Over the next few days I will have several Christmas posts. There will be a Christmas breakfast post, a Christmas dinner post, and a Christmas cookie post. I figured it’d be best to stretch them out instead of cram everything into one overwhelming post of holiday cheer.
I go home to my parents’ house every year for Christmas. On Christmas Day we always wake up around 9 a.m. Of course, when my brother and I were little that used to be significantly earlier, but now that we’re in our 20’s we all appreciate the sleep. We wake up, make coffee or tea, and open presents. Our dog Mozart does most of the unwrapping for us. He loves Christmas and loves pulling the paper off of presents, but he knows only to do it when we let him.
Yesterday I got everything I could have wanted. The best of the presents I received was the milk frother so I can make some delicious coffee drinks and beautiful white gold hoop earrings from my dad. It was a great Christmas. I gave my mom the cookbook Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, I made my dad homemade beef jerky, I got my brother whiskey rocks and tumblers, I got my dog a blanket and made him chicken jerky, and I got my cat new water/food dishes and some toys.
After opening presents, laughing, and having generally a wonderful time we enjoy a huge breakfast. I always try to make something festive (last year I made eggnog and gingerbread pancakes.) This year I made Eggnog and Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls, a recipe I found at The Dutch Baker’s Daughter. They were absolutely delicious (in fact, I had a leftover cinnamon roll this morning for breakfast.) Clearly I didn’t make the frosting to top the rolls, but they really didn’t need it. With the rolls we had bacon, eggs, fruit, and sausage bread. My mom makes sausage bread every year a few days before Christmas, so regardless of what we eat on Christmas Day, sausage bread is always a part of it.
Today I’ll be sharing the cinnamon roll recipe with you.
Tomorrow you can see what we had for our wonderful Christmas dinner.
What did you have for Christmas breakfast?
Eggnog and Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
1 cup eggnog
1/4 cup butter
1 package active yeast
1 egg, room temperature, slightly beaten
3 1/4 – 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup chopped fresh cranberries
Directions
1. Heat the eggnog and the 1/4 cup butter. Heat until the butter has melted. Remove from heat and let cool to about 110 degrees (Fahrenheit) – bathwater warm temperature.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the eggnog mixture, yeast, egg, 2 cups of flour, and salt, beat well with the paddle attachment to a stand mixer. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Continue until the dough has just pulled together. Remove the paddle attachment and put the bread hook attachment on. Knead with the bread hook in the stand mixer for 5 minutes.
3. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. Place in a location free from drafts. All the dough to rise and double, about an hour.
4. While the dough is rising combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and softened butter in a small bowl.
5. Once the dough has doubled, place it on a floured surface. Roll the dough out into a 12×9-inch rectangle. Spread the cinnamon mixture on the rolled out dough. Sprinkle with the cranberries. Roll up the dough from the long end and pinch the seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal sized pieces and place into a greased 9×13 pan. Cover and let rise until doubled.
6. At this point you can either bake them or refrigerate them. If you refrigerate your rolls for the morning, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Before you bake the rolls let them sit out for a half hour.
7. Bake rolls in an oven preheated at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until browned.
* makes 12 rolls
* shared with See Ya In The Gumbo
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