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Healthy Orange Cinnamon Rolls – tender, fluffy & only 109 calories! This homemade recipe tastes SO much better than the canned store-bought ones. Some of the BEST cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had! They're easier to make than you'd think too! ♡ best orange cinnamon rolls recipe. clean eating low calorie orange cinnamon rolls. orange cinnamon rolls whole wheat. easy vegan orange cinnamon rolls. orange cinnamon rolls homemade.

Healthy Orange Cinnamon Rolls

© Amy's Healthy Baking
Yields: 12 cinnamon rolls
These cinnamon rolls are light and fluffy with lots of bright citrus flavor. They also have lovely mesmerizing swirls of sweet and gooey cinnamon-spiced filling, and they taste even better than the ones sold in refrigerated cans at the grocery store! Leftovers will keep for at least five days (if not longer!), and they reheat beautifully, if you’d like to serve them warm and turn that filling extra gooey again!
5 from 2 votes
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Ingredients 

FOR THE DOUGH

  • ¾ cup (210mL) warm freshly squeezed orange juice (around 100-110°F – and about 2 extra large oranges)
  • 1 tbsp (12g) coconut sugar
  • ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 ¼ tsp (7g or one ¼-oz package) dry yeast (see Notes!)
  • 2 ½ tbsp (18g) orange zest (about 2 extra large)
  • 2 – 2 ½ cups (240-300g) whole wheat flour (see Notes!)

FOR THE FILLING

Instructions

  • Lightly coat a 9”-round pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. (See Notes!)
  • To prepare the dough, stir together the orange juice, coconut sugar, butter, and salt in a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top, and wait 10-15 minutes or until the mixture turns frothy. Stir in the orange zest. Mix in 1 ½ cups of flour. If the dough is still wet, continue stirring in flour 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
  • Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead for 3-5 minutes or until the dough springs back most of the way when you gently press your index finger into it. Let the dough rest while preparing the filling.
  • To prepare the filling, stir together the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
  • On a clean, well-floured surface, roll the dough out into a 16x10” rectangle. Brush with the melted butter, leaving a 1” border on the two longer sides. Sprinkle with the spiced coconut sugar, leaving a 1” border on the two longer sides again. Carefully roll up the dough into a log, starting at one long edge and rolling towards the other one. Pinch the ends to seal. If the dough won’t stick together, gently brush the second longer edge with water before pinching to seal.
  • Slice the log into 12 pieces using dental floss (recommended) or a sharp serrated knife. Place the rolls into the prepared pan, and cover the pan with a clean dry towel. Set the pan in a warm, draft-free spot, and let the rolls rise for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 17-21 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the sides feel firm. Cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

IMPORTANT BAKING PAN NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: I highly recommend using a 9”-round springform pan, like this! Springform pans have taller sides than most traditional cake pans, so this allows your cinnamon rolls to rise properly without touching the top of the towel in Step 6.
 
IMPORTANT WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: For the whole wheat flour, I highly recommend Gold Medal whole wheat flour. It performs the best out of any brand I’ve tried, and it ensures your cinnamon rolls fully double in size while rising in Step 6. (Other brands of whole wheat flour don’t rise nearly as high, if at all!)
 
FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: White whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour may be substituted for the whole wheat flour, but the cinnamon rolls might not rise as high (see Note directly above this one!). If using either of these -OR- a different brand of regular whole wheat flour, then I recommend substituting ½ to ¾ cup (60-90g) of all-purpose flour for an equal amount of whole wheat flour to ensure your cinnamon rolls rise properly. (For example, use ¾ cup {90g} of all-purpose flour and 1 ¼ cups (150g) white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or other brands of regular whole wheat flour.)
 
All-purpose flour may be substituted, and the cinnamon rolls should rise just as high as with Gold Medal whole wheat flour.
 
YEAST NOTE: For the yeast, I used Red Star® Quick Rise Yeast. It performs the best out of any yeast I’ve used, so I highly recommend it! It isn’t always easy to find in grocery stores, so I buy mine online here. (Both their rapid rise dry yeast and regular active dry yeast work equally well!)
 
ORANGE NOTES: For the orange juice, measure by cups or mL — not by "2 extra large oranges." Not all extra oranges are the exact same size or yield the exact same amount of juice!
 
The orange zest actually provides the majority of the citrus flavor, so don’t skip or skimp on it! I recommend using a regular zester. Many small-holed box graters don’t do nearly as good of a job as a regular zester. (This is the one I own. It’s really affordable and worth every penny!)
 
CINNAMON NOTE: This is my favorite cinnamon! It tastes stronger, richer, and sweeter. I buy it online here. It’s really inexpensive and affordable, and I now use it in just about all of my baking recipes.
 
SWEETENER ALTERNATIVES: Brown sugar may be substituted in place of the coconut sugar. (The rolls will no longer be clean-eating friendly with this substitution.)
 
RISING NOTE: If your cinnamon rolls don’t rise to double their original size, the two most common reasons are that (a) you used different brands of yeast and/or whole wheat flour than I recommended {not all brands perform equally well – see my blog post above for more information!} or (b) they weren’t in a warm enough spot while rising.
 
"OVERNIGHT METHOD" NOTE: I haven’t had great luck with the overnight method; the cinnamon rolls don’t seem to rise quite as much or turn out quite as fluffy. If you’d like to serve them warm (without spending as much time preparing them first thing in the morning!), then fully bake them the night before but leave them in the pan. The next morning, if you’d like to serve them warm, then tightly cover the top of the pan with foil, and put them in the oven on your oven’s lowest temperature setting until they’re fully warmed through. (The foil should prevent the tops from drying out while you reheat them.)
 
GLUTEN FREE NOTE: I haven’t had good luck substituting gluten-free flours in this recipe. The cinnamon rolls don’t rise the way they do with wheat-based flour due to the lack of gluten.
 
EGG FREE, DAIRY FREE + VEGAN OPTION: Substitute stick-style vegan butter (I like this one and this one) in place of the unsalted butter. (You may substitute coconut oil, but the cinnamon rolls will taste different, and the yeast won’t turn frothy in Step 2.)
 
HOW TO STORE: Store leftover cinnamon rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should keep for at least five days (if not longer!), and they reheat beautifully, if you'd like to serve them warm.
 
For more information and tips, please see my blog post above. You can also watch my step-by-step video here for a similar recipe to see how I make cinnamon rolls!
 
{clean eating, vegan, egg free, dairy free, low fat}
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.