There’s something so wholesome about a communal treat - a dish little hands can pick and pull apart at their will. While this is a bit of a project, it is more user-friendly than other, more involved, holiday pastries. Easy enough for littles to help roll the dough in the butter and sugar to feel important, but festive enough to place at the head of your holiday table. Make ahead notes are in the Tips of the Week.

A few notes on the dough

1. This recipe calls for instant, Rapid Rise, or “quick” yeast. If you only have regular active dry yeast, it can be used as a 1:1 swap; it will just take more time to rise and need to bloom first (see #2). Instant yeast does NOT need to bloom. Meaning, it can be whisked right in with the dry ingredients. Since this will not tell you whether or not the yeast is alive, please buy new yeast rather than pulling it out of your cupboard. Yeast expires and can die easily.
2. For active dry yeast; you will need to bloom the yeast. Warm the milk and honey together in the saucepan until lukewarm (around 110’F), remove from the heat, and whisk in the yeast. Allow to bloom and form foam on top - about ten minutes. Then, whisk in the warm butter prior to adding the mixture to the dry ingredients.
3. If you do not have a stand mixer, don’t fret! This was tested without and turned out great. Simply turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth, elastic, and can pass the window pane test.