Homemade Orange Sweet Rolls

(Courtesy of sallysbakingaddiction.com)

Ingredients:
1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
1/2 c. warm water
Fresh orange zest from 1 medium size orange
1/2 c. orange juice
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3-3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
FILLING:
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
GLAZE:
1 c. confectioners' sugar
1 Tbsp. orange juice
Fresh orange zest from 1 medium orange
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 c. warm water for about 1 minute.  No need to use a thermometer for the water temperature, but to be precise: about 105-115 degrees.  Stir the yeast/water around.  Then add the orange zest, orange juice, sugar, salt, egg, butter and 1 1/2 c. flour.  Beat everything together on low with a handheld mixer, scraping down the sides as needed (a mixer is needed to break up all of the butter and to beat everything to the proper consistency).  With a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough easy to handle- about 1/2-2 more cups.  You are looking for a dough that is not sticky and will spring back when poked with a finger.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands for 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 1/2 hours.

Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving room on the sides.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll into a 15x9 inch rectangle.  Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick, even at the corners.

For the filling: in a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon.  Spread the dough rectangle with the softened butter and sprinkle generously with all of the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Tightly roll up the dough and cut into 16 even rolls (1 inch in width each) with a very sharp knife.  Arrange them in prepared baking pan, cut sides up.  Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes-1 hour.

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

In a small bowl, mix together all of the glaze ingredient and drizzle over rolls before serving.

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