You can make Christmas trees out of cinnamon rolls! They’re fun to make and baking during the chilly season helps you get warm and end up with a nice treat afterward. Moreover, your house will get filled with the mouthwatering and comforting scent of freshly-baked buttery cinnamon rolls.
That smell can make your day!
With this recipe, you’ll be able to make cinnamon rolls from scratch, which comes in handy all year round, but you can also use the pre-packaged cinnamon roll dough that you find in the fridge section at many supermarkets.
The shape is the main difference between regular cinnamon rolls and our Christmas trees. For it to work, it’s crucial to get a great cinnamon roll dough to start with.
I suggest using instant yeast to accelerate the dough-making process. There are more complicated cinnamon roll recipes that require you to let the dough rest for many hours, usually to allow for better fermentation, but believe me, this recipe still packs lots of flavor even if it takes less time (something we all need during these hectic holiday prep days!).
Before explaining the full recipe, let me share with you some useful tips to get the best out of it…
Tips for baking homemade cinnamon rolls
- Use room temperature butter and cream cheese for the frosting
- Don’t overheat the milk when melting the butter for the dough
- Wait until the same milk is cool enough before adding an egg
- Avoid excessive cinnamon for the filling. Use only enough to create a thin layer, helping yourself with the melted butter to allow it to stick to the dough
- Flour your work surface and rolling pin thoroughly to prevent the rolls from sticking
- Let the cinnamon roll Christmas trees rise in the oven at a very low temperature for a few minutes after you first shape them. Then, you gotta re-shape them since things might have moved when the dough was rising. This will help achieve a sturdy Christmas tree shape
What you need to make cinnamon roll Christmas trees
Most baking tools are sufficient to make cinnamon rolls, but I give you the list of gear to make this recipe so that you’re ready to make your best cinnamon rolls:
Find below all the ingredients and a detailed step-by-step guide.
Cinnamon rolls Christmas Trees
Ingredients
Dough
- 2¾ cups flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tbsps unsalted butter (30 grams).
- 1 egg
- 2¼ of instant yeast
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tsp salt
Filling
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon powder
- ½ stick unsalted butter, melted.
White frosting
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp.
- 2 oz cream cheese, room temp.
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Green frosting
- 2 oz cream cheese, room temp.
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- 1½ cup powdered sugar (you can add more for a firmer consistency)
- 2 tbsp milk
- Green gel food coloring
To decorate
- Small M&Ms or small sprinkles
- Colored sprinkles
Instructions
- To make the dough, mix the dry ingredients first. Add flour, salt, and instant yeast into your mixer bowl.
- In a separate container -microwave safe- put butter, sugar, milk, and water. Mix well the ingredients and pour over the dry ingredients with your mixer on. Then heat on the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. You'll have to stop the heating a couple of times so that it doesn't boil. The purpose is to melt the butter and have a warm liquid, not scorching hot. Let this mixture cool a bit, and then add an egg.
- Pour and mix gently to feed the yeast. Change your mixer attachment for a dough hook and let it knead for 5 minutes at medium speed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 194 °F.
- When the dough is ready, sprinkle flour on a clean and flat surface and extend the dough using a rolling pin. Here, aim to create a 16 by 8 inches rectangle. It doesn't need to be precise. Then, brush your "rectangle" with melted butter avoiding the borders. Now, add cinnamon powder and spread it well to create a thin layer.
- Roll the dough by the long side, ensuring that it's tight. Before closing the roll, brush with some extra melted butter to help it keep together. Then, finish the rolling.
- Cut rolls using a sharp knife. Place them on a buttered tray. To make the trees, unroll each piece and draw a zig-zag using your dough like a vine, making a 2 inches line of dough before curving it up to form the next row slightly smaller. Repeat until you shape a minimalistic Christmas tree.
- Leave some space between each tree, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Then, they'll be spongy, so that they might have changed their shape a bit. Fix them accordingly, and heat your oven to 374 °F. Before getting the trees in the oven, brush again with melted butter. Now, bake the cinnamon rolls for 16 to 18 minutes or brown.
- Meanwhile, make the frostings. Mix cream cheese and butter in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy to make the white frosting. Add transparent vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Keep mixing while pouring milk slowly and gently until you get a light mixture. Then, mix the cream cheese with an electric mixer to make the green frosting. Add powdered sugar, transparent vanilla extract, and a couple of tablespoons of milk. Then, add a few drops of green coloring and mix.
- Let your rolls cool for five minutes after taking them out of the oven. Brush the rolls with the white frosting on both sides. Then, cover the trees with green frosting using a spat, letting the frosting drop on top of the rolls. Decorate with sprinkles and finish with some M&M's.
- Enjoy your delicious cinnamon rolls Christmas trees!
Video
Notes
If you liked this cinnamon roll Christmas trees recipe, you might like some of my other recipes too.
And remember, if you try this recipe and want to share your pictures, tag me @lacooquette on Instagram. I’d love to share your photos on my IG stories.
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