Christmas Tree Mini Cinnamon Rolls Recipes

Steps:

• Unroll crescent roll dough into a rectangle. Press seams and perforations to seal; roll lightly with a rolling pin. Spread butter over dough. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over butter. Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Seal edge. Cut into 22 slices. To form a tree, place slices on a greased baking sheet with sides touching and cut side up. Place one slice in the top row and two slices in the second row. Repeat with remaining rolls, adding one slice per row, until the tree has six rows. Center the one remaining slice under the last row for a truck. Bake at 350° for 16-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack. Combine confectioners' sugar and milk; drizzle over warm rolls. Decorate with cherries if desired.

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Wipe your cookie sheet with just a very thin smear of butter or veg oil. Don't overdo!
• 2. Open the crescent rolls and place them end to end ... press the perforations of all the crescent rolls together, forming one long rectangle.
• 3. Spread entire crescent dough rectangle with softened butter.
• 4. Combine the sugar, cinnamon and raisins/craisins all together. Sprinkle the mixture over the crescent dough rectangle. (You can add some pecans to this step, too, if you desire, about 2 or 3 tablespoons, FINELY chopped).
• 5. Roll up the rectangle along the LONG edge. Cut into 22 equal segments. Wiping your sharp knife with a buttered rag each time will make the cutting easier.
• 6. Starting at the top of a large cookie sheet, place ONE roll. The second row will be TWO rolls, pyramid style. The third row will be THREE rolls...and so on, until you have SIX rows. This will use a total of 21 of the cinnamon rolls. The 22nd roll will be placed at the base of the tree for the stem.
• 7. Place in pre-heated oven, and bake for about 20 minutes, until puffy and golden.
• 8. Meanwhile, mix the powdered sugar and milk together. Note: you can substitute orange juice or apple juice for the milk. Once you've removed the baked rolls from the oven, drizzle the glaze onto the tree, zig-zag fashion, to resemble garland. Using strawberry flavored powdered sugar makes this especially pretty, and you can decorate "the tree" with cinnamon red-hots or other treats for Christmas morning.
• 9. This will keep the kiddos from starving while they open presents, until you've had a chance to get something together for breakfast!

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon., On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12x8-in. rectangle. Spread with butter to within 1/2 in. of edges; sprinkle with sugar mixture. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 slices., Center 1 slice near top of prepared pan, cut side down. Closely arrange 9 more slices to form 3 additional rows, adding 1 slice per row, to form a tree. Center remaining 2 slices at base of tree for trunk. Cover with a kitchen towel; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°., Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Spread with frosting; serve warm.

Steps:

• For the dough: Combine the milk, granulated sugar, butter, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment and stir to combine well. Add the eggs and stir until well mixed. Add the flour and mix on medium-high speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let stand in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Punch the dough down and lightly flour a work surface. Lay the dough out and pat or roll the dough out into an 18-by-12-inch rectangle.
• For the filling: Butter a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish. Spread the softened butter evenly all over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border, then sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle with the pecans and raisins if using. Starting with a short end, roll up the dough and press and crimp the edges to seal. Cut the dough into 12 slices and arrange them in the buttered baking dish. If you want to bake them the same day, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Otherwise, refrigerate overnight; take out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour before baking.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the cinnamon rolls until puffed and golden brown all over, about 25 minutes.
• For the icing: Put the confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the melted butter, vanilla and 4 tablespoons of milk; whisk until smooth. Add additional milk, about 1 teaspoon at a time, if needed to achieve a thick but spreadable consistency.
• Spread the icing over the warm cinnamon rolls. Serve warm.