Long-Fermented Sourdough Orange Rolls

Last Updated on December 3, 2024 by Carrie Korem, FNTP

Long-Fermented Sourdough Orange Rolls are a perfect festive dessert or addition to your brunch menu! They are soft, warm, gooey, with bright orange flavor and a hint of vanilla.

These orange rolls are made with my long-fermented sourdough brioche dough. This dough is so versatile and can be used for rolls, cinnamon swirl bread, cinnamon rolls, chocolate babka, or monkey bread.

The dough is made from a buttery sourdough that is fermented for 48 hours, rolled with orange zest and organic cane sugar and then baked. It’s topped with a cream cheese, orange and vanilla frosting and just about the best thing I’ve ever eaten! 

Whenever I post about sourdough, I get lots of questions about whether it’s healthy or not.

So here’s some info for you: 

When sourdough is fermented, the fermentation process breaks down the sugars and gluten, making it easy for the body to digest. It also contains probiotics from the fermentation process, making it a healthy option.

Fermented sourdough bread can often be tolerated by those with gluten sensitivities and can be a good first bread to try after you’ve been avoiding grains for a long period of time.

If you have Hashimoto’s or Graves’, it’s best to wait to try fermented sourdough until your gut has healed, antibodies are back to optimal and your symptoms have greatly improved. This is what I did and with the guidance of my practitioner, I eventually added back fermented sourdough. The work was well worth it!

Until then, you can enjoy all of the grain-free baking recipes I have for you!

And – did you know that forty-eight hours of slow fermentation will destroy 97% of all the gluten in the bread? The fermentation process also breaks down the sugars and contains probiotics. How amazing is that?!

To learn more about the science behind fermenting bread, check out this podcast. 

I know that fermented bread or even just sourdough in general can be intimidating. If that’s how you’re feeling, this recipe is a good one to start with because it’s easy to handle and doesn’t require too many steps. It’s pretty much fool-proof!

The dough is very forgiving and can be fermented for anywhere between 48-96 hours. You can make it earlier in the week, and then bake it when convenient.

Keep in mind, you’ll make the levain on the first day, and then the next day you’ll put together the dough. After that, the dough will go in the refrigerator to ferment.

You can also let the dough rise overnight (perfect for Christmas morning!) And, one thing to note is that when you let them sit overnight, the rolls rise a bit higher than if you let them rise for just five hours.

So, all twelve of the rolls might not be completely uniform in their height. It doesn’t affect the flavor, but if you want all twelve rolls to be the exact same height, then a five hour rise would be best (the ones in the picture were with a five hour rise).

Here’s a video for you of how to make these sourdough orange rolls step-by-step.

I hope you enjoy these fermented sourdough orange rolls as much as we did!

Long-Fermented Sourdough Orange Rolls

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For the Sweet Levain:
100g organic all-purpose flour
100g water
125g bubbly starter
23g organic cane sugar

For the Dough:
210g unsalted organic butter, melted and cooled
250g spelt flour
250g organic all purpose flour
250g sweet levain (from above)
4 large eggs, room temperature
75g organic cane sugar
45g whole milk, room temperature
9g Celtic sea salt

For the Filling:
200g organic cane sugar
Zest from 3 organic oranges
1g Celtic sea salt
57g unsalted butter, melted and cooled 

For the Glaze:
113g organic cream cheese, softened
14g fresh orange juice
Zest of 2 organic oranges
4g vanilla extract
154g organic powdered sugar

• Author: Carrie Korem, FNTP
• Yield: Makes 12 rolls
• Category: breakfast

Ingredients

1. For the Levain: The night before you want to make the dough, put flour, water, starter, and organic cane sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir the ingredients together until combined. Cover with a clean cloth and let sit overnight for at least 8-10 hours.
2. For the Dough: Place the butter, spelt, flour, sweet levain build (from above), eggs, cane sugar, whole milk and sea salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. Mix on low using the beater attachment for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the beater attachment and put on the dough hook. Mix for 8 minutes on medium.
3. Stretch and Fold: Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and let sit for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough four times (watch this video and start at the 1:01 minute mark). After you stretch and fold the first time, place a clean cloth over the dough and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then, stretch and fold the dough again, place a clean cloth over the dough and let sit for another 30 minutes. Repeat two more times for a total of four times.
4. After the stretch and fold process, cover the dough really well with plastic wrap (or a lid, if you have one) and place the dough in the refrigerator. Let the dough ferment for 48-72 hours.
5. To Make the Orange Rolls: Roll the dough out to an 12×9-inch rectangle. Using a pastry brush, spread the melted and cooled butter over the dough and then top with the combined sugar mixture. Roll up and cut into 12 rolls. Put rolls in a buttered 13×9-inch pan, cover with a cloth and let sit for 5 hours at room temp (they won’t rise much until they go into the oven).
6. Or, if you’d like to bake the orange rolls for breakfast, let the rolls sit, covered, at room temperature overnight for 8-10 hours. Keep in mind, because there will be a longer rising time, the rolls will rise a bit more when baked than if you only let them rise for 5 hours and some rolls might be taller than others. They will taste exactly the same as the 5 hour rise option, but the rolls will be much taller.
7. To Bake: Preheat the oven to 350ºF and adjust the rack to the middle position. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown on top.
8. For the Glaze: Whisk together the cream cheese, orange juice, orange zest, vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Using an offset spatula, spread the glaze evenly over the warm cinnamon rolls. Best served warm.

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