Orange rolls

These have been a staple of holiday feasting for as long as I can remember. My mom got this recipe from a friend of hers who got it from her mother who got it from who knows where. My mom would get up early on Thanksgiving and bake these things before she would put in the turkey, and I would steal these all day long while waiting for the main event. My mom and my brother would prefer pie for Thanksgiving, and I would eat rolls. They are so light and flaky and orangey and just sweet enough. You can just eat, and eat, and eat...

I tried to make some this year for thanksgiving and as I only make them about once a year, I had a little trouble with some of the details. They turned out okay, but my mom said "wait until Christmas, and when I get there we will make some more together." With about a dozen of us in here we polished off all three dozen in minutes flat. I almost didn't get a picture to put on the ol' blog. And they were so pretty it would have been a shame...

Sharon's Orange Rolls

The night before...

2 T regular yeast (2 pkg)

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 c. warm water

In 1-2 cup glass measuring cup, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water - not too hot, it will kill the yeast. "Proof" the yeast by letting it double in volume.

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c butter

1 cup hot water

2 tsp. salt

3 eggs, beaten well.

5 + cups flour

In separate (microwavable) bowl, dissolve sugar and butter and salt in hot water, if it doesn't dissolve, you can heat in microwave until dissolved. Add eggs to hot mixture.

Add yeast and half of the flour to hot mixture (if too hot, it will kill yeast) in large bowl. Mix well with hand mixer. Add remaining flour by hand. 1 cup at a time. Add enough flour so that when you stir with wooden spoon, the dough "follows" the spoon around in large ball, (at this point you aren't really stirring or mixing anything, you are just using spoon to move the dough around the bowl.) We used about 5 1/2 - 5 3/4 cups flour. Cover with damp towel, let rise one hour. Stir down, cover tightly with saran wrap, refrigerate overnight.

Next day- 3 1/2 hours before baking-

Filling- mix together:

1 cube butter- melted

1 cup granulated sugar

grated rind of 1 large or 2 medium oranges

Divide dough in half. Roll out 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick in a rectangle about 8-10" x 18"on floured surface. Spread on half of filling, leaving 1/2 inch on long sides to seal.

Roll it up long way.

Using knife, mark sections in dough about 1 inch apart. Use thread to cut dough by placing thread in desired spot, then bring up and cross and pull tight. Spray 3 muffin tins with Pam, place roll slices in pans. Let rise for 2 1/2 hours before baking. To prevent rolls from drying out, spray one side of wax paper with Pam, and place over rolls. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.