Bread Machine Orange Rolls Recipe (with Cream Cheese Icing)
Sneak Preview: These bread machine orange rolls are lightly spiced with cardamom and finished with cream cheese icing. Mix the dough in your bread machine and bake in the oven for bright citrus rolls perfect for brunch, holidays, or Easter weekend. Ready in about 3¼ hours from start to finish.
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Bright citrus and a hint of cardamom make these bread machine orange rolls a standout. Especially popular for Easter brunch or spring gatherings, they’re one of my favorite sweet dough recipes to mix in a bread machine when you want something a little brighter than cinnamon rolls.
Mix the dough in your bread machine while you prep the cream cheese glaze, then shape by hand and bake in your oven for especially nice texture and color. Raisins or currants are optional.
Ingredients & Substitutions
MILK: Any dairy milk works. Almond, oat, or soy milk are fine substitutes, though the texture may be slightly less rich.
ORANGE JUICE CONCENTRATE: Use frozen concentrate for the best orange punch. Fresh juice won’t deliver the same intensity.
EGG: Large eggs (about 50 g). Avoid egg substitutes; they’ll change the dough texture.
CARDAMOM: Optional but recommended for subtle warmth. Swap for cinnamon if you prefer a classic flavor.
GRATED ORANGE PEEL: Fresh zest only — bottled zest lacks brightness.
BUTTER: Use cold butter cut into small pieces so it blends evenly during mixing. Avoid melted butter—it can make the dough too soft.
SALT: Regular table salt or sea salt. Add ¼ teaspoon more if using kosher salt.
FLOUR: Unbleached all-purpose is best. Bread flour works but may need a splash more liquid. Avoid whole wheat unless you want a denser roll.
YEAST: Instant or bread machine yeast gives consistent results. Active dry yeast works but rises more slowly.
CURRANTS OR RAISINS: Optional for a sweet bite. Dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots also work.
CREAM CHEESE (for icing): Full-fat cream cheese makes the glaze smooth and rich. Light versions will be thinner and less creamy.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Orange Rolls
⬇️ Jump to the recipe below for exact amounts and detailed instructions.
Bread Machine Orange Rolls Recipe (with Cream Cheese Icing)
Video
Ingredients
DOUGH
- ¾ cup (177 g) milk cool
- 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate thawed
- 1 large (50 g) egg
- 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
- ¼ cup (57 g) butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cardamom optional
- 3 cup (360 g) all-purpose unbleached flour
- 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast or instant yeast
- 1 cup (140 g) currants or raisins (optional)
GLAZE
- 1 oz. (28 g) cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Add Ingredients: Add ¾ cup (177 g) milk to the bread machine pan along with 1 large (50 g) egg, 1 teaspoon grated orange peel, 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate, ¼ cup (57 g) butter, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon cardamom. Add 3 cup (360 g) all-purpose unbleached flour and 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast or instant yeast on top. Start the bread machine using the DOUGH cycle.
- Check the Dough: Check the dough after 1 minute to make sure the paddles are engaged and the dough is clumping. Check again after 15-18 minutes. The dough should stick to the side, then pull away cleanly. Add additional water or flour, if necessary, one tablespoon at a time.
- Let Dough Rise: Leave dough in the machine to rise until the DOUGH cycle completes. The dough should be doubled in size. If it's not, leave it in the machine until it does.
- Incorporate Dried Fruit (Optional): Add 1 cup (140 g) currants or raisins if using during the last 5 minutes of the DOUGH cycle or knead in by hand at the end of the DOUGH cycle.
- Portion Dough: When the cycle completes, make rolls into 16 balls. (If you are adding raisins, you may work them into the dough at this point. I divide this dough in half and add 1/2 cup raisins to half of the dough.)Evenly space 8 dough balls into a greased 8 or 9-inch round cake pan. You will end up with two pans of rolls. For a tutorial on making rolls, check out my video.
- Second Rise: Cover loosely with a tea towel and let rise until almost double.
- Bake: Preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C). Place rolls into the oven and bake until golden brown for approximately 15-18 minutes. Rolls should register 190˚F (88˚C) before removing them from the oven.
- Glaze: Spoon Orange Glaze over rolls when barely warm or cool.
- Orange Glaze: Warm 1 oz. (28 g) cream cheese for a few seconds in the microwave or let sit out until room temperature. Add 1 tablespoon orange juice and (sifted) 1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar and stir until smooth. Drizzle over rolls.
Notes
- Unbaked dough: Freeze after the DOUGH cycle or after shaping (before final rise). Defrost in the fridge overnight.
- Baked bread: Double-wrap and freeze up to one month. Reheat gently.
- Stand Mixer: Mix until moistened, then knead with a dough hook (speed 2–3) until smooth and elastic (5–10 minutes). Let rise, deflate, and shape as directed.
- By Hand: Mix to a shaggy dough, knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic (10–20 minutes). Let rise, deflate, and shape as directed.
Equipment
Nutrition
All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com
Final Thoughts
Looking for the filled Southern-style version? Don’t miss my Alabama Orange Rolls inspired by the famous steakhouse rolls. Need more uses for this spice? Swedish Cardamom Bread and Sweet Bread Machine Banana Bread
— Paula, Home Economist
Homemade Food Worth Sharing
Need help troubleshooting?
Email me: Paula at saladinajar.com — photos help!
I made these for Christmas this year.
Half of the recipe into rolls and the other half into cinnamon buns.
They were so soft and delicious.
Thanks again for a wonderful recipe!
In my experience, people love choices when it comes to food. That’s exactly what you did and it wasn’t much trouble. Way to go!!
Made these today – a real winner. Light and fluffy and very easy to pull together.
I’ll be making this again, without the icing, as a replacement for Hawaiian rolls used for pulled pork sandwiches!
Glad you liked them, Dave. I like your plan to use these as a replacement for Hawaiian rolls. I have a recipe for those on this website, too.
Can I make these the day before and refrigerate them? How does that work?
Holly, You can refrigerate after rolling them out and putting the dough in the pan. You will need to allow extra time for them to rise the second time in the pan the next morning. Probably at least an hour extra. Or you can refrigerate the dough before rolling it out but after the dough cycle has completed. You may have to experiment a bit.
I can’t wait to try these. What size pan do you use? If you said that, I missed it.
I have a cake pan, but it’s nonstick and dark. Would that do, or will the rolls burn?
I was very glad to find all the bread machine recipes you have and look forward to working my way through them. Thanks!
Oh, I see now that you said in your video on dinner rolls that a dark pan is good! Still curious about the pan size, but I will give it a go with whatever seems okay.
Heather, 8 or 9-inch pans. Two of them. You could also use a 13×9 inch pan but I like the way they bake best in round 8-inch pans.
Oh and yes I iced them by your recipe.
I made the orange rolls for a Thanksgiving breakfast treat, except I rolled them out & spread butter, Marmalade jam, & brown sugar on them. Rolled them up from the long end, pinched the dough together & cut them into individual rolls. The way you do the Cinnamon rolls. Yum, soooo good!! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!!
They look great. Check Goodwill or thrift stores for breadmakers, that’s where I found the ones for my mom and me.
What a great idea!! So many people don’t realize the treasure they have in a bread machine so most sit unused. Thanks for stopping by.
Oh YUM! These look and sound outrageously delicious!!!
What a nice change from cinnamon rolls, they look so yummy!
Mimi
Wow. You see, anything that has orange flavor is a weakness of mine. Oddly enough, I don’t like actual oranges! But this… oh this… I would eat this. All of it.
orange rolls are a fave of mine. these look super easy, except I don’t have a breadmaker. KA to the rescue i guess!
These rolls look great, and that glaze! OMG it looks amazing! YUM!
Can’t wait to try your recipe. Think I will try the Amanda Cookin’ version also. Have to Lipscomb friends here till tomorrow. May cook them for breakfast tomorrow.
Love anything with orange in it, especially bread! Great rolls, thanks, I will bookmark this.
Lovely! I love orange rolls, these look wonderful 🙂 I have some on my blog too that are rolled up cinnamon roll fashion. Tasty!
Well, just in time. I was looking for something “cinnamon-rolly” to take to work tomorrow… but I don’t have a bread machine. I’ve got every other gadget and contraption… These truly look wonderful – I might venture into the “manual” method!!!