puppies and cinnamon buns

I gave myself a puppy for Christmas a few years ago. I picked up 8 week old Cooper (golden retriever…the only kind our family is allowed to own) two weeks before Christmas.

Part of the agreement I signed to be sure I was a worthy owner included the requirement to spend the first two weeks together – every day, all day, all night.

So my holidays started a little early that year when I picked him up. By day two I wondered what I had done. He wasn’t my first puppy but I had obviously forgotten about the eat/pee/sleep/pee repeat routine.

After endless pee break nights, we were usually up for good by 5 am. Well, I was up for good. After his repeat routine, he was back to sleep by about 5:15. I decided to get festive and productive and made yeast breads and cinnamon bread.

With the jump start on the day, I could be enjoying coffee and fresh bread by about 8 am. Here are some of my favourites that I will be making this holiday season, a little later in the day. Don’t let the yeast part turn you off. They are all definitely worth the effort.

Cinnamon pull apart bread from Joy the Baker

 

Overnight cinnamon buns – a recipe from my sister that she makes every Christmas eve.

Stir the yeast and sugar into warm water in small bowl. In a large bowl, stir the butter into scalded milk until it melts. Stir in eggs, sugar and cool to lukewarm. Add the yeast mixture, then begin adding flour. Beat the dough with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes. Cover tightly with saran, then a towel, place in frig overnight.

Punch down dough and allow to warm up for 30 minutes. Turn onto a floured surface and roll into rectangle about 1/2″ thick. Spread melted butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll tightly into jellyroll shape. Slice about 1″ thick. Place rolls, cut side up, in 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes,

And I recently found this recipe and plan to try it out very soon Maple cinnamon bread 

CJR