Let's make sourdough cinnamon rolls into a Christmas Tree pull apart, topped with the dreamiest vanilla cream cheese frosting! This gorgeous recipe makes the perfect centrepiece at your Christmas gathering or an easy pull apart dessert for a festive pot luck.

This delightful Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree is so easy to put together. Even if you're just beginning your sourdough journey, you'll be able to pull this one together!

If you're baking all things Christmas, don't miss this collection of the best sourdough Christmas recipes to bake and gift, this sourdough stollen or this cheese and garlic sourdough Christmas Tree pull apart loaf. I've also put all the best sourdough Christmas recipes in one post here.

Why You'll Love This Recipe!

Perfect Christmas Bake & Take - if you're invited anywhere this festive season, this sourdough Christmas Tree made with sourdough cinnamon rolls is exactly what you need to take! You'll be sure to impress family and friends with this masterpiece!

Tried & True Recipe - this sourdough pull apart Christmas Tree is made using a recipe based on my tried and true sourdough cinnamon rolls. This recipe has been made thousands of times with great reviews, so you know it works!

Decorate It Your Way - While I've piped vanilla cream cheese frosting onto this Christmas Tree, you can choose to decorate it any way you like! Drizzle it with caramel sauce, scatter over some pecans and cranberries for color ... or use your imagination to decorate it your way!

How To Make Christmas Tree Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart

This recipe is based on my fluffy sourdough cinnamon roll recipe. These sourdough cinnamon rolls get rave reviews! I have changed the filling a little though.

Instead of a butter base, I've used an egg wash inside the cinnamon rolls. This makes the filling much less runny and helps to keep the filling from leaching out. I find this works better for baking these rolls on an open tray, rather than a skillet like regular sourdough cinnamon rolls. This brown sugar cinnamon filling is the same filling that is used in these sourdough pop tarts.

To Make The Dough

Warm the milk to around 37C. Add the warm milk and sugar to a bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved.

Now add your egg yolks and sourdough starter to the mixture and whisk until they are well beaten and blended through the milk and sugar.

To this add your flour and salt and bring together into a rough dough. Allow the dough to sit, covered at room temperature, for around half an hour.

Now, tip the shaggy dough out onto the counter and knead it a little.

Add the butter, little by little, kneading it into the dough until all the butter has been used up (see notes for using a stand mixer for this if you prefer not to do it by hand).The dough should be fairly soft and elastic, but not sticky.

Transfer to the dough to a bowl and allow to ferment, covered with some plastic wrap or elastic food cover.. You want the dough to rise a little (around 30%) and feel soft to the touch. This needs to happen at room temp - not in the fridge.

Once the dough has finished bulk ferment, you will need to fill and shape the cinnamon rolls.

Rolling and Filling the Dough

Before you roll out the dough, take the egg and milk and whisk together to create an egg wash. Set this aside.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and flour and mix together until it resembles beach sand (it's quite dry and that's ok).

Turn the dough out on to the counter. It shouldn't be sticky and be easy the handle. Do not use flour when rolling out the dough.

Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each one out into a rectangle (around 30cm long by 15cm wide).

Using a pastry brush, brush egg wash onto the whole surface of the dough rectangles.

Now spread the filling all over the dough, leaving a 2cm gap on one of the long edges. You need to leave a gap so that dough will stick to itself when you roll it.

Once the filling is spread, roll the dough into a log, starting on the opposite long edge to the gap you've left.

Roll the dough into a tight log, using the unfilled dough to seal the log. Lay the log out with the seam underneath.

Cut each log into approximately 10 cinnamon rolls. A metal dough scraper is perfect for this.

Take a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper and arrange the sourdough cinnamon rolls into the shape of a Christmas tree.

Try to get the seams of each cinnamon roll facing inwards so that they don't come undone when they are baked. Gently press the rolls down with your fingers to fill the Christmas tree shape out.

Use a star shaped cookie cutter to cut out a star for the top.

Second Rise

Cover the tray with a damp kitchen towel and leave the sourdough cinnamon rolls to proof. You want them to be nice and puffy before you bake them.

Once the dough is puffy, you can bake them straight away - or see baking timeline below to extend the second rise and hold them in the fridge overnight.

Baking Sourdough Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls

Once the rolls are puffy, it's time to bake them. Preheat your oven to 180C/356F. Lightly egg wash the sourdough cinnamon roll Christmas Tree before putting it in the oven (I just use the leftover from when you rolled them).

Bake rolls for 30 minutes at 180C/356F. Keep an eye on them though as they will burn easily due to the sugar.

Once they're finished baking, leave them to cool on the tray for around 10 minutes before transferring them to a platter or cooling rack.

You can brush them with butter to give them a nice glaze. You can leave them unbuttered if you prefer. The butter will give them a nice shine.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Add cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt to a mixing bowl and beat the frosting until it's thick and glossy (you can use a whisk or spatula). Alternatively you can use a stand mixer to make the frosting. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

Once the rolls have cooled a little (I leave it about 30 minutes) smother them in the vanilla cream cheese frosting. You can use a vanilla glaze or even just dust them in icing sugar if you prefer.

For the photos you can see in this recipe, I've used a piping bag with a star tip.

For a little extra Christmas cheer, use some red and green chocolate buttons. If you are going to add chocolate buttons for some color, I don't recommend adding these til just before you serve the sourdough cinnamon rolls as the color can bleed into the frosting.

Tips for the Best Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree

If you can make sourdough cinnamon rolls, you can totally make this gorgeous Christmas Tree pull apart loaf. Here are some things that will ensure you have a successful bake:

Make sure that you're using a strong, happy sourdough starter. This will ensure that your dough rises and all the little yeastie beasties give you the softest risen dough. You can read about how to strengthen your sourdough starter here.
Warming the milk and sugar before you start will give your dough a nice kick start and ensure that the dough rises nicely.
When you arrange the sourdough cinnamon rolls into a Christmas tree shape, make sure that the seams are faced inwards rather than on the outside. This will ensure the tree doesn't lose it's shape when you bake it.
Ensure that the dough is puffy and full before baking - if it isn't, you'll get under proofed, gummy rolls.
If the cinnamon rolls on the outside start to brown too much before the centre is done, use a little aluminum foil to protect them.
If you want to pipe the vanilla cream cheese frosting on like I've done, ensure the sourdough cinnamon roll Christmas Tree has cooled down sufficiently first, otherwise the frosting won't stay formed. Of course if you prefer you can drizzle or spoon the icing on too - and then it's not so bad if the rolls are still warm.

Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Christmas Tree

If you are needing this sourdough cinnamon roll pull apart in a hurry or you want to use up some sourdough discard, you can add some commercial yeast.

Using yeast isn't a bad thing - you just won't get the fermented tang that you get from using only sourdough starter.

If you're going to use discard and yeast, add up to 7g of yeast to the milk and sugar when you first mix it. Add the same amount of sourdough discard instead of the sourdough starter.

Your dough will rise quite fast once you add yeast so you'll need to keep an eye on it.

To slow things down, you could do the second rise in the fridge, since commercial yeast will keep on rising even in colder temperatures.

This is also a good way to put the scrolls on hold if you wanted to bake them the next day or you just run out of time to bake them on the same day.

Baking Timeline for Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree Pull Apart

You can easily make this sourdough Christmas Tree Pull Apart to have on Christmas morning, or take along to a festive event. Here's a sample timeline that you could make work for you.

Alternatively, you can read about creating your own sourdough baking timeline here.

Time	Process
8.00am	Mix and knead dough for sourdough cinnamon rolls.
9.00am	Cover dough and allow to bulk ferment.
5.30pm	Roll out dough, spread filling and roll. Cut into individual rolls and place into cast iron skillet.
6.00pm	Allow rolls to sit for around an hour before covering in plastic wrap and placing into fridge for the night.
6.30am	Take rolls out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature.
8.00am	Bake sourdough cinnamon rolls for 20 mins (make frosting while they're baking).
8.20am	Allow rolls to cool for around 30 minutes.
9.00am	Smother in vanilla frosting and enjoy!

How To Store + Freeze

This sourdough cinnamon rolls Christmas Tree pull apart is best baked and eaten on the same day. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for a few days, but they will be softest and tastiest if eaten the day they are baked.

If you want to make this sourdough cinnamon roll Christmas Tree ahead of time, I recommend baking, allowing to cool and then wrapping in parchment paper and aluminum foil before freezing. Freeze the rolls unfrosted and add the frosting once they are thawed.