Orange Honey Cinnamon Rolls
These Orange Honey Cinnamon Rolls Came Out Awesome!
Hi everyone, I know it’s been about a month since my last post but I so needed some rest. With the holidays and we had a last minute trip to Florida for two weeks, while New England was hit with another Bomb Cyclone. Though I haven’t written I have taken tons of food pictures which I will update onto the blog over the next month.
So…these Orange Honey Cinnamon Rolls-I made these right before Christmas Eve and the dough made a bunch so I froze the dough. I can then bake off some or one when I want…win!
These cinnamon rolls also stay soft for a few days after baking…not like other cinnamon rolls that are only soft for one day. The secret to this is to prepare a starter prepared with milk, water, and flour.
Now, you can use all-purpose flour, like I did when making these, but you can also use bread flour which results in a softer, chewier roll. When I was making these I didn’t have bread flour, so I used all-purpose.
I love how the orange zest brightens up the flavor of this cinnamon roll. Then there is the honey glaze, more like honey caramel-OH MY GOSH, butter, brown sugar, honey, and orange!
I hope you enjoy these as much as my family and I did over the holidays.
For more fun recipes check out:
Fried Banana Cheesecake Spring Rolls

Orange Honey Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Starter
- 5 TBSP water
- 5 TBSP milk
- 3 TBSP + 1 tsp all-purpose flour
Dough
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter, unsalted
- 1 TBSP vanilla sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup vanilla sugar
- 3 ea eggs
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 TBSP orange zest
Filling
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup vanilla sugar
- 2 TBSP orange zest
Glaze
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup butter, unsalted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 TBSP orange zest
- 2 TBSP orange juice
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
Gather all ingredients and equipment
Starter
- Over medium heat, whisk together all starter ingredients in a small saucepan until there are no lumps. Whisk constantly until the mixture is thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, about one minute. Remove from heat and reserve.
Dough
- In a small saucepan heat the milk and butter over medium heat until about 100°F. Take off the heat and place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
- Whisk in the 1 TBSP vanilla sugar and yeast to the milk mixture and allow to sit for about five minutes.
- Add the starter, remaining vanilla sugar, eggs, salt, flour, and orange zest. Knead until thoroughly mixed.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and grease the bowl lightly with oil. Place the dough back in the bowl. Cover with a warm damp tea towel and allow to rise until doubled in volume.
- Punch the dough down, place on a well-floured surface. Roll out the dough into an 11 x 17-inch rectangle.
Filling the dough
- Mix together the cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla sugar, and orange zest. Brush the melted butter on the rolled out dough. Sprinkle the sugar mix evenly on top of the dough and melted butter.
- Starting from the long side, roll up the dough tightly and cut into 3/4 inch slices.
Glazing and Baking
- Over medium heat in a medium sauce bring to a simmer the honey, brown sugar, butter, salt, orange zest, and orange juice.
- Fill the bottom of each muffin cup with 1 tablespoon of orange caramel. Lay the slices of dough over the caramel. Let rise for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 20 minutes until golden.