This is the first year Ryan and I are hosting Christmas. I’m excited about it and have already made a semi-long list of foods I want to cook. I’m also trying to pick things that represent both our childhood Christmas traditions. For me, I want to make a big roast dinner with flan for dessert. For Ryan, I want to make a nice breakfast complete with homemade cinnamon rolls.
Growing up Christmas breakfast wasn’t such a thing for me. I’m fairly certain my dad would have made pancakes or French toast but it wasn’t the main food event. For Ryan, on Christmas morning he had cinnamon rolls and an egg casserole. And I think that breakfast may have been a bigger deal in his household because it was the intermission during present opening.
Here’s the thing. Ryan and I grew up with different present opening traditions. His family opens presents one by one, everyone taking turns with a breakfast intermission between. On the other hand, my family dives in all at once. Well, historically kids went first then grown ups, which is a weird system now since everyone is over 20 years old. We’d all jump in, then show off our gifts afterward, and then hang out until dinner. I think there are merits to both systems. I like that taking turns means you get to savor opening presents, that it becomes a big event, and you get to see what everyone got. On the other hand, diving in is full of adrenaline and excitement, and it evokes the feeling a being a kid who can’t wait to rip open the paper. Which side do you fall on? Taking turns or diving in? I think each year Ryan and I work to try to blend the two.
Regardless of how your family opens present, I think we can all get on board with the tradition of cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Cinnamon, sugar, and melted butter are intoxicating scents that give the feeling of Christmas. Warm and sweet, cinnamon rolls are feel like a special indulgence – and that’s a nice thing to have on Christmas.
Most of the cinnamon rolls I’ve had in the past are either from a stand in a shopping mall or from those cardboard tubes that make the satisfying pop when they open. And those are good and easy, requiring little work from you. But, as Ryan said to me, “these are homemade and that makes them great.” Homemade is great because you can make them as sweet or cinnamony as suits your tastes. I also thinking making something homemade is a nice gift to give the people around you at Christmas.
Most importantly, this recipe won’t require too much work from you. You won’t have to worry that you’ll be in the kitchen all morning working away while everyone else plays with their new toys. I called this recipe simple for two reasons. First, the recipe does not call for yeast. That means you don’t have to worry about rising times or kneading the dough. That cuts down on time. Second, your kitchen electronics do all the work (unless you don’t have a food processor or mixer, then you will have to do a little more work). You could even make the dough and assemble the rolls before opening presents, then pop the rolls in the oven later in the morning when you’re ready to eat.
Last tip, I find these cinnamon rolls great on their own without a lot of icing. If you disagree and like a lot of icing, I recommend you double the icing recipe below so you can slather the rolls to your heart’s content. I for one am looking forward to having these again in less than two weeks time. And I hope you too will enjoy these rolls for the holidays (or for that matter on any weekend morning you want).
Adapted from Domestic Chic by Kristin Sollenne
Messy level: In terms of work, this recipe is pretty easy and not very messy. That’s because most of the mess is going to be contained in the food processor and mixer, which is great. However, you will have to take the dough and roll it onto your counter. That means lots of flour and a little sticky dough. It’s not a huge mess, but the counter will need a good wipe afterwards.
- Butter, for greasing the pan
- ⅓ cup/ 76 grams butter, softened
- 1 cup/ 200 grams brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 egg
- ⅔ cup/ 160 ml milk
- 2¼ cups/282 grams flour (plus 2-3 tablespoons more for dusting)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup/113 grams cold butter
- ½ cup/ 63 grams powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 1½ teaspoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Grease an 8x8" pan with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.
- Start with the filling: In a medium bowl using an electric mixer on high to cream the butter, about 2 minutes.
- Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the creamed butter. Mix until combined. Set aside.
- Now for the dough. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk. Set aside for now.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Turn the food processor on high for a few seconds to make sure all the dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
- Add the cold butter to the flour mixture. Pulse until the butter has been cut into the flour and the mixture looks crumbly.
- Now pour in the whisked egg and milk mixture. Mix briefly on high until the dough has come together.
- Generously flour your work surface. Turn the dough out onto the work surface. The dough might be a bit sticky. If so, knead in another 1-2 tablespoons of flour until the dough becomes drier and you are able to handle it without it sticking to your hands.
- Roll or pat the dough into a rough square, with the dough about ¼-1/3" thick.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon butter filling over the dough. Use your fingers or a knife to spread the filling as best as you can as evenly as possible across the dough.
- Roll the dough up, as if you were rolling up a newspaper. This will give you the cinnamon roll swirl pattern.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the log into 9 pieces.
- Put the 9 pieces into the prepared baking pan. Leave some space between them, they will puff up and touch each other as they cook.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
- While the rolls are cooking, make the icing. In a small bowl stir together the powdered sugar, hot water, milk, and vanilla extract. Drizzle on top of cooled cinnamon rolls. If you're too eager and put the icing on while the rolls are too hot the icing will melt into the rolls.
- Serve iced rolls slightly warm.