Cinnamon Rolls with Louisiana Pecans

I’m wrapping up my 25 days of Christmas with the cinnamon rolls I prepared for yesterday’s Christmas breakfast. We had both Christmas breakfast and dinner in an attempt to accommodate numerous family members with their varied holiday plans! We didn’t want to miss out on sharing special moments with anyone, so both our breakfast and dinner menus were curated to highlight family specialty dishes and also new dishes and desserts that we had never made before. I think that’s how I approach life–a blend of the familiar and comforting with the riskier new and adventurous. 

Day 25: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Louisiana Pecans and Cream Cheese Icing

Difficulty: Impressive Challenge

These cinnamon rolls are a challenge because they involve making bread from scratch.  It is actually more difficult than making typical yeast dinner rolls. Instead of cutting out the rolls, you sprinkle the dough with butter, spices, sugar and pecans, then roll it up and cut it into rounds before letting the cinnamon rolls rise for a second time. Also, there is an additional step because you have to prepare the icing and ice the cinnamon rolls.

But, this dish is certainly worth the extra steps and challenge. Like, seriously.  We had several other things on our breakfast menu–cheese souffle a la Julia Childe, fresh strawberries and oranges, and a grits and sausage casserole, but I found myself munching on these addictive cinnamon rolls throughout the day.  In fact, I ate so many of them that I was hardly hungry by the time we finally sat down for Christmas dinner.

I mixed a few different recipes, including my Great-Great Aunt Hester’s yeast rolls recipes, but I’m sharing a superb recipe with you in case you want to try it (which you totally should!)