We’re in the home stretch. Literally – I’m currently stretching my way across the country to go home to Los Angeles for a few days. With hope that you’re home and cozy, I bring you a Christmas morning breakfast recipe hybrid: tender buttery biscuits in the style of cinnamon rolls. If you’ve got butter in the fridge and cinnamon in the pantry, you’re halfway there!
I’ve also written this recipe so you can prep and roll the little rolls tonight, let them chill in the fridge, and bake them fresh tomorrow morning! Nothing is more thoughtful than warm cinnamon swirls on a holiday morning – I’m sure of it.
Happy Holiday! Here’s what you’ll need:
• Butter, flour, a touch of sugar, baking powder and baking soda, salt and buttermilk to make fluffy biscuits. We’ve done it before! See: Layered Buttermilk Biscuits!
• Softened butter, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling. Pecans are a excellent addition.
• Softened cream, powdered sugar, and heavy cream for a simple and satisfying glaze.
For this Christmas morning breakfast recipe:
Start by working the cold butter into the biscuit’s dry ingredients.
Break the butter up into pieces the size of peas and oat flakes. Keeping the butter chunky will create wonderfully tender and fluffy biscuits.
Add the buttermilk and egg mixture to the buttered dry ingredients and gather together into a shaggy disk. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes, allowing the moisture to absorb and redistribute.
After some quality time in the refrigerator, roll the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Mix the cinnamon and spice into the butter, coarsely chop the pecans and LET’S ROLL (into roughly the shape of a rectangle, jagged edges are A-Ok) .
Slice the log of cinnamon rolls at about 3/4-inch thickness, into 16 or 18 pieces. Arrange, extra-cozy in an 8-inch square dish, nestled so that they’re touching.
From here, cover the rolls with waxed paper of plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
OR! You can totally bake these biscuits without first refrigerating them. Get the oven going!
Before baking after refrigeration, let the rolls come closer to room temperature while the oven pre-heats. Bake until bubbling and deeply golden brown
Overnight Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- For the Biscuits:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
- For the Filling:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
- For the Glaze:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 – 3 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Using your fingers, quickly work the butter into the dry ingredients until some bits of butter are the size of oat flakes, some the size of small peas. Chunks of cold butter is what we want in our dough.
- In a small bowl of liquid measuring cup, whisk together the egg and cold buttermilk.
- Create a well in the center of the buttery dry ingredients and add the eggy buttermilk mixture
- Stir into a shaggy mixture. The dough will be moist, but not overly wet. Gather the dough up into a dish, wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- In a small bowl, stir together softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- On a well-floured counter, roll the biscuit dough into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle, about 12-inches long by 8-inches wide. The ends might feel a little shaggy and uneven and that’s ok!
- Spread the spiced butter over the biscuit. Sprinkle with pecans.
- Working from the long side, tightly roll into a biscuit log. Slice into 16 or 18- scant 3/4-inch pieces.
- Place biscuit rolls in a lightly greased 8×8-inch square pan. Nestle the rolls in so they touch one another. Everything will be cozy.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight. Or bake immediately.
- When you’re ready to bake, place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Allow the refrigerated rolls to sit at room temperature while the oven pre-heats.
- Bake for 18 to 24 minutes, until golden and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. While the rolls cool, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth. Spread the glaze over the rolls, slice and enjoy warm!
Mallory
I want to make these rolls on Friday night to bake on Sunday morning. Is it okay to have them unbaked in the fridge for that long?
★★★★★