Orange Rolls, simplified

April 17, 2025 I made the full recipe of Citrus Buns, and for some reason, I had to fight the dough. It just didn't go as I had thought it would. Plus, it's a giant batch. Five-and-a-half dozen buns. So, I'll go back to my tried-and-true cinnamon bun recipe and adapt it to be my new orange rolls go-to recipe. As of today, April 18, I haven't tried it as written, but I'm fully confident it'll be great.

Bun dough:

1 cup mashed potatoes
2 tbsp yeast
2 cups potato water or milk
3/4 cup softened butter
2 eggs beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
6 cups of flour

Inside the buns:
3Tbsp melted butter (to spread onto dough)
2 cups sweetened coconut

1 cup white sugar

zest from one orange and one lemon

Blend mashed potatoes and potato water/milk. (I'm considering putting an orange in as well.)

Add the other ingredients and mix well. Add 6 cups flour and knead until soft. Cover and let rise 1 hour.

Punch and make rolls with coconut/zest filling. Let rolls rise 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Sauce:
1 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter

juice from one lemon

Mix. Heat to boiling. Pour over rolls when done or just before serving. Enjoy!

Banana Muffins and variations (spinach, pumpkin)

I have no idea where this recipe came from originally. It's in "the white recipe book" (aka a collection from a group of church friends about 20 years ago).

1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium)

1 tsp baking soda

2 large eggs

1/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed*

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt*

1 tsp vanilla (optional)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a small bowl, stir mashed bananas and baking soda together. Set aside.

Beat eggs in a small bowl until frothy. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in large mixing bowl. Add half of the eggs, mixing again. Add second half of eggs, mix again. Stir in mashed bananas, mix again.

Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Stir to moisten. Spoon into prepared muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Notes

I reduce sugar in most recipes. This recipe could be delicious with half the amount of sugar.

If you reduce the sugar, also reduce the salt.

Variations

You can use other ingredients in place of banana. We love a 2/3 banana with 1/3 spinach version. I use the blocks of frozen chopped spinach from Superstore. Half of one block is enough for one batch of muffins. Thaw it. Liquid can be added to batter, too.

Pumpkin muffins are great as well. Replace the entire portion of bananas with pumpkin puree, add 2 tsp pumpkin spices. For this version, use the full 1 cup of brown sugar.

Pumpkin spice mix (I make a big batch, usually about 8X this, and use 2 tsp at a time)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger