Cranberry Rolls with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

I still had leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving (I think it multiplies in the fridge!) I am trying to be better at utilizing leftovers so have been brainstorming for uses. I used some in these cookies and we really enjoyed them. I make rolls with orange marmalade as the filling so thought that cranberry sauce would work, too. Instead of a regular confectioners' sugar glaze I opted to do a cream cheese frosting. Cream cheese frosting would make a car bumper taste good! I've always loved cranberry-orange nut bread so thought a little orange juice in the frosting would be a great combination on the rolls. I took my experiment to the office and the rolls were declared a success.  They were quite yummy!

Again, I went to my Zo bread maker as I began these rolls after work. Between doing chores, making dinner and generally unwinding, there usually isn't enough time to also make yeast dough. The bread machine saves a little time. While I made dinner the bread machine mixed and kneaded away. Instead of soft music playing while we ate, we had the "thunking" of the dough in the bread machine! Yes, my kitchen is full of ambiance! After the bread machine ran through it's cycle all I had to do was roll out the dough into a rectangle, add the filling and roll up into a cinnamon roll shape. I refrigerated the pan of rolls overnight.  They rise up quite nicely.  I take them out while the oven is warming up, then bake as usual. I think doing overnight yeast breads is a great time saver! Plus it's a great way to get just-from-the-oven-warm yeast bread with hardly any effort in the morning.

After their overnight refrigerator rise.

Any sweet dough or cinnamon roll recipe will work for these.  You can also use frozen bread dough found in the grocery store.

 

To assemble, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into an approximate 9x14-inch rectangle. Spread 1/4 cup of softened butter over it, then sprinkle with 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Spread a thin layer of cranberry sauce over this (I used homemade sauce so did a few pulses in the food processor so it was not so chunky).  Do not spread all the way to the end of the dough as it will ooze out during the rolling process.  If it does, just remove the excess! Starting with the long end, roll the dough into a cylinder shape.  Cut into 12 pieces (I used dental floss to cut with). Place in buttered 9x13-inch pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.  Alternatively, refrigerate overnight.

 

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until browned and no longer doughy (test with a toothpick or skewer). Let cool for 10 minutes; frost with orange cream cheese frosting.

 

Frosting: 

3 oz cream cheese, softened

2 cups of powdered sugar

2-4 tablespoons of orange juice

2 teaspoons of orange zest

In a mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese until it's smooth and creamy.  Add the powdered sugar and continue to mix. Add orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice and continue to mix.  If the frosting seems thick, and more orange juice.

A warm roll and a cup of tea made some tax research much more pleasurable!