Merry Christmas Eve! I asked my Instagram followers if there was time for one more holiday recipe in 2021 or if I should save it for 2022. 100% of those who voted said YES to these Cranberry Orange Pecan Sweet Rolls. The followers have spoken! Here is my favorite way to add a little variety to the standard cinnamon roll.
Recipe Evolution
I’ve confessed that I’m not much of a baker. I love to cook, but I’ve never taken a deep dive into the science behind baking, so when I bake, I depend on tried and true recipes from bakers I trust and admire.
I first made this recipe with the dough from the Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Roll 101 post. This dough comes out perfect every time, BUT, it makes 40-50 cinnamon rolls. That’s a lot of rolls. I’ve also used the dough from this recipe I found on foodnetwork.com. This recipe makes the perfect amount of dough for this filling and icing.
I shared first two recipes first because you can easily find the recipes here on the internet, but my FAVORITE is one you’ve seen before. In my Simple Red Meat Chili post, I shared Waylynn Lucas’ Cinnamon Rolls as a side dish, and her dough recipe is my absolute FAVORITE. It’s foolproof. I need foolproof when it comes to baking. I’ve linked and highly recommend her cookbook, Sunny-side Up. The recipe can be found on page 146 of the book. Yes, I have that page memorized! The recipe makes the perfect amount of dough as it’s written.
If canned cranberry sauce isn’t your style, I first made these rolls with this Cranberry Sauce recipe from The Noshery. It’s delicious and just sweet enough. As written, the recipe makes about two cups, there will be some left over if you choose to go this route. If you’re looking to avoid some of the ingredients found in canned cranberry sauce, go with this recipe! This recipe makes about two cups of sauce, there will be about 3/4 cup left over if you choose to go this route.
I decided to try the canned sauce when I knew I was in a hurry and wouldn’t have time to make the Noshery’s cranberry sauce. This little short cut saved time but, didn’t skimp on flavor so it was a winner in my book! I prefer canned whole cranberry sauce to the jellied version. The chunky texture the whole cranberry sauce gives the filling gives a wonderful rustic look to these rolls and I love it! If you think you or your guests would prefer a smoother filling, go with the jellied.
Cranberry Orange Pecan Sweet Rolls – Filling + Icing
Equipment
- stand or hand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Rubber spatula
- small whisk
Ingredients
Filling for 12-18 sweet rolls
- 1 can whole or jellied cranberry sauce
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 stick salted butter softened
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground clove
- zest of 1 orange
Orange Icing – 12-18 sweet rolls
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- zest of one orange
- juice of two oranges use the juice from the orange you zested for the filling, plus the juice from the orange zested for the icing
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prepare your favorite yeasted sweet roll dough as the recipe states. While your dough is rising, make the filling and icing from this recipe. See post for my favorite sweet roll dough recipes.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and clove. Once those ingredients are creamed together well, add the canned cranberry sauce and orange zest and mix until just combined.
- When your dough is ready to roll out, roll out your dough and spread the cranberry orange filling edge to edge as you would a standard cinnamon roll. Sprinkle the chopped pecans on top of the filling and roll up your dough.
- Follow the remaining rising and baking instructions for your sweet roll dough.
- While your rolls are baking, make the icing by combining all icing ingredients and mixing until smooth. If your icing is lumpy, you can pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between until smooth.
- Allow the sweet rolls to cool slightly before pouring the icing over the top.
Notes
Nutrition
A short cut I haven’t tried…
I would love to try this filling and icing on a canned orange roll! You know the hit the can on the counter and they burst open. I think you could unroll the whole package and spread the filling on the inside and have a great semi-homemade version. What do you think? Am I crazy, or would this work? If I give it a try, I’ll update this post!
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