This Orange Raisins Sweet Roll has a soft bread texture and is filled with sweet dried raisins and flavored with fresh orange zest. It taste as good as it looks, and it smells absolutely divine!

I was not planning on making this roll. I was supposed to make an Orange Raisins Loaf Bread, same ingredients just different look and no orange glaze on top, then I changed my mind and I was happy I did. This bread turned out gorgeous not to mention delicious! It is sinfully delicious in every bite. The soft fluffy bread, the dried raisins, the fresh orange flavor and the glaze! yes, the orange glaze on top is crazy good. I guess the sugar glaze on top is what makes this roll amazing, just the same with cinnamon rolls. Without the glaze, it is just not the same experience. So do not skip it, ok?

Fresly bake bread often smells amazing, one perks you get from bakign bread from scratch. This bread, I cannot helped but smile as soon as I took it out, the rolls were beautifully puff up, look at that! Aren’t they gorgeous? I cannot believe I’m describing this bread as gorgeous, but I was really mesmerized by it. Finally, I have a for keeps recipe for this kind of rolls. This is just the beginning, I cannot wait to make different variations of this rolls. Strawberry, Blueberry, Cherry.. How that does sound to you?

This bread may take awhile to make (or most yeast bread), but it is worth it, trust me. You will enjoy it and your family and friends will not stop praising you for it.

I hope you’ll give it a try. I know it bread making sounds intimidating and difficult, but it’s actually not. Especially with this recipe. As you can see, making the base dough is very simple. Everything is done by the machine. I always use my stand mixer when making bread as it makes the kneading easier but if you do not have one, you can still make this using a hand mixer with dough attachment. It is very important to use dough attachment. The regular attachment will not work as it will be jammed by the dough. Third option if you do not have any of those two is to knead the dough manually. I honestly haven’t tried doing it manually, I can imagine it will be a lot of arm exercise, but I’m telling you it is worth it. Last but not the least, bread machine works too if you have one. Put all the wet ingredients first followed by the dry ingredients. Take the dough out out the machine after 2nd-3rd rise and follow the rolling and steps. 

Looking for Small Batch? Use This Recipe Instead

I hear you, trust me. I only make this much bread when I am bringing this to the office, but when I am just baking for myself I certainly do not bake this much. So if I want to make a small serving batch, I used my Apple Cinnamon Roll recipe and just replace the filling with raisins, and replace the cinnamon with orange zest. Just like this but smaller portion. Check it out, get the Small Batch Apple Cinnamon Roll.

Tips for a Successful Soft Homemade Bread

1. Liquid Temperature – Yeast grows in temperature between 110 – 115F, so its important to have the water that you are using to “proof” it in this range. If you go lower or higher, the yeast might not proof properly. That means the bread will not rise as much, resulting to a flat and tough bread. 
2. Check Yeast Expiry a Date – you might be wondering how come the bread did not rise when you followed exactly the recipe. Well, first thing first, make sure the yeast is not yet expired. Expired yeast is the common reason for flat and dense bread. If your bread did not expand or rise during the rest period, it is most likely that the yeast is not fresh or the water temperature is too hot or cold.
3. Amount of Yeast – Just because you want a tall bread doesn’t mean you have to put as much yeast in the mixture. Sometimes adding too much yeast can cause the bread to collapse during the rest period. Just imagine putting more air than what is needed in a balloon, the balloon will explode. The same case with bread. 
4. Right Type of Yeast – We’ve discussed the 3 types of yeast above. Make sure to use the right one for your recipe, and make necessary adjustments if you want to swap one from another. 
5. Rest Period – Yeast bread needs time to rise. There are bread that uses less yeast but requires more rest time, the likes of No Knead Bread or Artisan Bread which usually require 8- 16 hours rest period to get the volume and to develop the flavor. The point is, give it time to rest, don’t touch it just leave it in a warm place. The first rest period will normally tell you if your dough is good or not. If it rise and almost double in size, then your on the right track.  
6. Expiration and Quality of the Flour – The quality of the flour greatly affect the texture of the bread. Bread flour could differ from country to country although they are all called as bread flour. Sometimes it depends on the brand too. The closer the flour to expiration date or if it is already expired, the flour could tend to be drier, which means it would require more liquid than mentioned in the recipe. This is a common issue of way sometimes the dough tend to be tough and dry. This is why sometimes you have to add few more tablespoon from the suggested flour measurement to get the right texture. The dough should be soft, smooth and elastic. If it is too wet, add a bit more flour until it is no longer to sticky to handle. If it is too dry, a small amount of liquid helps provide moisture to the dough. A clean side of the bowl, with the dough slightly sticking at the bottom, a soft, smooth and elastic dough is what You are aiming for.

These are the 6 common points that I remind myself when making homemade bread. Bear this in mind and you’ll sure to have a nice soft homemade bread.  

Now that we have a background about Yeast and tips for, bread making, let’s check the recipe.

4 Methods  To Make This Dough

There are 4 ways that you can choose from in how you make this bread. Choose whichever works for you. 

1. Stand Mixer – this is what I always use when I make this dough. It’s the fastest and easiest method and less manual handling. This is the step outlined below in the instruction. 
   
2. Hand Mixer – it’s doable but I never used it because I don’t have a dough attachment. Just for the sake of demonstrations , I used hand mixer in the video as this is what most people will have. Important point to remember, use DOUGH attachment, a regular hook attachment will not work as it will be jammed with dough. Also, it’s going to be too heavy for the hook attachment to mix the dough. 
3. Manually – if you don’t have any electronic baking equipment for making the dough, you can do it manually. Simply follow the same instructions, do the mixing in a large bowl and transfer in counter top and knead manually. It will take a lot of arm exercise, but I’m telling you, it’s worth it.
4. Bread Machine – if you happen to have one, use the dough setting. Add all the wet ingredients first, followed by all dry ingredients. Remove the dough after the 3rd rise and shape and fill then bake in the oven. 

How Do I Know if I Made the Bread Dough Correctly?

This is not written on the stone, but so far this is how I check if I am on the right track when it comes to the dough.

• Activating the Yeast –  This is the first thing that you should get right, otherwise do NOT proceed. After 5 – 10 minutes you should see a foam forms on top of the water, this is an indication that the yeast is alive. If you do not get this, either the yeast is old or the liquid temperature is too hot or cold. The temperature should be 100F, lukewarm but not hot.
• Clean Bowl After Kneading – The sides of the bowl should be clean, while the bottom is slightly sticking to the dough. This means that amount of liquid to the flour is correct. Enough to make a clean bowl and still make a slightly wet dough.
• Soft Dough – Soft dough means the amount of flour to liquid is enough. Too much flour could make the bread dense and heavy, and too much liquid could make it too wet. Both will affect how the bread rise in the rest period. Try to push your fingers in the dough, it should leave a “dimple” on the dough and should gradually disappear.
• Smooth Dough Surface – Again, this is a sign of correct flour to liquid ratio. A “bumpy” surface could mean that the dough is dry and tough.
• Elastic Dough – A soft dough is usually elastic. If your dough is dry and tough, it wouldn’t be as elastic when you pull it apart.
• First Rest Period – The dough should almost double in size. This is a sign that the activation of the yeast work which is crucial to making a soft and fluffy bread. This also means the yeast is alive (not yet expired) and the liquid temperature is correct. I always use baking thermometer to check the temperature of the liquid.
• Second Rest Period – The bread dough should be really puff up and should fill in the gaps between each bread. This is crucial and the final state of the bread before baking. If you are able to make it puff-up, that is a good sign that there are air trapped inside which will make the bread fluffy.

Ok, now let’s go and put all these pointers to work. Let’s make your first (or maybe not) homemade bread dough.

 Why is My Bread Too Wet or Too Dry?

Don’t get frustrated if your dough did not turn out immediately as what you see in the photo or video. Most likely It is not because you did not follow the recipe. When it comes to bread making, the amount of flour and liquid is not always 100% precise. This is why often times you will encounter recipes that says, if your dough is dry, add a bit more liquid. If your dough is too wet, add a little bit more flour. This instructions are not meant to confuse you, they are meant to guide you on how to adjust as you work through your dough. The reason for this is that although the measurement of water and flour are specified in the recipe, it still could slightly vary depending on many factors. For instance, all-purpose flour could very from country to country, or even from brand to brand. Don’t be surprise if you find that some brand tends to require a bit more liquid as the others. On top of this, the amount of liquid is also affected by the state of your flour. How old is the flour that you are using? Older flour nearing expiry tends to be drier and this requires more liquid. Humidity also affects baking. The more humid it is, the more likely the dough will be sticky and wet. Last but not the least, the way you measure the ingredients greatly affects the recipe too. If you are not using a weighing scale, the closest you can do is do a spoon and level technique to get close to the measurement, but even this is sometimes a little bit off by few tablespoon. Check out my post “How to Properly Measure Common Baking Ingredients” for more details. Bread making requires patience, and practice. Once you learn how to feel the right texture of the dough, everything will be quick and easy. You can instantly tell if you need to add more water or flour to get the dough in right state.

Tips for a Successful Soft Homemade Bread

• Liquid Temperature – Yeast grows in temperature between 105 – 110F, so its important to have the water that you are using to “proof” it in this range. If you go lower or higher, the yeast might not proof properly. That means the bread will not rise as much, resulting to a flat and tough bread. 
• Check Yeast Expiry a Date – you might be wondering how come the bread did not rise when you followed exactly the recipe. Well, first thing first, make sure the yeast is not yet expired. Expired yeast is the common reason for flat and dense bread. If your bread did not expand or rise during the rest period, it is most likely that the yeast is not fresh or the water temperature is too hot or cold.
• Amount of Yeast – Just because you want a tall bread doesn’t mean you have to put as much yeast in the mixture. Sometimes adding too much yeast can cause the bread to collapse during the rest period. Just imagine putting more air than what is needed in a balloon, the balloon will explode. The same case with bread. 
• Right Type of Yeast – Make sure to use the right one for your recipe, and make necessary adjustments if you want to swap one from another. Active dry yeast requires activation. If you want to swap active dry yeast to instant yeast, reduce the measurement by 1/4 teaspoon. Instant yeast are finer and stronger so you will need less and it will not require activation. You can immediately mix it with the dry ingredients just make sure to avoid direct contact with salt as salt can kill it.
• Rest Period – Yeast bread needs time to rise. There are bread that uses less yeast but requires more rest time, the likes of No Knead Bread or Artisan Bread which usually require 8- 16 hours rest period to get the volume and to develop the flavor. There are 1 hour bread like my Rosemary Dinner Rolls which used this same bread dough. The point is, give it time to rest, don’t touch it just leave it in a warm place. The first rest period will normally tell you if your dough is good or not. If it rise and almost double in size, then your on the right track.  
• Expiration and Quality of the Flour – The quality of the flour greatly affect the texture of the bread. All-purpose flour could differ from country to country although they are all called as all-purpose flour. Sometimes it depends on the brand too. The closer the flour to expiration date or if it is already expired, the flour could tend to be drier, which means it would require more liquid than mentioned in the recipe. This is a common issue of way sometimes the dough tend to be tough and dry. This is why sometimes you have to add few more tablespoon from the suggested flour measurement to get the right texture. The dough should be soft, smooth and elastic. If it is too wet, add a bit more flour until it is no longer to sticky to handle. If it is too dry, a small amount of liquid helps provide moisture to the dough. A clean side of the bowl, with the dough slightly sticking at the bottom, a soft, smooth and elastic dough is what You are aiming for.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
• 1/2 cup warm Water (110F)
• 3 tablespoon granulated Sugar, divided (1/2 teaspoon for yeast, remaining for flour mixture)
• 3/4 cup Milk (any milk will work) , warmed to about 80F
• 1 large Egg – room temperature
• 3 tablespoon flavorless Oil
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 3 1/2 cups Bread Flour or All-Purpose Flour, plus 1/4 cup on the side ONLY as needed

Filling:

• 2 tablespoon Cold Butter – diced into small pieces
• 6 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Raisins
• Orange Zest from 1 large  orange

Orange Glaze:

• 1 1/4 cup Confectioners/Icing Sugar
• 5 tsp Orange Juice

Instructions:

1. Activate Yeast: In the bowl of an electric stand mixer (Refer to discussion above for other Methods of making this)  whisk together yeast with water and 1/2 teaspoon of the granulated sugar. Let rest 10 minutes until mixture is foamy.
2. Add Wet Ingredients: Set mixer with paddle attachment and mix in remaining sugar, milk, egg, and oil on low-speed.
3. Add Dry Ingredients: Add salt and 2 cups of flour and mix on low-speed until combined, then switch to a hook attachment. Set mixer on low-speed and slowly add in remaining 1 1/2 cups flour. Allow mixture to knead on medium-low speed until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed, about 8 minutes. If the dough is too sticky add 1 tbsp of flour at a time (but not more than 1/4 cup) until the dough starts to form, dough should be slightly sticky and not too dry. If too much flour is added rolls will be dense and heavy. A good measure of correct texture is when the side of the bowl is clean, while the dough is still slightly sticking to the bottom of the bowl. Most of the time, 3 1/2 cup is more than enough to get the right consistency.
4. First Rest Period:  Remove the dough and form into a ball. Transfer into a greased bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap or warm towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
   • TIP: To help the dough rise better, pre-heat the even to 110F then turn it OFF. Put the covered dough inside.
     

     

5. Make the Filling: In a bowl, mix sugar and butter. Crumble using your fingers until butter is slightly mix with sugar. Add orange zest and raisins. Toss to combine. Set aside in the fridge.
6. Roll out, Fill and Cut: Take the dough out from the bowl and lightly push the dough down with the heel of the palm of your hands. Knead and roll out the dough into about 16×16-inch size. Sprinkle filling across the dough. Roll out the dough into a log shape. Cut into 15 pieces (about 3 cm each). Arrange in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can also bake it in a large baking dish.
7. 2nd rest Period: Let rest for the second time for 1 hour.
   

   

8. Preheat Oven to 350F during last 10 minutes of dough rising. If using the oven to let the dough rest, do NOT forget to remove the bread before pre-heating.
9. Prepare Egg – Mix egg and water or milk. Brush top of bread with egg wash. Milk or cream will work too.
10. Bake: Bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until top turns brown. Take out from the oven and let cool completely before adding the glaze.
11. Make the Orange Glaze:  Mix confectioners sugar and orange juice. Stir until smooth and glossy. Add orange zest and stir until combined. You can adjust the consistency by adjust the amount of orange juice. Less will be thinner and more will be thicker.
12. Drizzle Glaze – Once the bread has completely cooled, drizzle the orange glaze on top.
13. Serve: – Let rest for at least 15 – 20 minutes or until the glaze has solidify a bit.
    

    

Makes 15 pieces

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Looking for more homemade bread recipes? I got you covered! I have here 10 of my favorite homemade bread recipes, all with Video or MORE bread recipes HERE

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