Yeah, I just gained five pounds just looking at this picture too - blame Chanel. This is yet another realization of one of her cravings. When brainstorming over dinner one day, she said "oh my god, I really want a cinnamon roll so bad....with like cranberry...and orange" and I said, "yeah sure, let me pull out the left over cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving and throw that together for you...weirdo. Oh, and I can't feed that to my kids for dinner...so, maybe another time."

I based the dough for the rolls on an overnight cinnamon roll recipe from Williams Sonoma that I used years ago, but I felt that it was a little too dense so I made some adjustments - well and then reworked it for the cranberry-orange thing too.

On that note, this recipe would work with any kind of preserves or jam that you like. I was picking up food for dinner and came across this "too perfect for the moment" organic Superfruit spread (it has cranberries, blueberries, and cherries), so I used that. However, you could use any jam or preserve you like including jellied-cranberry sauce. I still added a layer of cinnamon sugar, of course, and then topped these with a decadent whipped cream, orange and cream cheese glaze.

These are as pretty as they are insanely tasty - you will not be sorry. Well, your diet might, but your taste buds sure won't. I think I am gonna make these a holiday staple, they may make it to the Christmas morning table next year.

Overnight Cranberry-Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 12 Rolls

For the Dough:

1 (1/4 oz) packet active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (100°+)
1 tsp. + 1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 1/2 cups of flour
1 stick butter, softened
2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk

For the Filling:

5 oz. of jam of choice (I used a Cranberry, Blueberry, Cherry mix)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbs. ground cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

For the Icing:

1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Juice of 1 orange
1 tsp. vanilla
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 orange, for garnish (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the yeast and 1 tsp. of sugar. Add the 1/2 cup of water and let stand for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom. Once it is foamy, whisk it until smooth and then whisk in 1/2 cup of the flour. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes (it will be the consistency of a pancake batter, so it will pouf more than rise).

In the mean time, in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until creamy. Add the salt and the eggs, beat until combined. Add 1 cup of the flour and beat well. Switch the paddle for the dough hook. After the yeast mixture has risen, pour that into the stand mixer and mix well. 1 cup at a time, add the remaining 3 cups of flour. Knead on low speed until smooth (about 8-10 minutes), adding a little of the milk at a time if the dough is too dry. You want it to be smooth and slightly elastic but not sticky.

When the dough is done, remove it from the bowl and knead by hand for a few minutes more. Roll it into a ball and return to the mixing bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow it to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours, in a warm place.

Butter a 9 x 12 rectangluar or large oval baking dish, set aside.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out on a floured work surface into a 16 x 12 inch rectangle. I like the dough to be a perfect rectangle, so I use a knife or pizza cutter to cut it into a rectangle and then place the trimmings back on top of the rectangle and then roll it smooth just a bit more, I think it adds extra flaky layers, or you can just toss the trimmed dough.

Using half of the melted butter, brush the rectangle, leaving a 2-inch wide strip on a long side bare. Then, using a small rubber spatula, spread the jam or preserves on top of the buttered dough. It should be just a thin layer, if you put too much it will squeeze out everywhere, just a little. Then sprinkle the preserves with the cinnamon sugar, pretty liberally, but to your taste.

Starting at the long side covered with sugar, roll up the dough towards the bare side snugly, pinching the seam together gently. Seam-side down, slice the dough into 1-inch thick slices, placing the slices, cut-side down in the baking dish. Brush the tops of the rolls with the remaining melted butter.

Cover the dish lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise until the rolls have doubled in size, about an hour. Preheat the oven to 350°. Once the rolls have risen, bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, make the glaze. With a hand mixer, beat together the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add the cream, juice, vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth. If you prefer a thicker or thinner glaze adjust accordingly - add more sugar and cream cheese for thicker paste, add more cream or milk for a thinner glaze.

While the rolls are still hot, ice the rolls in the pan, sprinkle with orange zest - serve immediately.