Ring A Ling Pastry

A Ring A Ling Pastry is a delicious and flavorful treat that combines a sweet dough with a nutty filling and tangy orange glaze. It’s a copycat recipe from the 1955 Pillsbury Bake-Off winning recipe by Bertha Jorgensen. The spiral design is easy to do and gives you all the flavors of the pastry in every bite! For another citrus-flavored roll, try my Orange Cardamom Breakfast Twist, too!

Ingredients & Substitutions

Dough: The recipe for the dough is from Pillsbury. However, we did test this recipe with crescent roll dough as well, which I will get into later.

Orange Zest: You will need 2 teaspoons of zest (grated orange peel). After grating the orange, juice it for freshly squeezed orange juice to use in the glaze.

Filling: The nutty filling is just three ingredients, confectioners’ sugar, unsalted butter, and chopped walnuts. You could substitute chopped pecans or filberts (hazelnuts) for the walnuts if preferred. The winning recipe for ring-a-ling pastries was made with filberts because Jorgensen wanted to represent her home state of Oregon.

Glaze: The fresh orange glaze is super simple, made with orange juice and confectioners’ sugar. It is drizzled over the pastries for even more citrus flavor.

Can I Make Ring A Ling Pastries Ahead Of Time?

Sure! You can certainly get the dough mixed and let it rise overnight in the refrigerator, for up to 24 hours. First, cover the dough, leaving room for expansion. Let it rise for about 20 minutes at room temperature before placing it in the refrigerator. When ready to continue with the recipe the next day, let the dough sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then, simply follow the rest of the recipe!

Quick Ring A Ling Pastries {Using Store-bought Dough}

For a quicker (no rise time) and more convenient alternative to making these pastries, use a tube of crescent roll dough! When using crescent roll dough, look for the sheet with no perforations. (If it has the perforations, simply pinch them together as best as you can when rolling it out.) With the dough ready to go, you can jump to the assembly and baking instructions in the recipe. Follow them as written and enjoy the easy-peasy version of ring-a-lings!

How To Store Ring A Ling Pastries

Ring A Ling Pastries are best served warm and fresh. However, they should last up to 2-3 days when covered and stored at room temperature. Storing them in the refrigerator is not recommended as that will dry out the rolls faster. If freezing the baked rolls, do it without the glaze. They can be frozen for up to a month. When ready to enjoy, let the rolls thaw overnight at room temperature.