Christmas tree cinnamon buns

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with paper. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. 
3. Add plain yogurt and gently fold into the flour. Using your hands, knead the dough until fully combined and shape into a ball. 
4. On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a thin rectangular shape, approximately ½ cm in thickness. 
5. Brush the dough with oil. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle over the oil. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut 12 vertical strips roughly 3cm wide. 
6. Take one strip, turn it on its side, and form a tree shape by zig zagging it into layers. Use toothpicks or skewers to hold the dough in place. Place on your baking tray and bake for 18 - 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool. 
7. To make the icing, combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. 
8. Remove the toothpicks and spread the icing on each tree and decorate as desired. 

Swaps  

• Can I make this dairy free? 
  
  • Yes, swap out the yoghurt (in both recipe and topping) and the cream cheese, for dairy-free yoghurt and cream cheese.  
• What can I use instead of cinnamon? 
  
  • Cinnamon has a warm spice aroma to it, but if you prefer a different spice, try using ginger and cardamom for a warm profile. For those who don’t want spice, you can also use cocoa powder for a chocolate twist.  
• Can I make these buns into chocolate buns? 
  
  • You can change up the dough (and the filling, see above, or keep it as cinnamon) by adding 4 tablespoons cocoa powder with the dry ingredients (sieving it to disperse the cocoa evenly), and adjusting the flour to 1 ½ cup instead, for this chocolate variation. Add chocolate chips to the filling when rolling out the dough for an extra decadent chocolatey touch.  
• Can I use oil instead of butter? 
  
  • Yes, this is just to add extra moisture and richness to the dough, as well as allowing the cinnamon and sugar to stick to the dough. Olive oil will provide a richer flavour, but a neutral oil such as canola or vegetable will also work fine. 
• What can I use instead of vanilla essence? 
  
  • This makes the icing more fragrant and adds flavour, but you can also add a teaspoon of lemon or orange zest instead, for a fragrant zesty touch to the icing. You can also try adding coffee powder or a tablespoon of dark espresso to the icing—especially good with chocolate variation (see above).  
     

Tricks 

• What can I use instead of yoghurt?  
  
  • You can make something similar to yoghurt by combining coconut cream with lemon juice—it will taste slightly different but is the closest substitute to yoghurt with pantry items.  
• When do I add the icing to the buns? 
  
  • Let the buns cool to room temperature before spreading on the icing. If the buns are too hot, the icing could split or melt completely. 
• Why do you use brown sugar in the filling? 
  
  • Brown sugar gives it a caramel filling when melted, which is recommended instead of caster sugar. You can use half and half but the flavour won’t be as caramel—or use other types of dark sugar like muscovado for a richer, darker filling.  
• What’s the best way to ice and decorate the buns? 
  
  • You can swirl your icing over the buns with the back of a spoon—if the mixture is too thick, just add a little water to loosen. You can also put the icing in a zip lock back and snip the corner off to make a handmade piping bag, and pipe decorative lines and dots on your tree buns once baked. You can decorate the trees once iced with a light dust of cinnamon or add dried fruits and edible herbs (like dried cranberries and rosemary leaves) to represent the decorations on a Christmas tree.  
• Why is there salt in the dough? 
  
  • The salt adds seasoning to the dough, giving it more flavour. We recommend fine salt, and a pinch of salt in the filling to enhance the flavours there also.  

Hacks:

• Can I make the dough in advance? 
  
  • Yes, you can make the dough in advance and keep it in the fridge—the flavour of the dough will develop more. We recommend only making the dough up to two days in advance at the most due to freshness. Make the dough up to step 3 and keep it wrapped in the fridge until ready to use. Leave it out at room temperature for around 30 minutes before rolling out when ready to make the buns. We don’t recommend making the bun shapes and putting it in the fridge as the sugar filling will weep and affect the dough. 
• How can I increase the cinnamon flavour in my buns? 
  
  • You can amp it up by adding 1 tablespoon of cinnamon into the dough mixture itself as well, and making extra cinnamon sugar filling and setting it aside in a container to sprinkle on just before baking (the oil is brushed on separately). You can brush on extra oil over the buns and sprinkle over cinnamon sugar just before baking so it sticks to the dough better. You can also sprinkle on extra cinnamon sugar once the buns are out of the oven (and still warm).  
• Why are my buns pale? What can I do to make the dough richer? 
  
  • The dough is a basic dough recipe without any leavening or enriching agents, apart from yoghurt. You can egg wash your buns just before baking so the egg glaze gives a darker crust to the buns once they’ve been baked.  
• What else can I make with the dough? 
  
  • You can combine the trees to make a large Christmas wreath bun for the whole whānau to share—just check on the wreath as it may need slightly longer if it is thicker in size (compared to the single trees). You can also make the trees into Christmas ribbon shapes—get creative! 
• What do I do with leftover icing?  
  
  • The recipe should make enough to pipe, swirl (or you can even dunk your tree buns for a snow-capped look). If you do have more icing left, you can turn it into ambrosia. See our recipe for Ambrosia here [link to Ambrosia recipe]