Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. If you set everything up the night before, you can quickly throw this together and leave the dough to rise while wrappers are being torn off presents!

What you will need:

• 1 x 10g sachet of yeast
• 1 cup of milk, slightly warmed
• 1/4 cup of melted butter
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 500g of cake flour
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar (for the filling)
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon (for the filling)
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter (for the filling)

Combine the milk, yeast and sugar in a small mixing bowl or cup and set this aside for 5 minutes – this will activate the yeast. Add this to the flour, along with all the other ingredients, until you have a sticky dough. Turn your dough out onto a floured surface and knead it lightly until you have a soft ball. Place the dough into an oiled bowl (just rub a bit of cooking oil into the bowl), cover it with a damp tea towel and leave it somewhere warm, so that the dough can rise. This should take around half an hour – you want the dough to double in size. If in doubt, leave it a little longer.

In the meantime, you can prepare the filling by melting the sugar with the butter and cinnamon in a small saucepan on the stove. Once you’re satisfied that your dough is ready, beat it down with your fists, knead it a bit and roll it out into a rectangular shape. Remember to flour your surface! Generously brush the melted syrup all over the surface, retaining a little to drizzle over at the end. Now roll it up from one side to the other like a cigar. Slice this cylinder into bun sized round shapes and place them, spiral face up, into a greased baking tray. Leave these to rise a little more, for another half hour. Bake the cinnamon rolls in a pre-heated oven at 180* for around 25 minutes, or until they have puffed up and taken on a golden brown colour. Drizzle some more syrup over the top before serving, and for an extra treat, you can add a swirl of cream cheese icing over each one. (Make this with cream cheese, a bit of melted butter, and icing sugar until you have the desired consistency). Serve warm and enjoy!