Christmas Morning Cinnamon Roll Cake

Christmas Morning Cinnamon Roll Cake

It is officially my favorite time of year – holiday baking season! I knocked up this gorgeous cinnamon bun cake to bring to thanksgiving dinner and am so excited now to share it with all of you! I love making these for thanksgiving, snowy days, and our Christmas morning breakfast! I like to prepare it the night before and then let it rise overnight in the fridge so I can bake it hot in the morning. 

Our favorite thing about this cake is that it is basically like eating one huge middle of a cinnamon bun. Usually, AJ and I fight over who gets the middle of a cinnamon bun or a pretzel if we are sharing, so this cake is such a winner for us. I really hope you try making it and sharing it with your family.

The ingredients and recipe are pretty simple. It does involve yeast, which I know scares a lot of people off, but I am being serious – this is a very easy cake to put together! Yeast is not as intimidating as everyone thinks! I really encourage you to give this a recipe a try and see how quick you whip it up!

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups flour (I used King Arthur whole wheat)
• 3 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 packet of yeast – or 2 & ¼ tsp if you are using a jar of yeast (I use Fleischmann’s active dry yeast)
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup milk
• 3 tbs unsalted butter
• 1 large egg (room temp)

Filling:

• 5 tbs butter (room temp)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¼ cup brown sugar

Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
• 1 tbs milk
• 1 tbs maple syrup

1.   Start off by making your dough. Set aside ½ cup of the flour and in a large bowl (I’m using my kitchenaid mixer bowl), mix the remaining 2 cups of flour, sugar, salt and yeast together. Set aside
2. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, water and butter together. You want this to be hot to the touch (not boiling). If you are using a thermometer you are aiming for 120 degrees. If this is too hot it will kill the yeast when you add it to the dough mix!
   
3. Stir the melted butter mixture into the dough you prepared in step 1. Add the egg and the remaining ½ cup of flour. Mix until incorporated and forms a soft dough. If the dough is too wet, add a tbs of flour at a time. The dough will be elastic and pull away from the bowl when it is ready. I used my dough hook attachment on my kitchenaid stand mixer for this part.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Form into a ball and pop into a lightly greased bowl (I used coconut oil spray). Cover tightly and let rest 60 minutes to allow the dough to rise.
   
5. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a small bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Set aside while dough rises.
6. After 30 minutes, roll your dough out into a rectangle – approx. 12’ x 15’. I used my silpat mat as a guide for the size. Spread the filling evenly over the dough. Spray a nonstick cake or pie pan and set aside.
   
7. Using a knife, cut the dough into 6 equal strips. They will be about 2’ wide. Starting with the first strip, loosely coil into a swirl and place in the center of the pan. Then going one by one, coil the remaining strips (loosely!!) around. You can give it a little pinch where the new piece starts to hold them together. You want to do this loosely so the dough has some extra room to rise.
   
   
   
8. At this point, you have two options: let the cake rise and then bake or let the cake rise overnight in the fridge and bake in the morning. If you are baking the same day, cover it loosely and place in a warm spot for about an hour – it will be about double in size.
9. Preheat oven to 350F and bake for about 30-40 minutes. If the top is browning too quickly, you can place aluminum foil on top. If the cake is rising too much in spots while baking, just press down with a spatula – this is fine!
10. When the cake is done, remove and let cool for about 15 minutes. While it is cooling, prepare the glaze.
11. To make the glaze, simple mix the ingredients together until smooth and then pour on top of the mostly cooled cake. Serve and enjoy!
    

OVERNIGHT INSTRUCTIONS: Prepare through step 7. Then tightly wrap the pan and place into the fridge overnight. In the morning, remove and let come to room temperature for about an hour. Then bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes (same as step 9).

This cake is so delicious and makes for a beautiful presentation too! It is a highly requested bake of mine! Please try making it and tag @chelbucciblog on Instagram so I can see your cakes! I know you and your family will love it as much as mine does!

This recipe was adapted from here - Sally's Baking Addiction, one of my favorite blogs!