Description
These Christmas morning buns combine buttery, flaky puff pastry with warm spices, orange zest, and a caramelized cinnamon-sugar topping for an irresistibly festive treat.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the rolls:
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (about 1 small orange)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
- 1 box frozen puff pastry, thawed but still chilled
- 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature, divided
For the cinnamon-sugar topping:
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar + 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, mixed well
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 F and liberally grease a muffin tin. Set aside.
- To make the sugar mixture for the filling, combine the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, zest and spices in a small bowl. Use your fingertips to massage the zest into the sugar to release the oil (and flavor!). Set aside.
- Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar onto a clean countertop. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar and gently press with a rolling pin to ensure it’s flat and that the sugar starts to stick.
- Spread 2 tablespoons of butter over the surface of the puff pastry, then sprinkle with half of the sugar mixture, ensuring the entire sheet is covered. Roll again with a rolling pin to ensure the sugar sticks to the butter.
- Turn the puff pastry so the short side faces you, and then roll into a tight roll. Cut into 6 equal pieces and place each roll into the greased muffin tin. Repeat the process with the second sheet of puff pastry.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Once baked, place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove and let cool for another 5 minutes. Do not let the buns cool in the pan too long or the melted caramelized sugar will start to harden and they will stick.
- To finish the buns, dip the top of the buns in cinnamon sugar and serve warm.