Cranberry Sweet Rolls are perfect to serve for Christmas or Thanksgiving breakfast or brunch. Filled with fresh cranberries and orange, these sweet rolls are bursting with flavor.
Baking during the holiday is one of my favorite things to do! One of my other favorite things is eating! Dinner and desserts seem to get all the attention during the holiday season, but breakfast is just as important.
I often make a regular batch of cinnamon rolls, but this year I decided to mix it up a bit by adding fresh cranberries and orange to my rolls. They are delicious.
What are cranberry sweet rolls?
Cranberry sweet rolls are a basic cinnamon roll with added fresh chopped cranberries and orange peel. There is also orange peel added to the dough and the glaze for an extra burst of orange flavor. These sweet rolls are perfect served for breakfast or brunch.
Steps to make -
First you make a basic sweet dough. Check out this Raspberry Sweet Rolls post for and video for directions for making the dough. After it rises, you roll out the dough to an 18 x 12" rectangle. 
Chop cranberries in a food processor. Add orange zest, sugar and cinnamon. 
Place cranberry mixture on rolled dough. 
Roll up dough into a log. 
Slice dough into 1 inch slices. This gets messy because the cranberries are juicy. 
Place in a greased baking dish. 
Cover and let rise. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Allow cooked sweet rolls to cool for 10 minutes.
Mix glaze by combining powdered sugar and freshly squeezed orange juice.
Pour glaze over sweet rolls while rolls are still warm. 
Remove from pan and serve. 
Can I make ahead of time?
Yes, you can make these sweet rolls ahead of time. Complete recipe steps through slicing and placing in pan. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove baking dish from refrigerator and set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Bake as directed, increasing baking time up by 10-15 minutes.
Can I freeze these sweet rolls.
Yes, these can be frozen, after they are fully baked. Do not add glaze before freezing. Allow rolls to fully cool. Wrap thoroughly to prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to one month. To use, allow rolls to thaw at room temperature. Once fully thawed, you may warm in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes or until heated through. Add glaze before serving.
After baking these delicious sweet rolls, I realized these were very similar to a cranberry orange cookie I make. One is rolled in bread dough and one rolled in cookie dough!
Equipment I used
Other great breakfast recipes
- Hash Brown Casserole
- Cheesy Baked Eggs
- Homemade Breakfast Sausage
- Puff Pastry Pinwheels
- Hot Chocolate
- Cranberry Eggnog Coffee Cake
- Cranberry Bread
Don't forget to PIN for later! 
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Check out all my holiday recipes.
Other fun cranberry recipes include Sugared Cranberries, Cranberry Scones, Cranberry Bundt Cake and Cranberry Muffins.
Cranberry Sweet Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 Tablespoon orange peel (finely grated)
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
Dough
- In a large mixing bowl add milk, yeast and sugar. Let sit 5-10 minutes until yeast is bubbly.1 cup milk, 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast, 3 Tablespoons sugar
- Add eggs, butter, salt, orange zest and 2 cups of flour. Mix3 eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 Tablespoon orange peel, 5 - 5½ cups flour, ½ cup butter
- With mixer running, continue adding flour 1 cup at a time. You might not need all the flour.
- Knead for 10 minutes.
- Place in a well greased bowl and cover.Let stand until doubled, 60-90 minutes.Punch down and place on a flat surface.
Filling
- Puree cranberries in a food processor.2 cups fresh cranberries
- Mix in sugar, orange zest and cinnamon.1 Tablespoon orange peel, 1 Tablespoon orange peel, ½ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Assemble the rolls
- Roll out dough to a 18 inch by 12 inch rectangle.
- Add cranberry filling over the surface of the dough. Leave a small border around all edges.
- Roll dough along long side. Pinch edge of dough together to form a seam.
- Slice dough into 1 inch slices. Place each slice into a greased baking dish.
- Cover dish with plastic wrap and allow rolls to rise for about 30 minutes.
- Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Allow sweet rolls to cool in pan for about 10 minutes.
- Pour glaze over rolls.1 cup powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons orange juice
Video
Notes
- To make ahead of time - Complete recipe steps through slicing and placing in pan. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove baking dish from refrigerator and set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Bake as directed, increasing baking time up by 10-15 minutes.
- To freeze - Fully bake rolls. Do not add glaze before freezing. Allow rolls to fully cool. Wrap thoroughly to prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to one month. To use, allow rolls to thaw at room temperature. Once fully thawed, you may warm in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes or until heated through. Add glaze before serving.
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Kathy C says
Just made these, perfect almost. They need at least 2 tsp salt for that much flour. Other than that, they are yummy.
Kathy says
Thanks for your suggestion. 🙂
Cheryl says
Yum! This looks great. And I have a lot of frozen cranberries I've got to figure out more things to do with besides muffins, loaves and sauce!
Valentina says
Beautiful! Such a delicious, fun and festive recipe for the holiday season. I love it! 🙂 ~Valentina
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen says
Love the tangy taste of cranberries this time of year Kathy! These would be perfect for Thanksgiving breakfast!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
Wow Kathy! That a GORGEOUS presentation! These would go over so well Christmas morning with plenty of coffee! Gotta give these a try! Pinned 🙂
David @ Spiced says
You and I totally share a love for baking...especially when it comes to sweet rolls. I've been toying with a bunch of different varieties myself lately, and I'm loving this cranberry twist! Talk about the perfect breakfast for Thanksgiving Day!
Adina says
I love this kind of yeasty sweet rolls, I could have them every day. The cranberry filling sounds great, never had that.
Kelly | Foodtasia says
Kathy, my tongue is tingling just looking at these lovely rolls! Love, love, love cranberry and orange! What a perfect holiday breakfast!