Potato flake sourdough orange cinnamon rolls are perfect for those who love a hint of citrus flavor combined with their sweet treats.

These light, flavorful rolls are perfect any time of the year, but are especially great for holidays, like Christmas morning or birthday breakfast treats. With a mix of citrus and cinnamon, they’re sure to become one of your favorite potato flake sourdough recipes.

Why you’ll love these Potato Flake Sourdough Orange Cinnamon Rolls:

A potato flake starter is perfect for sweeter breads, making this recipe one of the best treats to make with a potato flake starter.
They are soft, fluffy, gooey and delicious with the perfect burst of orange flavor and the swirl of sugar and cinnamon.
You don’t need any yeast, baking powder, or baking soda, they will naturally rise using the wild yeast in your starter.
A perfect “make ahead breakfast.” You can prepare the orange cinnamon rolls the night before and let them rise over night making it a breeze to pop in the oven when you wake up.
The fermentation that occurs to make the cinnamon rolls rise, also makes the rolls much more digestible and easier for those who don’t tolerate gluten well.

New to Potato Flake Sourdough Starter?

If this is your first time using a potato flake sourdough starter, or maybe you just want to learn more about a potato flake starter. You’ll want to check out some of my other posts. Some really helpful places to start would be: Everything you need to know about a Potato Flake starter, Potato Flake Starter Troubleshooting, or What is a potato flake starter?

Maybe you aren’t new to sourdough and already have a traditional sourdough starter. Did you know you can convert your traditional sourdough starter into a potato flake starter? It’s true!

If you don’t even have a starter of any kind, don’t feel left out! You can make your own starter, it’s super simple! I have a free printable with step by step directions. All you need is sugar, water, active dry yeast, and instant potato flakes to get your starter going for the first time!

Tools you need:

Stand mixer (optional, but will need a hand mixer and large bowl if not using stand mixer)
Measuring cups and spoons
Silicone spatula
Rolling pin
Basting brush
Baking dish (large circle baking dish, 9×13 baking dish, or large cast iron skillet)
Thread, unflavored dental floss, or a very sharp knife
Zester
Citrus juicer

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Ingredients you will need for Potato Flake Sourdough Orange Cinnamon Rolls:

Dough Ingredients:

Active potato flake starter
Fresh orange zest from 1 medium orange
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Granulated sugar or raw organic sugar
Salt
Large Egg
Coconut oil
Bread flour

Filling

Granulated sugar
Ground cinnamon
Unsalted butter

Glaze

Confectioners’ sugar (or more for a thicker glaze)
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Butter
Fresh orange zest
Pure vanilla extract

Additional ingredients

Heavy cream to pour over the cinnamon rolls before baking

How to make the best potato flake sourdough orange cinnamon rolls:

Prepare the Dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer add half of the flour, orange zest, orange juice, sugar, salt, egg, coconut oil, and active potato flake starter.
Beat everything together on low with the paddle attachment, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. (A handheld mixer can be used for this step if you do not have a stand mixer.)
Add the dough hook attachment to your stand mixer, or use a wooden spoon, and incorporate the flour, a little at a time. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that is easy to handle – about 1.5 – 2 more cups. Once the dough has pulled from the sides, allow it to knead for 5 minutes on low. You are looking for a dough that is not sticky and will spring back when poked with a finger.

First Rise:

Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly greased bowl.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until doubled in size, about 8-12 hours.

Rise time can vary based on strength of starter and the temperature of your home.

Shape the Orange Cinnamon Rolls:

After bulk fermentation time, the dough should be double in size. Line the bottom of a 9×13 dish with parchment paper, leaving room on the sides.

potato flake sourdough orange cinnamon roll dough rolled out on the counter

Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Press the dough with your hand into a rectangle shape, paying attention to stretch the corners to help keep the rectangle shape.

Then begin using a rolling pin to roll into a 11×16-inch rectangle. I used a tape measure for accuracy. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick, even at the corners.

Melt the butter and baste onto the dough, covering the entire surface, all the way to the edges except the bottom edge (where you’ll pinch the dough to itself at the end of rolling).

sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on the potato flake sourdough orange cinnamon roll dough

Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on top.

From the top long edge, tightly roll dough up, pinching the seam together once you reach the end.

cutting potato flake sourdough orange cinnamon rolls with thread

Cut into 15 even rolls (about 1 inch in width each) with thread or unflavored floss, or a very sharp knife. I like to make marks along my dough by pressing gently into the dough with my thread. This helps me get more evenly sized rolls, although I do this up sometimes! (If you count I accidentally made 16 rolls instead of 15.) It’s not necessarily a huge deal to have 16 instead but it won’t fit perfectly into a rectangle pan.

Arrange them in the prepared baking pan. It should either be lined with parchment paper or greased well with butter to avoid sicking.

Second rise:

Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and let them rise for about 8-10 hours. (You don’t want to put them in a warm place to rise, because having it too warm can cause the butter and sugar to melt out and pool at the bottom instead of staying in the rolls.

Bake the Rolls

potato flake sourdough orange cinnamon rolls in the 9x13 pan after second rise

Once the rolls have doubled in size, preheat the oven to 375°F (191°C).

Pour 1/2–1 cup of heavy cream over the rolls for added moisture and richness.

Place the rolls in the oven and bake for 10–12 minutes. Now, cover with foil to prevent over-browning. Bake for an additional 12–15 minutes. The rolls should be golden brown.

Make the Glaze

While the orange rolls are baking, make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, orange juice, melted butter, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Adjust the consistency with more orange juice or sugar.

potato flake sourdough orange cinnamon rolls before icing

Once the orange cinnamon rolls are done, transfer the pan to a wire cooling rack to cool for about 15 minutes.

potato flake sourdough orange cinnamon rolls iced

Freezing Instructions

Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2 months. Store the baked rolls and icing separately. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then warm up and add icing before enjoying.

Alternative substitutions:

You could sub all purpose in place of the bread flour, although it may not be as fluffy. A half and half mixture would be the best option.
Honey can be used in place of sugar, but you might want to add just a touch more flour since honey is a liquid and will make the dough more sticky.
Canola oil or vegetable oil can be used in place of coconut oil. But coconut oil is healthier for you.(Trying to make cinnamon rolls as healthy as possible over here!)

Things to note:

The reason I use plastic wrap to cover my dough it to help prevent the top of the dough from drying out. If you don’t want to use plastic wrap, I suggest using beeswax wrap. If you must use a tea towel, make sure it is a damp towel and continue to wet it as it drys out to help your dough stay moist.

Go ahead and zest/juice all of the orange you will need for the dough and the icing all at once. If making the icing fresh the next day, store the juice and zest in the fridge. To make things even easier, go ahead and make the icing the same day you make you dough and place in the fridge until ready to bake.

The final rise matters! If your cinnamon rolls are not double in size they are not ready. Give them as much time as they need to get nice and fluffy. They will rise some in the oven, but not enough if they don’t already look puffy.

Recipes for more Homemade Cinnamon rolls to try:

Potato Flake Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Blueberry Cinnamon Sweet Rolls

Pin for later and share with a friend:

potato flake sourdough orange cinnamon rolls pin image

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