Sweet Roll Orange Knots

Frozen Orange Rolls

I shared my Grandmother’s recipe for Orange Sweet Rolls made from scratch and they are divine. These orange rolls are amazing and regularly request by my family for the holidays.

The problem is that they basically take a whole day to make. I don’t have the time an energy to put that kind of effort into one recipe. Therefore, I decided I needed to find a shortcut to this this whole Orange Roll demand and created these Sweet Orange Roll Knots.

• Orange Sweet Rolls

Rolls Made with Frozen Sweet Roll Dough

These Orange Roll Knots are made with frozen sweet roll dough are so much easier, but still have amazing texture and flavor like the homemade ones. I honestly have never made the homemade version after coming up with these. My grandmother may be rolling in her grave, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!

I regularly use Rhodes frozen dinner rolls for making garlic butter dinner rolls, so I thought I would give their sweet roll dough a try with these orange roll knots. This cut the time to make the rolls down SIGNIFICANTLY!

How to make Orange Roll Knots

You will only need a few simple ingredients to make these Orange Roll Knots. Here is what you will need

frozen sweet roll dough

granulated sugar

oranges

butter

powdered sugar

vanilla extract

Frozen Sweet Roll Dough

You will want to plan ahead a little bit and thaw the frozen sweet roll dough in the refrigerator overnight. Cut each of the three loaves of the thawed dough into 16 pieces. I use a pizza cutter to make quick and easy work of it.

Roll each piece of dough into an 8 inch long rope. One at a time, dip them in melted butter, roll them in a mixture of orange zest and sugar and tie in a knot. Viola! You have your sweet rolls ready to raise in no time!

After the rolls have doubled in size. I help speed up the raising time by setting them by my fireplace or use the proofing function on my Mom’s electric oven when we make them at her house.

Bake the orange rolls on lined or greased baking sheets at 350F for 15-20 minutes. Allow them to cool to room temperature before glazing them with a quick mix of fresh orange juice, powdered sugar and vanilla extract.

Freezing Sweet Rolls

These delicious rolls are ready to enjoy or be frozen for a last minute breakfast when guests show up unexpected.

This recipe for Orange Sweet Roll Knots makes a very big batch. We make them in a large batch for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we don’t want to waste the sweet roll dough and use one entire package. Most importantly, these sweet rolls freeze SO WELL! After the rolls come to room temperature and are glazed, freeze them in an airtight container as soon as possible to lock in their freshness.

We have large Tupperware containers that we freeze them in, but resealable bags would also work well. Just be sure they are frozen solid before stacking them, so you don’t squish the tender dough.

Homemade vs. Frozen Dough Rolls

So you might be wondering, how do they compare to the homemade dough? Personally I thought they were very close to the made-from-scratch version. The homemade potato sweet dough from the Orange Sweet Rolls is a tiny bit richer, but the time I saved using the frozen dough made them my new go-to recipe.

The real test was when I brought a batch over to my parents to test out. My Dad grew up with the homemade version, so I anxiously awaited what he had to say. Both him and my mom commented that they tasted just as good as Grandma’s. YES! I

I literally did a happy dance in the kitchen right then and there and declared that I would never be making the time-consuming version EVER AGAIN! And in case you were wondering, my family is not the type to say anything nice just to make you feel good. Only the truth crosses their lips, kind or not. So rest assured, these rolls are amazing!

If you love a good sweet roll recipe for breakfast as much as we do, but don’t want to make homemade dough, there are so many good options. From Lemon Hawaiian Rolls to Caramel Apple Monkey Bread, it’s always a great addition to any brunch table!

• Orange Sweet Rolls
• Caramel Apple Monkey Bread

Notes

These rolls freeze great in an air-tight container up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature 1-2 hours before serving.

Serving: 1 grams | Calories: 124 kcal | Carbohydrates: 20 g | Fat: 5 g | Saturated Fat: 3 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g | Cholesterol: 10 mg | Sodium: 50 mg | Sugar: 17 g