Cinnamon Buns

I absolutely love a cinnamon bun!  There’s just something about them, especially when they’re freshly baked, gooey and completely smothered in icing!

This recipe makes 12, but it really depends on the size of the dough that you have rolled out.  Sometimes I have more smaller buns, sometimes I have fewer larger buns, either way they always taste delicious.

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 240ml warm milk
• 1 (7g) sachet of fast action yeast
• 75g butter, melted
• 560g strong white flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 100g sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature

For the filling:

• 2.5 tbsp of cinnamon powder
• 225g soft brown sugar
• 110g butter, softened
• 2tbsp of boiling water
• 120ml fresh double cream, slightly warmed (to be poured over the buns after the final prove)

For the icing:

• 200g icing sugar
• 2 dessert spoons of milk, possibly more if it seems too thick. 

Method

1. Add the warm milk to a large mixing bowl, then stir in the yeast. Leave for 5 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, salt, eggs, melted butter and flour. Combine the ingredients so they just come together then leave for 5 minutes.
3. Ideally, you would have a mixer with a dough hook, if you do, knead your dough on a medium to high speed for 8-10 minutes. 
   If you do not have a mixer, you can knead the dough old school! It will take longer, probably around 20 minutes, but it will give those bingo wings a workout and it’s a good stress reliever.
   When you pull your dough, it should be stretchy and smooth. If it breaks when you pull it, you will have to knead it for longer to build up the elasticity.
   This dough is quite sticky but you want that, don’t be tempted to add more flour.
   Tip: To hand knead the dough: dust your surface with a little flour, tip your dough out onto the surface and with one hand, hold one side of the dough and with the other, push the dough from the middle away from you with the heel of your hand, lift your dough that you have pushed away and bring it back into the middle. Squash down with the heel of your hand and repeat the process – pushing and folding back.  If that doesn’t make sense, watch a ‘How to knead dough’ tutorial on YouTube.
4. Lightly oil a large bowl and put your dough into the bowl.  Cover with a damp tea towel and put it somewhere warm for around 45 minutes to prove. I usually pre-heat my oven to the lowest heat for 10 minutes, then turn the oven off and put my bowl of dough into the oven and shut the door. MAKE SURE THE OVEN IS OFF BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR DOUGH IN THERE TO PROVE.
5. Whilst your dough is proving, make your filling
6. Add all your ingredients to a bowl and whisk them together, so it forms a thick paste.
7. Now get a large baking tray approximately 35cmx25cm and line with greaseproof paper.
8. After 45 minutes your dough should have nearly doubled in size.  Don’t be tempted to leave it longer, as it will make your buns too airy. You want your buns to be squidgy & delicious.
9. Dust your surface with flour, tip your dough onto the surface and then dust the top of the dough and your rolling pin.  Roll out your dough into a rectangle shape to around a 1.5cm thick.  Your rectangle should be around 35cmx55cm, as I said before it doesn’t really matter too much if it’s not that exact size.  Just as long as it’s a rectangle and wide enough to roll.
10. Once you have your desired thickness and shape, scrape all the filling from the bowl on to the dough. Then with a spatula, smother it all over the dough… go right to the edges to ensure you have the whole lot covered. You don’t want to leave any dough showing, otherwise when it comes to cutting the buns, you’ll find the end ones will have no filling and nobody wants a cinnamon bun without filling!
11. Starting on the longest side, furthest away from you, start to roll your dough tightly in on itself, bringing it towards you. This will create your swirl in the middle of the buns.  When you have rolled the entire length of dough, you should have a long cinnamon filled sausage shape.
12. Using a sharp knife cut the rolled dough into 12 slices. Be careful not to cut yourself.
13. Place each slice into the baking tray, so you should have 3 rows of 4 buns evenly spaced. Don’t worry there will be gaps, that’s fine, as it’s going in for a second prove.
14. Cover them with a damp tea towel and place them back in the oven for 20 minutes or until they have doubled in size. You should find that they have filled the baking tray, depending on its size.
15. Remove the buns from the oven and heat the oven to 190c/ Gas Mark 5.
16. Pour your slightly warmed double cream evenly over the buns. Now put them in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. The cooking time may vary depending on the size of your baking tray and the size of your buns.  So you will need to gauge it by their colour.  They should be a nice golden brown when they are completely baked.
17. Once baked, remove them from the oven and leave them to cool, whilst you make the icing.
18. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add 2 dessertspoons of milk or water. It should be runny, but thick enough that it drops from your spoon instead of running off your spoon.  If it’s not wet enough add a tsp of milk.  Only add a little at a time, as it really doesn’t take much before it can then become too runny.
19.  Once you’re happy with the consistency, drizzle it all over your warm cinnamon buns and enjoy!

You most likely won’t get through 12 buns all in one sitting, although if you’re like me you’ll give it a bloody good go.  However if you’re into rationing (some people have more self control than me), then you can freeze them.  Portion them, put them into freezer bags and they will be fine in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature for a couple of hours and then warm them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds… please warm them.  Don’t do them the injustice of eating them cold… It’s just wrong on all levels! You’ve put a lot of work into these babies, you want to make sure they’re the best that they can be.

Happy baking.

Love, Keeley x

Don’t forget to tag @choccolotties in your photos on social media