Marmalade Rolls

There’s something special about waking up to the smell of warm rolls in the oven. Whether it’s for a holiday, a houseguest, or just for fun, rolls of all sorts have become one of my favorite bakes. While my mom’s cinnamon roll recipe is the “OG”, this week I thought it would be fun to try some flavor variations.

These marmalade rolls are made with apricot preserves, though you would be welcome to whatever type of fruit preserves you have in your cupboard. (I believe orange marmalade is Paddington Bear’s flavor of choice, if you wanted to make these for a themed event.) While the dough comes from my mom’s cinnamon roll recipe, the filling was inspired by The Pioneer Woman’s method.

What do you need for this recipe? Just a few basic ingredients, most of which are pantry staples (or will be, once you realize how often you make these rolls for friends).

For the dough, you need the following:

• Milk and heavy cream (though you could substitute both with half-and-half)
• Instant yeast
• Granulated sugar
• Salt
• Unsalted butter (room temperature)
• Eggs
• All-purpose flour (though bread flour also works well)

For the filling, you’ll need:

• Melted butter
• Marmalade – roughly half a jar
• Brown sugar

If you’re making the basic icing I outline below, you’ll need:

• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla bean paste
• Milk

Start by combining milk and heavy cream in heatproof measuring cup and microwaving until lukewarm (~45 seconds). Once warm, pour this mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add in sugar and mix with whisk attachment until incorporated. Sprinkle the top of this mixture with yeast and allow to bloom while you gather your other ingredients.

Add salt, eggs, and room-temperature butter to your mixing bowl, whisking after each addition. (The butter may remain slightly chunky despite thorough mixing – this is fine.)

Next, add in 1 cup of flour and whisk on low speed, until incorporated. If using a stand mixer, switch to your bread hook attachment and slowly knead in the remaining 3 1/2 cups for flour, stopping as necessary to scrape the sides of your bowl.

Now, assess the texture of your dough. If it pulls cleanly from your bread hook and doesn’t stick to the sides of your bowl, you’re in good shape. If it is still a bit sticky, mix in an additional 1/4 cup of flour, tablespoon-by-tablespoon, assessing after each addition to see how the dough texture has adjusted.

Once you are satisfied with your dough, allow the mixer to knead your dough on medium speed for 8 minutes. (You’re also welcome to do this by hand, if you want a bit of a workout!) After kneading, place your dough in a greased mixing bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size – about 30-40 minutes.

Once your dough is nicely poofy, gently divide in half. Roll out half of your dough on a silicone or lightly floured surface until it is approximately 1/3″ thick. Spread approximately half of your gathered marmalade (roughly 7 tablespoons) evenly across the surface of your dough. Then, brush with 3 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Of note, some marmalades are much thicker than others, and may not spread as easily. You can try heating up your marmalade (ideally by placing it in a bath of warmed water), or you can just apply a more generous helping to the dough. More marmalade would not be remiss in these rolls!

Once you are satisfied with the spread of your fillings, roll the log lengthwise (as tightly as possible) and use a serrated knife (or unflavored dental floss) to cut into slices. I usually cut a new roll every 1 to 1.5 inches, resulting in about 14-16 rolls per log.

Repeat the above (flattening, filling, rolling, slicing) with the other half of your dough. Place the sliced rolls into two greased 9″ by 13″ pans, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place for an additional 30(ish) minutes. They will gain a little bit more poof, but should not double in size. While they are rising, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.

Bake your risen rolls for 25-30 minutes, until their tops are starting to turn golden. Toward the end of your baking time, make your icing by whisking together the powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, and milk. I’ve provided a fairly wide range in how much milk to add, as a lot of people have strong opinions on the viscosity of their icing. Add what feels right to you.

Make sure you allow the rolls to cool for 15-30 minutes before icing and serving. (Icing too quickly will result in the sugar melting into the rolls – which, while delicious, won’t give the same visual/textural experience as one might expect.)

Your pillowy-soft rolls are now ready to eat. If you make these marmalade rolls at home, feel free to tag @WhiskAverseBaking in your social media shares, or leave a message in the comments below.

Marmalade Rolls

Pillowy soft and laden with fruit filling, these rolls make a scrumptious breakfast treat.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Rising time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 26 rolls

Ingredients

  

Dough

• ¾ c milk
• ¾ c cream
• 2 tbsp instant yeast
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter cubed (room temperature)
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 4 ¼ to 4 ½ c flour more or less

Filling

• 6 tablespoons butter melted
• 14 tablespoons marmalade apricot or orange preserves
• 1 cup brown sugar

Icing

• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste
• 7-10 tablespoons milk

Instructions

 

• Pour milk and heavy cream into heatproof measuring cup; microwave until lukewarm (~45 seconds)
• Add warmed milk mixture and sugar to bowl of stand mixer; mix with whisk attachment until incorporated.
• Once incorporated, stop mixing and sprinkle yeast over mixture.
• Add salt, butter, and eggs to bowl; mix with paddle attachment until butter is incorporated. (Pieces of butter may still be present – this is fine.)
• Add 1 cup of flour and whisk on low, until incorporated.
• Switch to bread hook attachment and 3 cups of flour, one cup at a time, stopping as necessary to scrape sides of bowl. Stop mixing once just incorporated.
• Assess dough texture – if it pulls cleanly off the dough hook, move on to the next step. If not, add ¼ to ½ cup of flour and mix. Your dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl as you mix.
• Allow mixer to knead dough for 8 minutes.
• Lightly grease a mixing bowl and place kneaded dough inside. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm area of your home to rise. The dough should double in size in about 40 minutes.
• After this first rise, gently divide dough in half. Roll half of the dough on a clean, floured surface, until it is a rectangle roughly ⅓ inch thick. Cover rectangle in 7 tablespoons marmalade before evenly sprinkling with ½ cup of brown sugar. Brush/pour 3 tablespoons of melted butter evenly across your filling.
• Tightly roll the long edge of your rectangle until you have a log. Using a serrated knife, cut log into slices roughly 1 inch wide.
• Repeat steps 11 and 12 with second half of the risen dough.
• Place sliced rolls into greased pans; cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 325℉.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, until tops of rolls are turning slightly golden.
• While rolls are baking, prepare icing. Combine 2 cups of powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of vanilla bean paste and 3 tablespoons of milk. Mix vigorously until combined. Add additional milk to thin to your desired viscosity.
• Allow rolls to cool for 15-30 minutes before icing and serving.

Keyword apricot, breakfast, cinnamon roll, marmalade, orange, rolls, vegetarian