cinnamon rolls, a perfect make ahead Christmas breakfast

Warm cinnamon rolls, straight out of the oven, can you imagine anything better on Christmas morning? We couldn’t but we also realised that unless we got up in the middle of the night to start baking we would have to find a way of preparing them ahead of time and finishing them off on Christmas morning. This led us to a week of test baking and lots of eating to make sure they worked! A real hardship for us as you might imagine.

The method that worked best for us was to par bake the rolls, allow them to cool completely then cover and freeze immediately. You then remove the rolls from the freezer on Christmas Eve and allow them to defrost in the fridge overnight. We’ve made enough dough to allow us both a nice large batch of fresh rolls on Christmas morning, that can be baking while we get the coffee on and pour the bubbles.

cinnamon rolls

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Ingredients

dough

500g strong white bread flour
40g caster sugar
250 ml full fat milk (slightly warmed)
60g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
10g salt
1 packet fast action yeast

filling

3 tsp ground cinnamon (more can be used if you like)
4 tbsp soft brown sugar
3-4 tbsp soft butter

Directions


Weigh out the flour and sugar into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add salt to one side of the flour and yeast to the other so they do not come in direct contact with each other. Mix gently on a low speed.

Add the milk, eggs and butter and mix with dough hook on medium speed until a soft dough forms, about 4-5 minutes. As this is an enriched dough it will be sticky - DO NOT add more flour or your dough will be too dry.

Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured board and form into a ball. Then place the dough into a lightly floured bowl, cover the bowl with clingfilm or a damp teatowel and let prove for about 45 min to an hour until almost doubled in size.

Once proved, place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gently roll the dough into a large rectangle. After each roll, turn the dough a quarter of a turn to ensure it is not sticking to the surface.

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together. Next spread the butter generously over the dough. Then top with the cinnamon sugar mixture taking it as close to the edges as possible.

Starting on the longer end, roll the dough as tightly as you can to form a sausage shape. Cut into 12 even sized pieces and place in a butter greased 8x10 sized oven proof dish. Cover and leave to prove again until doubled in size.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200Fan for about 15-20 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Note

This dish can be prepared ahead of time to enjoy fresh for breakfast. You can par bake the rolls for 10 minutes, allow the rolls to cool completely then cover and freeze. Take the rolls out of the freezer the night before you want to eat them and allow the dish to defrost in the fridge overnight. Bake the rolls at 200Fan for a further 10-15 minutes, ensuring the centre is cooked through and the top is crisp and golden.