Mom's Sticky Orange Rolls

Do you have a recipe that defines you? You know, the recipe that you always get asked to make for the family gathering. Or the recipe that everyone wants after eating at your house?
I think that this is my mom's defining recipe. And she is the Queen of the Orange Roll!

It has been about 9 years since I have made these rolls, because my first attempt was such a disappointment. They were dense and didn't rise very well. They just weren't, well....Mom's.

I went into making these rolls with much more confidence. I've been on a mission to master (well, master is a strong word) ummmmm, become competent in the world of yeast breads. Let's just say that I have been practicing a lot. Mostly with recipes that I have found on many awesome blogs.

Things started out great, but my fears always come when adding the flour. I kept saying to myself: Self control Melody. Don't add too much. This is where you messed up last time! So I added just enough flour until the dough started pulling away from the edge of the mixing bowl. I turned the dough out on the floured surface and I was scared of another failure because the dough was very sticky when I was trying to knead it. I decided that I would just let it rise and see what happens. Well, it turned out to be a very good dough to roll out and the rolls turned out light and fluffy and yes...very "mom"like. PHEW!!!

Now that I have had a victory, I think I will make these more often and maybe become the East Coast version of my wonderful mom!

Oh! To enter my giveway click here. Giveaway ends on March 4th at 10pm Pacific time.

Sticky Orange Rolls

Ingredients:

For dough:
2 packages of dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
9 cups flour, divided
2 cups warm milk
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
2 teaspoons salt

For orange sauce:
1 1/2 sticks of butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
Grated rind of 1 orange

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl or mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add 4 cups of flour, milk, shortening, sugar, eggs and salt: beat for 2 minutes or until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. (I usually stop adding flour when the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl).

Turn dough onto a floured board: knead lightly. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2-3 hours.

Punch dough down: divide into 6 equal parts. Roll each into a circle. Spread orange mixture on each circle and cut each circle into 8-10 pie shaped wedges. Roll each wedge from wide edge to tip and place on baking sheet with point side down. I like to space them pretty close together so that the edges stay soft.

Let dough rise until doubled and bake in 375 degree oven for 9-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

When cooled drizzle with a glaze of orange juice and powdered sugar.

To freeze uncooked rolls: Place rolls on baking sheet and freeze. When frozen, place in freezer bags and keep frozen until needed. To bake: Place on greased baking sheets and thaw, covered for 5 hours or until doubled in size. Bake as above.