Things were a bit tight for our family this past Christmas. I know we weren’t the only ones pinching pennies to try and give our kids a Christmas. We were honest with the kids. ”Don’t be disappointed if your pile under the tree is small this year.” We are small business owners. We own a home remodeling company and with the recession, not a lot of people were doing home beautification projects. But, our kids were so understanding and gracious. They said, “It’s okay. We understand. You don’t have to do much, BUT…it won’t be Christmas if we don’t have homemade cinnamon buns!”
Every Christmas, for at least the past 10 years, I have made homemade, ooey, gooey, cream cheese slathered, cinnamon buns. There was even a year we were in Baguio, Philippines for Christmas. The kitchen we were using had a tiny oven. I emailed my mother in law back home for the recipe and I made those cinnamon buns for my family and the other 30 people that were with us for Christmas. I even left the recipe behind for friends to continue the tradition.
Usually, these bad boys are reserved for Christmas. But, I have to admit, with all the snow…all the days in doors…and then, all my boys who shoveled and shoveled and shoveled…I wanted to make something that would put a smile on some faces. My daughter had her bff over and the two girls got to work!
They added the yeast to the warm milk.
They added the flour and formed the dough into a ball.
They put it in a “warming oven” to proof. (Warming oven: turn oven on 250 degrees for five minutes. Then turn it off. It’s a great environment to proof dough.)
They rolled out the dough and spread the softened butter on the dough.
They sprinkled cinnamon sugar.
They rolled it into a long log.
They sliced the log into buns (Ok, I did this part.)
They proofed again and headed into the oven.
Seriously, this is what came out!
Can you taste it? Can you smell it? Yup! It’s Christmas in your mouth…good anytime of year!
Cinnamon Bun Recipe
Rolls:
1 package of active dry yeast
1 C. warm milk (105-110 degrees)
1/2 granulated sugar
1/3 C. butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 C all purpose flour
Filling:
1 C. packed brown sugar
2 1/2 Tbls. cinnamon
1/3 C. butter, melted
Icing:
8 Tbls. butter, softened
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1/4 C. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
Rolls: Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Mix together the sugar, butter, salt and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the dough is doubled in size.
Roll the doughout on a lilghtly floured surface. Roll the dough flat until it is approximately 21 in. long and 16 in. wide. It should be about 1/4 inch thick.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Filling: Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the softened butter evenly over the surface of the dough and then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar evenly over the surface. Make sure you spread it all the way to the ends.
Working carefully from the top (the 21 inch side), roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
Cut the rolled dough into 12 slices and placein a lightly greased baking pan. Let the rolls rise again until double in size (about 30 min). Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly brown on top.
Icing: While the rolls are baking, combine all icing ingredients. Beat well in an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
When the rolls come out of the oven, coat each, generously with icing.
Note: I will make these Christmas Eve. After I have sliced the rolls and put them in a pan, I cover them and put them in the fridge. Christmas morning, I pull them out first thing. They have to come to room temperature than rise until doubled in bulk. It can take about 2-3 hours. But, then after all the gifts are opened, I pop them in the oven and we have them for breakfast!
(this recipe was given to me by my mother in law…it’s not original, but I’m not sure where she got the recipe.)
Ah, the kids are so sweet. It’s so great to be able to please them so easily (and economically). And best of all everyone gets to enjoy a sweet treat!
I am going to make these! they look so good.
by the way, i wanted ot get this recipe on ONE SHEET OF PAPER so opened a word document, made the paper into two columns and pulled the ruler on the left side bottom down a little bit. When I copied the recipe, i pasted it onto the document and chose everything (command + A) and on the formatting bar on the very left i made it “no spacing” which compacts it. it fit on one piece of paper.
course, most people have a recipe file online probably, or something!
Oh my, those look and sound divine. When I was growing up my mom would make cinnamon rolls once a year, and it was always such a wonderful family experience. I’ve never attempted it myself, though. Maybe I’ll give it a go one of these days. Thanks for the recipe!
Bonnie, we are looking at putting a recipe program on our blog…haven’t gotten to it yet! Cara, so easy, my daughter and friend made them…you can do it!!
Manggy, thanks for stopping by our table! It’s always nice to “see” you!
Such cute girls! My mother would make us cinnamon rolls growing up (only at Christmas-with 6 children do you blame her?). Come to find out she basically made them for my grandmother, and when she passed away, that was the end of that tradition. One year, when I was low on funds for my siblings, I made a basket of everything my mom used to make at Christmas. Delivered the cinnamon buns on Christmas morning so they could have fresh, warm rolls.
We have 5 kids…I make the rolls for them! I love your story and that sounds like it could become a Christmas tradition! I’d love it if my siblings made me homemade goodies!
Oh, these photos are making me want to get into the kitchen to make cinnamon rolls. Yum!
Kristin, if I was snowed in at home today I’d definitely be making some cinnamon rolls. How else would I bribe The Mistah to shovel while I stay warm and toasty inside?
I need to make me some of that! That looks wonderful.
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what is it about cinnamon rolls? Especially those made by kids. They reek LOVE! GREG
Oh, I am SUCH a sucker for cinnamon rolls. These look amazing!
WOW…those look amazing! I have been hearing about them all day long and finally had a sec to jump over here and take a look…They seem perfect…better than I imagined all day! I wish I had some right now!!!
Guess I had best start adding cinnamon rolls to my moms tradition of amazing sticky buns on Christmas morning. There happens to be a no nuts preferred family member now….so, cinnamon rolls and sticky buns will be the new tradition!
Oh man, now I want to make cinnamon rolls…like NOW! There is just nothing like a homemade one. And I did spend the whole cruise complaining (I’m afraid quite loudly) at how inferior the cinnamon rolls on the breakfast buffet were!
i wonder… my yeast must havebeen too old. it didnt rise very well…
The yeast could’ve been old, or your milk to hot or too cold.
im going to try it today with fresh yeast. im pretty sure the milk was ok. thanks kristin.