This spectacular cinnamon roll is the centerpiece of our Christmas morning breakfast and is greeted with the same anticipation at our holiday table as the Cratchit’s plum pudding is at theirs.
The recipe relies on using store-bought frozen bread dough, thawed, and an overnight rise in the frig while Santa makes his rounds. Pop it in the oven while opening presents and the scent of warm cinnamon throughout the house is what a holiday morning is all about.
Of course the cinnamon roll is delicious and a showy presentation in itself, but for our family, the tradition of making it together means much more.
Beginning almost twenty years ago, my two little toddlers boys had the fun of rolling out “snakes” with sweet cinnamon sugar-coated fingers after Christmas Eve dinner. When those little hands became bigger and more interested in video games than helping in the kitchen, I became blessed with the memories of my mom, who has since passed, and my mother-in-law standing over the pastry board at midnight sharing a private giggle while they rolled out ropes of dough ironically while the Pope presided over mass in the background.
My boys’ adolescent years once again welcomed their participation mostly with the encouragement from their father telling them to “help your mother” but it inevitably became a family project by turning off the TV and playing holiday music. I must have been on the “nice” list these years. Thank you, Santa.
With my boys now returning home from college, I find they have also returned to the kitchen on their own terms. I imagine this is due in part for a desire for home cooking where the frig is stocked with fresh fruit, vegetables and milk and in part to reconnect where we, as a family, spend most of our time talking and catching up but I’ve also seen another change. A couple years ago in one bleary-eyed Christmas Eve moment where I had already spent the entire day on my feet in the kitchen, I dared to suggest the idea of making drop biscuits Christmas morning instead of the cinnamon roll. It was met with the wide eyes of two reminiscent toddlers - “but it’s tradition!”
And so the tradition continues in our kitchen, amid friendly brotherly banter from spending months apart, where dough snakes wind their way through melted butter and cinnamon sugar the night before Christmas. “God bless us, everyone.”
The Best Giant Cinnamon Roll Ever!
- 2 – 1 pound loaves of frozen bread dough, thawed
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Icing
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon vanilla
- milk
Lightly butter a 14” solid bottom pizza pan (non-perforated) with shallow sides. Set aside. On a lightly floured surface cut each one pound loaf of thawed dough into four equal pieces.
You’ll have a total of eight sections from the two loaves.
Form each piece into a rope about 18 inches long.
Brush each rope on all sides with melted butter or roll them in a baking pan where the melted butter has been poured into.
Combine the brown and granulated sugars along with the cinnamon. Place the mixture in a shallow pan or on a sheet of foil.
Roll the buttered ropes one at a time in the sugar mixture, coating it well. We used to call these “snakes in the sugar sand.”
With the first rope, coil the sugar-coated rope starting in the center of pizza pan.
Pinch the ends of a second rope to the previous rope making sure they are sealed together. Repeat with remaining ropes. All the ropes are now coiled together and need to rise in either the frig over night or in a warm location until doubled in size, around 40 minutes.
Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the assembled cinnamon roll and sprinkle the nuts on top.
Doubled in size and ready to be baked.
Remember what I said about making sure the end of one rope was attached well to the next rope end? When the dough raised it pulled two ends of apart. They can be put back together before baking.
If there is any more leftover sugar you can sprinkle more on at this point. I usually do because I like my cinnamon roll gooey and glorious.
When we had our friend, John, over for breakfast, he named the center of the cinnamon roll “The Danish”. We have referred to it as such ever since and there’s always a playful power struggle as to who gets The Danish. It’s usually divided up but it has also been known to mysteriously disappear gradually over the course of the morning if a knife is left on the pizza pan. Hmmm.
Baking Info:
If baking the next morning – cover the cinnamon roll with plastic wrap but not so tight where the dough cannot rise and expand. The next morning, take it out of the refrigerator. If it has doubled, let it stand 20 minutes to take the chill off before baking. If it needs to rise more, place in a warm location and let it rise more (see tips below).
If baking the same day as assembling – cover and let rise in a warm place till nearly doubled, 30-40 minutes.
Bake in a 350 degree oven 30 to 35 minutes. To prevent over browning, cover with foil the last 10 minutes.
Cool about 15 minutes before drizzling the icing.
Icing Recipe Directions
Shift powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add vanilla and enough milk to make icing into a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over baked and slightly cooled cinnamon roll. Resist the urge to sample the cinnamon roll before it gets to the table. Warning: this is nearly impossible.
Tips:
- A pizza pan with sides works best. It keeps the shape together in a spiral.
- On rolling out the dough – the ropes will be very elastic at first. Roll them out to at least 12 inches long. As you roll out the remaining ropes, while the dough rests, they will stretch more and can be re-rolled a little to make them longer.
- When making the spiral don’t roll the ropes too tight but keep the sides of the ropes touching each other. If the spiral is too tight the dough will have difficulty rising.
- Make sure the ends of the ropes are pinched together if you want the finished product to be presentation pretty. If not attached to the next rope, the ropes will separate as they expand in baking and there will be gaps in the spiral. Not to worry. It’ll still taste great though!
- If your refrigerator runs colder the dough might not rise well overnight but once out of the refrigerator let it rise as you would normally do with a yeast bread, 30 or 40 minutes. I’ve been known to heat up my oven and then turn it off, open the oven door and set the pizza pan on the door to warm up the bottom of the pizza pan. The dough will also get the residual heat from the oven without it being direct. If you have a toaster oven, you can heat it for toasting, turn it off and place the pizza pan on top. This works too.
- I always cover the roll with foil the last 10 minutes to prevent over browning especially around the outer ropes.
- If you drizzle on the icing before the cinnamon roll has had a chance to cool a little, the sugar will melt into the roll and you won’t see the glaze. Tell yourself it’s worth the wait for a good glaze. Kids love being the official drizzler too.
I’ve enjoyed sharing our family recipe and tradition with you! I hope it becomes a tradition in your home too. Enjoy! :)
Updates: The photos below are from YOU! Thank you, lovely readers, for sending photos of your cinnamon roll success using the recipe. I love seeing them and sharing them with everyone else.
Lauren from South Pasadena.
Nancy from Seattle.
Jen from central California. How adorable are her helpers?
Kathy from New York. Love the festive sprinkles!
Nancy from Seattle made two more with her grandchildren for New Years.
One traditional and one, monkey bread using the same recipe but cutting smaller individual pieces for the monkey bread.
Great job, bakers!
