Cinnamon Christmas Trees

Christmas isn't really Christmas without a little festive bake. These Cinnamon Christmas Trees are pretty much a sugar-free Cinnamon Roll. It's a bit of a lengthy one, but worth it in the end, and the little ones love assembling the trees. We had a 20% success rate of a decent looking tree, but the fails still tasted amazing and it was a fun little project for everyone involved.  

Recipe

Cinnamon Christmas Trees 

Ingredients

• 300g Plain flour (sifted)

• 2-3 tbs Rice Syrup

• 1 tsp Salt

• 7g Sachet Yeast

• 40g Butter

• 200ml Milk

• 1 Egg (room temperature)

Cinnamon filling 

• 1 cup Pitted Dates

• 1-2 tsp Cinnamon

• Pinch Salt

Directions

1. Sift the flour, salt and yeast together and set aside.

2. Mix the milk, butter and rice syrup together in a saucepan and heat up till it feels slightly warm (not boiling).

3. Add the milk to the flour and mix it all together, then add the egg and mix it in again. You may need a little more flour if it’s too sticky (make sure you sift the flour before adding it to avoid lumps)

4. On a lightly floured surface, start kneeing the dough till it’s smooth and elastic and easy to work with (keep adding more flour to your surface area if needed).

5. Once it’s nice and smooth, place the dough in a clean oiled bowl. Cover with cling wrap and place in a sunny spot for 2-3 hours or so.

Cinnamon Filling

1. After 2 hours or so and your dough has risen, make your cinnamon filling and preheat your oven to 200°C.

2. Simply soak the dates in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain the water, then process till it’s nice and smooth.

3. Add the salt and cinnamon and mix it in together. Taste it to check if the cinnamon flavour is coming through. Add more if needed.

Assemble 

1. Roll the dough on a lightly flour surface again so it’s easy to work with.

2. Then roll out a small portion of the dough in a long line about 3cm wide.

3. Spread the cinnamon filling with the back of a metal spoon and fold one side over 5cm, then grab the other side and fold over the folded side.

4. Repeat in that zigzag pattern till the dough is finished.

5. Place on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes.

*Alternatively you can cut the dough into 4 pieces, then working in batches roll out 1 dough portion into a large square. Spread the filling over the whole surface with the back of a metal spoon. Starting at one side, tightly roll up the dough, then cut at about 4cm sections, then place face up on the baking tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.