orange you glad

Grandma Corriene's Orange Sweet Rolls

I used to eat these things like there was no tomorrow. I seem to remember them popping up often as Spring rolled around. So shall you ever tire of cinnamon, oranges make a mean roll too. Although, you best not be afraid of sugar if you want to make this recipe.

Dough:
2 cups warm water
1/2 cups unrefined sugar
2 tablespoons yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup powdered soy milk (plain)
1/2 cup blended silken tofu (Mori Nu)
1/2 cup soy margarine, softened (Earth Balance)
7 to 8 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup softened soy margarine
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups unrefined sugar
zested rind of 1 orange

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
juice of 1 orange (about 1/4 cup)

(1) 9x13 baking pan or (2) 9" round pans, lightly greased

Mix sugar with warm water in large bowl. Add yeast. Mix in salt and powdered soy milk. Add blended tofu and softened margarine until combined. Add 2 cups of flour at a time, up to 6 cups. Add the last cups one at a time until you have a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface, sprinkle on some more flour and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and round. Place in a greased bowl in a warm place* and let rise until doubled.

Combine ingredients for the filling with a fork.

Turn dough back out on a lightly floured surface and punch down. Divide dough in half and lightly roll/pat each portion into a 7x14" rectangle. Spread each rectangle with the filling, leaving a 1" border on the side furthest away from you. Roll up the dough starting on the end nearest you. (You can roll it up either the long or the short way--the short way will yield about a dozen big rolls and the short way will yield many small rolls.) Slice the log into 1 inch pieces and place them in prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are just golden brown. Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes. Combine ingredients for icing and drizzle over the top of the warm rolls.

The filling is very marmaladey, but you could probably get by with half as much if you wanted to cut down the sugar. Not that should. Just sayin'.

*When I need to raise dough, I stick it in a non-reactive bowl (such as ceramic or porcelain), covered with a clean kitchen towel, and put it in the oven. Set a timer for 5 minutes and turn the oven to warm. When the timer goes off, turn off the oven, and reset the timer for 20 minutes. When 20 minutes are up, turn the oven back to warm, the timer back to 5, and start all over again. Do this until your dough looks sufficiently risen. This takes a little more attention than just letting it sit somewhere for 2 hours, but it usually gives me a faster, more productive rise.