In this author’s house, it’s not Christmas without these decadent treats.
One of the most beloved holiday traditions in our family is the making of the Christmas morning cinnamon rolls, a ritual that started over 30 years ago when I decided to try out a recipe on the back of the bag of Gold Medal Flour.
The recipe for Frosted Cinnamon Icebox Rolls first appealed to me because they could be made in advance; as the busy working mom of four kids, I really appreciated that. I’m not ashamed to admit that the special recipe was provided by none other than Betty Crocker. Along with an obligatory fruit cup, the cinnamon rolls were served between the plundering of the stockings and the unwrapping of presents.
Since the early 1980s, on either Dec. 23 or 24 I’ve mixed up the sweet dough for these beauties in the gigantic bread bowl I bought back in the day at the Navy Exchange for 20 bucks. After the dough has risen, I roll the dough out on my cool marble slab with Grandma’s rolling pin, then slather on twice the amount of butter given in the original recipe. (Apparently, Betty C. has a better handle on her cholesterol than I do.)
I then generously sprinkle a substantial amount of cinnamon and sugar on the rectangles of dough until they look just right. It’s a rather satisfying task to roll up that soft, stretchy dough and slice it into the swirls that nestle up to one another in their buttered pan in anticipation of their big sleep in the fridge. I tuck them in tight with a foil blankey and allow them to chill out for anywhere between 12 and 48 hours. The rolls slowly expand until they are popped into the oven on Christmas morn. A bowl of three-ingredient icing is whisked together while sipping coffee and enjoying the yeasty aroma with great anticipation.
My grown children have been known to make the cinnamon rolls for their own families but they claim they’re always better when I’m the one making them. (For some reason, everything tastes better when it’s made by Mom.) In our family, mention of these once-a-year delights is included in the telling of every Christmas story.
My daughter, Katie, now 41 years old, recounts how she always made sure to have the biggest roll with the most icing, even knowing full well she was too excited to really eat it all. The eldest, Alex, remembers sneaking spoonfuls of icing when I wasn’t looking. Their little sister Shannon has told me time and time again that it just wouldn’t be Christmas without THE cinnamon rolls. Daughter Rachel told me just the other day, “The cinnamon rolls made by YOU are more important than Santa.”
Being compared to The Jolly One in such an auspicious way has encouraged me to share this recipe so you can channel your inner Betty Crocker. The recipe is very forgiving, and even though there are a couple flavor variations here, my family has always preferred the original recipe.
What I love most about the cinnamon rolls is that they can be made ahead and left to rise in the refrigerator until doubled. They can even be frozen, then thawed and allowed to rise in a warm place until doubled. You can certainly experiment with cutting bigger rolls and using different size pans.
Watch them carefully so they don’t overbake. You want them to be soft and gooey. Even if you’re a novice when it comes to yeast breads, give these a whirl. You’ll see how easy it is. Make them all; eat them all. Christmas comes but once a year.
Frosted cinnamon icebox rolls
Makes 24
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
2 cups lukewarm milk (scalded then cooled)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil or shortening
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg (at room temperature)
5-6 cups flour
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar combined with 1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon cinnamon (or more!)
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, 1/3 cup sugar, oil or shortening, baking powder, salt, egg and 2-3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto well-floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, then turn greased side of dough up. Cover; let rise in warm place until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours. (Dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched.)
Grease two 13-by-9-by-2-inch pans (Pyrex glass pans work best). Punch down dough; divide into halves. Roll 1 half into a rectangle, 12-by-10 inches. Spread it with half the butter and sprinkle on half the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Roll up, beginning at wide side. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Stretch roll to make even. Cut roll into 12 slices. Place slightly apart in a greased pan.
To bake immediately, repeat with the remaining dough, then let the rolls in both pans rise in a warm place until double in size, about 30 minutes. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees until golden, 30-35 minutes. Frost with icing while warm.
If you plan to bake the rolls later, after cutting the first roll of dough into 12 slices and placing them slightly apart in a greased pan, wrap the pan tightly in heavy-duty aluminum foil. Repeat with the remaining dough in the other pan. Refrigerate the rolls at least 12 hours but no longer than 48 hours. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. (If you want to freeze the unbaked rolls for later, cover with a layer of plastic wrap then foil.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove foil from pans. Bake until golden, 30-35 minutes. Frost with icing while warm.
Powdered sugar icing
(Frosts 1 pan of rolls. For best results, when ready to serve the second pan of rolls, make more icing.)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix until smooth and of spreading consistency.
Orange marmalade icebox rolls
Omit butter and cinnamon-sugar mixture and icing. Before rolling out dough, beat 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup orange marmalade and 1/4 cup softened butter until smooth. Spread each rectangle with 1/3 cup marmalade mixture. Prepare dough and bake as directed. Frost with remaining marmalade mixture while warm.
Caramel pecan icebox rolls
Omit icing. Before rolling out dough, heat 1 cup brown sugar (packed) and 1/2 cup butter until melted; remove from heat. Stir in 2 tablespoons corn syrup. Pour half of the sugar mixture into each buttered pan; sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans into each pan. Roll dough, slice into rolls, place in pan and rise (or refrigerate) and bake as directed. Immediately invert pans on large trays. Let pans remain over rolls for about a minute so caramel drizzles over them.
Karen Schneider is the editor of Northern Journeys, a quarterly publication that supports the arts. She is also a book editor and writer who has contributed to the Coastal Journal and the Lewiston Sun Journal for 20 years. She can be contacted at iwrite33@comcast.net.
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