Cara orange.
If using active dry yeast, make sure to proof it first and add about 10-15 minutes to rise times.

Substitutions – Try 1/2 brown cup sugar instead of powdered sugar for the filling.

Storage – Keep leftovers covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for a few days. Best on the first day.

Nutrition