
After the success with my Gluten Free Cinnamon Buns, I decided to try another approach (if you haven’t tried those cinnamon buns yet…what are you waiting for?). By changing a few things here and there, I came up with these delicious Gluten Free Orange Rolls. YUM! As you can see, just because you have celiac disease or a gluten-intolerance, doesn’t mean that you will never have great food, and desserts, again. You just have to commit some time to it, and you’ll thrive! Plus, homemade tastes better than store-bought, whether it is gluten-free foods or regular foods.

Gluten Free Orange Rolls
Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert, these gluten free Orange Rolls are a sweet yeast bread with a citrus twist.
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (see note)
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1 tablespoon rapid rise yeast
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix (dry)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons oil (I used Canola)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, very soft
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon orange zest
Glaze:
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- Orange juice of 1/4 orange
Instructions
Dough:
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix all dry ingredients until combined. Set aside.
- Put water and margarine in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the margarine has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add milk, stir. Add other wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
- With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you have to.
- Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
- Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out on a slightly damp counter top, so it covers an area bigger than 8" x 16". Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Gently lay another piece of plastic wrap over the top of the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish shape. Lift and reposition the top plastic wrap whenever you need to. Roll the dough out (with the plastic wrap on top) to a square approximately 8" x 16".
- Remove plastic wrap. Spread filling mixture evenly across dough's surface. Leave 1 1/2" along one long end without any filling, this is where your orange rolls will be sealed.
- Starting along the long end, use the bottom sheet of plastic wrap to lift the edge of the dough and roll it up, forming a long cylinder. Start with the edge that has filling on it, that will be the center of your finished rolls.
- Using a long piece of dark thread (light colours can be lost in the dough), cut the long "orange roll log" into 8 pieces, about 1 1/2" wide. You can do this by placing the thread underneath the roll, crossing it at the top, and pulling the threads so they cross each other, pulling it through the dough. This way, you won't be squishing your dough down by cutting with a knife. Place rolls in prepared pan, with cut side up. I like to push the rolls down to about 1" high.
- Allow the orange rolls to rise in a warm, draft free place for about 30 minutes, or until nearly double in size.
- Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are a nice golden brown.
Glaze:
- While rolls are baking, in a small sauce pan, combine the glaze ingredients. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 1 1/2 minutes. Spoon the glaze over the buns when they are still hot.
- These are best served warm, however, I had great success with reheating them in the microwave for a few seconds when they were a day old as well.
Notes
The flour blend consists of 4 cups superfine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch (not flour), 2/3 cup tapioca starch. Combine all ingredients in a large zipper-top bag. Shake until well blended.
Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen says
These look absolutely beautiful!
Jeanine says
@Sarena Shasteen – The Non-Dairy Queen Thanks Sarena! BTW, love your blog name. 🙂
Susan says
Oh my word…those look so good…I want one now!!!
Sarah says
WOW. These look amazing. I'm thinking of making these very soon!
Marlow says
Oh my gosh! I want to make these!! Why am I so lazy?
emily says
haha. this made me laugh out loud. they are a lot of work but they are worth it! they are SO SO SO good.
Jeanine says
lol All good things take time, right? 😉
Vintage Barn 27 says
Hello, Found you through Mennonite Girls Can Cook. Love that you have gluten free recipes. I will be cooking from your recipes.
Thank you.
Kim-Cook it Allergy Free says
These are beautiful!! JUST BEAUTIFUL!! I will be making these very very soon! I think you have hit it perfectly here for rolls. And what a fun way to play with the flavors now!! So cool!! My family will be very happy once i whip these up!
Eliana says
Hmmm – these buns look sinfully delicious. Have to make them soon. Love them.
GF Gidget says
I've never heard of an orange roll before!
betty r says
Looks wonderful..and I'm sure the scent in the kitchen when they were baking was amazing!
Jeanine says
@Susan Sorry, Mom, they're gone already. 🙁
Jeanine says
@Sarah When you do, Sarah, let me know how they work for you!
Jeanine says
@Marlow Ha! Well, when you DO feel like it, make 2 pans right away and freeze one to rise & bake another day, that way you can enjoy them AND be lazy. 😉
Jeanine says
@Vintage Barn 27 Welcome here, Vintage Barn! All the recipes here are GF, and I don't think we're lacking anything. 🙂
Jeanine says
@Kim-Cook it Allergy Free Thanks, Kim! I've got some ideas of different flavours bouncing around my mind now…something with chocolate would be especially good. 😉 Maybe some chopped peanuts… hmm…
Jeanine says
@Eliana You won't regret it, Eliana!
Jeanine says
@GF Gidget They are sort of a "lighter" alternative to cinnamon buns…same concept, but with fruit. Still good though. 🙂
Jeanine says
@betty r They smelled fantastic, Betty! Almost as good as my pancakes with orange zest & chocolate chips this morning. 🙂
georgescookie says
these look so yummy! i will definitely try these.
why use the guar gum, is it super important? because i can't find it in my health foods store. can i sub it with something else?
Jeanine says
@georgescookie I use the guar gum & xanthan gum in combination, just because I've read that they work well together (and this dough is well, just not 100% sure that it makes a difference). Feel free to use 1 extra tsp of xanthan gum instead of the guar.
Bren says
ooooh YUM! with some café con leche. ye, please!
Jeanine says
@Bren Bren, after googling what Cafe con leche was, I totally agree with you! Yes please! 🙂
Rhonda says
Oh wow- these look good! I love baked goods with lemon or orange. Or lime. OK, citrus of any kind. The pudding is an interesting twist, does it add a lot of flavor, or keep them moist or ??
Jeanine says
@Rhonda I LOVE citrus too (have you seen the lemon cake I have on this blog…swoon…
I picked up the pudding mix trick from the Cake Mix Doctor's gluten-free book. I believe it adds some sugar and protein, and helps the dough stay a little moister.
Anonymous says
What if I don not have a mixer like yours. Can mixing be done by hand? Or if there another alternative?
Jeanine says
@AnonymousOne person said they made the cinnamon buns (successfully) without a mixer, and it is the same dough, so with some elbow grease, you should be able to make these.
Tasty Eats At Home says
Gaw, these look good. Love orange rolls.
Jeanine says
@Tasty Eats At Home Thank you!
Mary says
Yum!! I was just wishing I could have orange rolls again…..thank you, I’ll have to give them a try!
Mary
Becky says
Oh me, oh my! I remember growing up with those cans of instant rolls that pop open, bake in 17 minutes, and serve. Orange rolls, cinnamon rolls, caramel rolls (that we added nuts to), all those good things that I’ve missed…Now the last piece of the puzzle has fallen into place! Orange rolls! Yay! (guess what I’m making for the snack at my ladies Bible study this Friday?…) How well do you think it would work to make the rolls, fridge them overnight, THEN let them rise and bake in the morning?
This upcoming weekend is a busy weekend of baking! Gonna make these rolls for my ladies Bible study, gonna make your sugar cookies for my baby shower on Saturday, and then gonna make blackbottom cupcakes for the snack in our fellowship group at church. *phew!* Gonna be busy! ^_^
Jeanine says
Oh, you are a busy little baker! Did you want to save some time? The orange rolls use the same dough as my cinnamon rolls, so you could make them a few days ahead, cover them before they rise, freeze them, and when you’re ready to bake, set them on the counter to defrost & rise. Otherwise, refrigerating overnight should work just fine too. 🙂 Sounds like a delicious weekend!
Katy says
Thank you! We have a family tradition of serving orange rolls at Christmas and Thanksgiving. I missed them last year. I am going to try these out and see if I might be able to fool the rest of the family instead of having to make both version.
Pat says
These look fabulous; I will try them as soon as I can find the substitute I need. My husband’s mother is highly sensitive to gluten – reacts even more to dairy. Can you suggest a substitution for the vanilla pudding mix?
I look forward to checking out more of your GF recipes. Thanks!
Jeanine Friesen says
Hi Pat! It is possible to make them dairy free, I’ve made the cinnamon buns dairy free with success, so these should work as well. You can find the substitutions I made on the cinnamon buns post (at the bottom of the recipe), I think that should help you: http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/2011/01/best-gluten-free-cinnamon-buns-or-rolls.html
Another favorite of mine is the Paska rolls – orange & lemon flavour. So good! http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/2012/04/gluten-free-paska-rolls-aka-sunshine-rolls.html
Kristi R. says
Hi there! Orange rolls are something my husband really misses since being diagnosed, so thank you for this! Question, if I use a flour blend I already have and it contains xanthan gum already, would I omit all the xanthan gum in this recipe? Thanks in advance!
Jeanine says
I only have experience preparing the recipe as written, Kristi. Sorry!
Diana says
Hi, I am pretty new gluten free, I love orange rolls. I don’t know what I did wrong, but they came super soft like cake batter I did used coconut milk and add some coconut flakes to the filling as the only substitution. I turned into a cake because I did not want to throw it away. Good flavor, but little bit chewy. I notice you said it’s the same dough as your cinnamon rolls, but the orange rolls have extra 1/2 cup tapioca starch. I love to bake and I love your blog, please help me.