Blood Orange Sourdough Sweet Rolls

It's citrus season, so I have been making blood orange flavored everything. These blood orange sourdough sweet rolls are as delicious as they are beautiful! Filled with a light cream cheese and walnut mixture and topped with tangy citrus icing, you might almost forget that it's the dead of winter while eating one of these.

My favorite thing about these sweet rolls is that I can use my sourdough starter! It's so much fun to work with and it lets me pretend that these literal sugar bombs are just the slightest bit healthy since they're naturally leavened instead of with commercial yeast #madefromscratch

Don’t have a sourdough starter? Never fear! Just check out my Sourdough Guide for all my tips and tricks!

You also might enjoy my recipe for classic Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls!

Making the Dough

This dough is from the incredibly talented Maurizio Leo of The Perfect Loaf. I used his dough recipe from the Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls and did my own thing with the filling and icing. I'm going to outline everything here, along with my personal tips, but I highly recommend checking out his post for more details and process pictures!

1. In your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix the sourdough starter, eggs, milk, and sugar until fully combined.Slowly add in the flour and salt and continue to mix until fully incorporated. Once combined, turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.
2. After the rest, turn you mixer to a medium speed and mix the dough for about 6 minutes until the dough comes together and there are no more clumps.
3. Add the butter to the dough, one square at a time. Let each square of butter fully incorporate into the dough before adding the next. It should take around 10 minutes to add all of the butter.
4. Cover the bowl and let the dough ferment for 2 hours at room temperature (70-75 degrees). Every 30 minutes, do a set of stretches and folds for a total of 3 sets.
5. Chill the dough in the fridge overnight. The Perfect Loaf recipe says that you can chill the dough for 2-4 hours instead, but I've only ever chilled it overnight and it always turns out perfectly. So that's my recommendation!
6. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish or line with parchment paper.
7. On a lightly floured counter, roll out the chilled dough into a large rectangle (about 10x20 inches).
8. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly across the dough, leaving a 1-2 inch margin on the top. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts evenly over the cream cheese filling.
9. Carefully roll the dough into a log shape. Using a sharp knife or bench cutter, cut the dough every 2 inches.
10. Transfer the cut rolls into your greased/lined baking dish, leaving some space between them.
11. Cover and let the dough proof for 2 hours in a warm room (around 75 degrees). The dough should relax and being to puff up a bit.

Bake and Serve!

During the last 30 minutes of proofing, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a lovely golden brown.

Let the rolls cool for about 10-15 minutes before icing. This allows the icing to stay at a desirable consistency instead of completely melting.

Tip: Only ice a few at a time. Save the rest of the icing in the fridge and when you're ready to eat a roll, heat it up in the microwave or oven until warm and then drizzle with icing. It tastes like they're right out of the oven!

Print

More Citrus Recipes

Browse more citrus recipes →