Orange-Roll Muffins

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Citrus wakes up the warm and cozy flavors of cinnamon rolls.

By Jasmine Smith
Published on December 7, 2023
Recipe tested by
Southern Living Test Kitchen
Southern Living Test Kitchen
Recipe tested by Southern Living Test Kitchen

The Southern Living Test Kitchen has been publishing recipes since 1970, four years after the first issue of Southern Living Magazine appeared on newsstands. The Southern Living Test Kitchen team includes a team of professionals with deep expertise in recipe development, from pastry chefs and grilling experts to nutritionists and dietitians. Together, the team tests and retests, produces, styles, and photographs thousands of recipes each year in the state-of-the-art test kitchen facility located in Birmingham, Alabama.

Learn more about the Southern Living Test Kitchen
Southern Living Orange Roll Muffins on a plate ready to serve
Photo:

Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Micah Morton
Active Time:
40 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 5 mins
Servings:
10

Oooh orange rolls—what a singularly Southern treat! If you've never been blessed with a bite of these tender, gooey, sunshine-flavored rolls, you are most definitely missing out. If you can’t find a restaurant in your town that makes them, and you don’t love baking enough to tackle homemade orange rolls, you can still experience the bliss of these sweet, glazed rolls.

Our Test Kitchen professionals have come to the rescue with this deliciously smart recipe that transforms a simple can of store-bought cinnamon rolls into a quick-and-easy pan of glazy, gooey orange rolls. 


What Canned Cinnamon Rolls Are Best for This Recipe?


Our Test Kitchen created this recipe using Pillsbury Grands cinnamon rolls because they love their generous size, rich flavor, and tender texture. However, this recipe will work with most brands of canned cinnamon rolls out there. If the can you find seems small, simply use less of the filing and topping.


What's the Secret to Beautiful Orange Rolls?

For starters, be sure to swirl the dough into the muffin tin wells filling-side in so that they don’t stick. If you want to get extra fancy, check out this tip from the Food Stylists in our Test Kitchen: As you spiral the dough into a roll shape in the muffin tin, lift up slightly as you roll. This will create a slightly domed shape that will bake into a taller, more impressive roll.

Ingredients

  • Baking spray with flour

  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. orange marmalade

  • 2 Tbsp. grated orange zest, plus 3 Tbsp. juice (from 2 oranges), divided

  • 2 (17 1/2-oz.) cans refrigerated jumbo cinnamon rolls (such as Pillsbury Grands!), separated into 10 rolls

  • 1/4 cup (2 oz.) unsalted butter, melted

  • 1 1/2 cups (about 6 oz.) powdered sugar

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 10 cups of a 12-cup muffin tray with baking spray. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

  2. Stir together marmalade and orange zest in a small bowl. Reserve 2 1/2 tablespoons of the marmalade mixture, and set aside.

  3. Working with 1 cinnamon roll at a time, unroll, and spread 2 teaspoons of remaining marmalade mixture over 1 unrolled cinnamon roll. Gently transfer unrolled cinnamon roll to prepared muffin tray, placing 1 end of 1 unrolled cinnamon roll in bottom of a prepared muffin well and spiraling unrolled cinnamon roll up side of muffin well. Once sides of muffin well are covered, roll opposite end of same unrolled cinnamon roll into a cone-shaped spiral, and nestle in center of dough-lined muffin well. Repeat process with remaining marmalade mixture and cinnamon rolls.

  4. Brush tops of rolls evenly with butter. (Discard any remaining butter.) Place muffin tray on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until puffed and golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove muffin tray from oven, and let cool 10 minutes. Transfer rolls to a platter. 

  5. Whisk together powdered sugar, reserved 2 1/2 tablespoons marmalade mixture, and 2 tablespoons of the orange juice in a medium bowl until smooth. (Add remaining orange juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, as needed, to reach desired consistency.) Drizzle glaze evenly over rolls, and serve immediately. 

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