Light, fluffy and flavoured with delicate citrus notes, these soft and buttery overnight orange cinnamon brioche rolls are swirled with warming, aromatic cinnamon sugar then topped with the dreamiest vanilla cream cheese icing!
If you’ve never tried baking enriched sweet breads or pastries at home, I encourage you to give this recipe a try. Made with less butter and eggs than traditional brioche recipes, these overnight brioche rolls have a rich and tender crumb.
It’s the warming cinnamon sugar flavours that always get me and trust me, this is a recipe that never disappoints. They’re a lot easier to make than they look, and I’ve kept the glaze simple, too.
Here’s What You’ll Need to Make Them
- Unsweetened almond or soy milk (or your milk of choice)
- Active dry yeast
- Bread or all-purpose flour
- Kosher or fine sea salt
- Dark brown sugar
- Freshly squeezed orange juice
- Orange zest
- 1 egg
- Unsalted butter
- Ground cinnamon
- Cream cheese
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Vanilla
How to Make Overnight Orange Cinnamon Brioche Rolls in 5 Steps
- Mix dough, cover and let rise overnight.
- Once you’re ready to bake, prepare baking dish and make cinnamon sugar filling.
- Roll out dough, top with butter and cinnamon sugar filling, then roll and slice into 8-10 pieces and let rise again for one hour.
- Bake rolls then let cool for 30 minutes.
- Prepare vanilla cream cheese frosting, spread over rolls and enjoy!
The assembly takes a little time, but the key to the fluffy texture is the hands-off rise time. Once they’re ready to go, these rolls are a quick, 20-minute bake making them ideal for your next Sunday brunch.
These flavour-packed overnight orange cinnamon brioche rolls are a crowd-pleasing breakfast or dessert any time of year. And you will LOVE those citrus notes!
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Overnight Orange Cinnamon Brioche Rolls
The softest, buttery brioche dough swirled with cinnamon sugar then topped with the yummiest vanilla cream cheese icing. Made with less butter and eggs than traditional brioche recipes, these Overnight Orange Cinnamon Brioche Rolls have a rich and tender crumb and can be made with both dairy and plant-based substitutes!
Equipment
- Small whisk
- Rolling pin
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¾ cup unsweetened soy or almond milk, room temperature or your milk of choice
- 1¾ cups bread or all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
- 1 egg whisked
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Extra-virgin olive oil, to brush surface of bowl
Filling
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
Frosting
- 2 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Add yeast to the milk and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and brown sugar. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in yeast mixture together with orange juice, zest, egg and melted butter and mix everything together.
- Once the dough begins to hold together, pull it out onto a flour-dusted surface. With flour covered hands, knead dough turning it over 10-12 times, adding small amounts of flour as needed just until a ball of dough starts to form. Place the dough into a well-oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit somewhere warm for 8 hours or more (see note). Your dough will be ready once it has doubled in volume.
- Once you’re ready to form your rolls, prepare a parchment-lined 9×13-inch baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon and brown sugar and set aside.
- Using a dough scraper or floured hands, pull dough out onto a floured surface and gently fold it into itself several times just until a flour-covered ball has formed. Using a flour-dusted rolling pin, roll out dough into a rectangle measuring around 9 x 13 inches.
- Spread room temperature butter across the surface of the dough, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Gently press the sugar into the surface of the dough to keep it in place.
- Starting at one of the 9” ends, roll up the dough into a log shape and place it seam side down. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 1-inch rounds. Place rolls in baking dish, cover and let rise for another 60 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Uncover rolls and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven, transfer to wire cooling rack and let cool for 20-30 minutes.
- To prepare the frosting, whisk together cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread over rolls and enjoy!
Notes
To make gluten free: Use an equal amount of your favourite 1:1 gluten free flour blend in place of the bread or all-purpose flour.
Dairy free substitutes: This recipe also works well using a dairy free butter substitute and with both whole milk and dairy free cream cheese for special diets.
Rise time and temperature: An ambient rise temperature somewhere between ~70º-75º/20º-23ºC is ideal but even high 60’s/18º-19ºC should work if the dough is kept away from drafts. You will know it ready to be shaped once it has doubled in volume, and this can take a minimum of 2-3 hours or as long as a full day. With a little experimentation, you will find the time frame that works best for you.
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