Orange Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients

DOUGH

• 1 package Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• orange zest from 1 medium orange
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tablespoons Navel Orange Olive Oil
• 3- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

GLAZE

• 1 - 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (more for thicker glaze)
• 2-3 Tablespoons orange juice (less for thicker glaze)
• fresh orange zest (1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Make the dough:  Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water (105 F- 115F) for about a minute. Stir the yeast/water around. Add orange zest, orange juice, sugar, salt, egg, Navel Orange Olive Oil, and 1 1/2 cups flour. Beat everything together in a mixer, stirring in the remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle- about 1 1/2- 2 more cups. Dough should not be sticky and will spring back when poked with a finger.

2.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands about 5-6 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1.5 hours.

3.  Line just the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll into a    10x15 inch rectangle. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick, even at the corners.  

4. For the filling:  In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon. Spread the dough rectangle with softened butter, and evenly sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Tightly roll the dough and cut into 16 even rolls (1 inch in width each) with a very sharp knife. Arrange in baking pan with cut sides up.

5.  Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm place for 30 min - 1 hour.

6.  Preheat oven to 375F. Cover the rolls with aluminum foil and bake 25-30 minutes, until golden in color. Transfer pan to a rack and let cool for about 15 minutes.

7. Make the glaze:  In a small bowl, mix together all the glaze ingredients, and drizzle over buns before serving.

NOTES

1. Overnight instructions:  Prepare through step 4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the refrigerator overnight. In morning, remove from refrigerator and let rise about 1 hour.

2. Freezing Instructions:  Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and warm up before eating. 

(Recipe adapted from recipe from @sallysbakingaddiction)