These orange-walnut sweet rolls are phenomenal! Seriously one of my favorite Magnolia Table recipes to date. I made these for our gender reveal brunch with our family and it was a huge hit. They do require quite a bit of orange zest so be prepared with several oranges to get enough zest. I would say it took about four full oranges to get enough for the filling and the glaze.
The hardest part is getting the mixture for the center of the rolls mixed together correctly. You definitely need to make sure the butter is soft and room temperature, I had a small mishap with the butter that morning and it made softening it a challenge. But if at all possible, soften the butter first and the rest of the mixture should mix nicely. There is a decent orange taste to these orange-walnut sweet rolls, but its not overpowering. Don’t be afraid to make this recipe because of the orange flavoring! I also made these orange-walnut sweet rolls ahead early that morning and let them sit until I was ready for them to bake. That eliminated a lot of the prep work and made the morning go that much smoother.
Overall Review: 5/5
Overall, I loved these orange-walnut sweet rolls. They hit the spot, didn’t require making the dough ahead of time and the filling was fantastic. I would highly recommend these for any brunch or breakfast you have coming up. These also store for a day or two so you can have them for an entire weekend!
For more recipe reviews head to our site here: Recipe Reviews. If you decide to try these sweet rolls let me know in the comments below. I’d love to know what your thoughts are and if they were a hit with your family!
Orange-Walnut Sweet Rolls
Equipment
- 8 inch cake pan
Ingredients
Sweet Rolls
- 12 tbsp Salted Butter Room temperature
- 3/4 cup Packed light brown sugar
- 4 tsp Lightly packed finely grated orange zest
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 2 8-oz Cans refridgerated crescent rolls
- 1 cup Chopped Walnuts
Orange Glaze
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar
- Zest of two oranges Finely grated
- 2 tsp Pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Orange Juice (might need another 1/4 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Sweet Rolls
- In a medium bowl, add butter, brown sugar, orange zest and cinnamon. Use a fork to mash mixture into a paste. I highly suggest making sure your butter is room temperature soft so its easier to mash
- Prepare a work surface with flour and unroll one of the crescent dough cans. Press perforations closed to make a single rectangle (be gentle with the dough). Spread half of the butter mixture evenly on crescent dough. Scatter walnuts on top of butter mixture.
- Start rolling the dough from the long side until you make a log. Then cut crosswise into six pieces. Repeat with second can of dough and butter mixture.
- Once you have your 12 pieces of rolls, place cut side up in an 8-inch cake pan.
- Bake until a deep golden brown. Takes about 30-35 minutes
Orange Glaze
- In a medium bowl, whisk powdered sugar, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Add in 1/4 cup orange juice and whisk. Add more until its a glaze that drips like a ribbon off the whisk.
- Transfer (inverted) warm rolls to a serving plate and let stand for a few minutes. Drizzle glaze and serve. (I put the glaze over the pan since I was serving to a group straight out of the pan). Enjoy!
