These were originally called Orange Bow Knots. While I was shaping them, however, I sort of forgot the bow part, and just went with the knot, so they’re sort of lumpy knot balls. Despite not being cute, they’re really nice! You can really taste the orange juice in the dough, which hasn’t been the case with some fruit baked goods I’ve tried. They’re really light, and have a tasty glaze. I support it! I might make them again soon with soy milk for my vegan friend that is currently sharing his hemp milk ice cream with me. (Honestly, it’s not nearly as gross as it sounds! Real ice cream is better, but this is fudgey and …as good as vegan things are ever going to be?!)

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
• 1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons grated orange peel
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 5 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Icing:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel

Combine the water and yeast in a large bowl. Dissolve the best you can, but it’s not very much water for dissolving that much yeast. Add the milk, shortening, sugar, orange juice and zest, salt, eggs, and three cups of flour. Stir until smooth.

Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. I added a cup and a half.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. While kneading I added another half cup of flour, bringing it up to 5 cups total.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 75 minutes. Punch the dough down, and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half, and then divide each half into 12 balls.

Roll each ball into a 10″ rope, then tie into a knot. Tuck the ends under, then place on greased baking sheets 2″ apart.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Stir together the icing ingredients, and drizzle over the knots.

The shortening gives these a really nice texture.

I had forgotten how good oranges are until now. Apparently I like them quite a bit!

I’ll be submitting this to YeastSpotting, which, as always, you should check out if you want some bread inspiration.

Orange Bow Knots

From Allrecipes.

Dough:

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
• 1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons grated orange peel
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 5 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Icing:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, sugar, orange juice and peel, salt, eggs, and three cups flour. Mix until smooth. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and rotate to grease all sides. Cover, and let rise until doubled, approximately 75 minutes.

Punch dough down and divide into two. Divide each half into 12 balls. Roll each ball into a 10″ rope and tie into a knot. Tuck the ends underneath. Place on greased baking sheets 2″ apart, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Stir together icing ingredients and drizzle over rolls.