These orange sweet rolls are from the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook. They’re like a cinnamon roll but better and perfect for breakfast.
Most people see Cinnabon and start salivating. I see it and have memories of one of the most embarrassing moments in my life. My mom and I were on our way down to visit Villanova on one of the many college campus trips that summer. To get to Villanova from New York you take the NJ Turnpike. A lovely traffic free highway with clean, healthy rest stop options. Or not. But that didn’t matter then. I was 17, played sports 6 days a week and ate whatever I wanted including a Cinnabon roll at the rest stop.
I went through this phase from about 5th grade through somewhere in college (it was a long one) where I’d get these insane stomach aches every few months. They’d come out of nowhere, I could never figure out the cause, they were completely debilitating and resulted in me spending hours in the bathroom going through what I can only describe as waves of pain that make me feel confident I will die if I ever go through childbirth.
Guess what happened about an hour after that Cinnabon?
I spent 2 hours in the admissions office bathroom at Villanova while my mother had to explain what was going on to everyone in the office. We missed two tours and even if I had loved that campus with all my being, there is no way you could’ve paid me to attend there after that episode.
Thankfully, I somehow grew out of the stomach aches in the last ten years and these are not a Cinnabon roll because I can’t look at or smell those without thinking of that day.
I sound like a broken record on these PW Wednesday posts but this recipe is over the top. From the 48 rolls it makes to the copious amounts of butter, sugar and oil it uses. At least it’s expected at this point. I
actually went into this recipe with the full intention of making it how it was written (besides quartering it because I have beach plans this weekend and I’m not sure my bathing suits would even fit if there were 48 rolls hanging around these parts) so I could review it accurately.
The dough was made exactly as stated (in a very weird method that you’ll have to check out Megan’s post for) but then I got to the rolling part. Guess what goes inside these babies? Ding, ding, ding! Butter and sugar. I even melted the stated amount of butter and had the full amount of sugar in a measuring cup but when I got half way through each and realized the dough was completely coated, I just couldn’t physically allow myself to continue.
It’s like every recipe is just excessive. There’s just no need for the amounts that are written. So I failed at my attempt to keep them true to the recipe but I did not use any substitutions. I lessened amounts when I felt they were excessive in the filling and the icing, but I didn’t make any healthy swaps.
That being said, these are delicious.
Like, that soft, gooey, chewy, yeasty cinnamon roll delicious except without cinnamon and with orange instead. The orange is nice because it cuts the insane sweetness of these. It almost makes you feel like they’re not as bad for you because the orange is so refreshing but the all too recent memories of butter and sugar snap you back to reality quite quickly.
This is actually a recipe (unlike most of the others) that I can see myself using in the future. Not as written (no, no) but as inspiration to make these over in a somewhat healthier way. It’s a pretty basic ingredient list and preparation method and I’d love to play around with it to see what I can do.
Verdict:
Delicious? Yes.
Guilt inducing? Double yes.
Potential for revamp? High.
If something more nutritionally sound comes of them in the future, you’ll all be the first to know. In the meantime, I’ll stick to these gluten-free cinnamon rolls which are much more traditional and reasonable from an ingredient list!
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For the recipe head on over to Megan’s post.
For all previous PW Wednesday posts see below.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I think I like orange rolls even better than cinnamon rolls…and can only imagine they’re over the top when it’s a PW recipe! I can’t even imagine 48 of these rolls sitting in my house. Seriously dangerous…and delicious :)
Thanks for sharing your honest opinion about this recipe. I looked at the original in Megans blog and found that the dough already has sugar in it,plus the one cup in the filling and another cup for icing. Not to mention marmalade sugar. I am with you on sugar and butter thoughts, sure they make everything taste amazing, but many times I have cut sugar and butter ingredients in half, I never even missed them. I have a sweet tooth but too much sweet is kinda sickening.
I meant to say the sugar in the marmalade.
YUM – my big sister makes these regularly and tempts me with them when I go there. She’s taught me to just go ahead and make ’em all and your freezer is well-stocked for surprise guests! Gorgeous photos!
These look better than Cinnabon, anyway! Yum.
omg, thankfully that cinnabon experience did not scar you from trying other types of cinnamon rolls haha…yours looks REALLY perfect and fluffy. haha put my cinnamon rolls to shame!! love how light (as in color) yours looks too, like puffy clouds!
I like the “potential for revamp” sentence. It sounds corporate-y. I’m stealing it to use around the office.
This is going to sound twisted, but I kinda wish I got debilitating stomach aches after eating cinnamon rolls so that I wouldn’t think to go near them. Love your girls’s choice for PWW – they do look delicious and good golly I can’t believe you ended up with that many rolls after quartering the recipe…the whole recipe must have been intended for a wedding or a banquet, holy crap! The orange does sound refreshing and delicious!
You take the most gorgeous pictures!! I would love to see a lightened up version of these – eating too much butter and sugar doesn’t keep me feeling my best. I’m excited to see what you have in store! Beautiful post!
I don’t think anyone can blame you for cutting back on some of the butter and sugar, nobody needs that much of either in one meal!
Your story about Cinnabon. Omg. I worked next to a Cinnabon at the mall in h.s. And a Mrs. Field’s. Guess what I did almost every employee break! But like you, I was 17 and played sports every day nonstop.
Recipes being excessive and just over the top. Welcome to Milkbar/Christina Tosi. I am all about butter and sugar but even I feel it’s just being used to be used many times.
Next your site/page…nice tweaks, love them! You have little icons for the food sites, and all your ads look so nice and your monthly faves and all that stuff…so pretty. I want to put up monthly featured recipes but want to be able to self-manage it. Did you do it yourself or a little Kat help?
Kat helped create the buttons but I installed them. I’ve learned enough linking code stuff to be dangerous ;)