Baking isn’t my forte but after watching Bake Off and getting into the autumnal spirit, I thought I’d give cinnamon buns a go. I really wasn’t expecting much (there have been baking fails in the past), but I was pleasantly surprised and proud of myself hahah. Despite the preparation time being around 2 hours, these are super easy to make. I followed this recipe from the BBC but I have adjusted it slightly to my own taste.
the recipe.
For the dough:
100g of butter
200ml of milk
1 tsp salt
250g plain flour
250g strong white flour
1½ tsp fast-action yeast
4 tbsp caster sugar
2 free-range eggs
Olive oil (for greasing)
For the filling:
75g unsalted butter, softened
50g caster sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
the method.
To start with, pop the butter, milk and salt into a small saucepan until the butter is melted. Allow the mixture to cool until it is lukewarm. Next, in a large bowl, stir together the flours, yeast and sugar until combined. Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. Pour the lukewarm milk mixture and stir everything together to form a sticky dough. You may have to use your hands as the dough becomes stiffer.
Oil the work surface with a teaspoon of olive oil. Turn the dough out onto the oiled surface and knead vigorously for 5-8 minutes. Don’t be tempted to add flour, as it will make the buns dry and tough. Keep kneading until the dough is considerably less sticky, smoother and more elastic. Shape into a ball, and put into a large, greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place to prove for an hour.
Meanwhile, for the topping, mix the softened butter in a bowl with the sugar. I added 2 tbsp of cinnamon but if you don’t like it as strong then 1 is fine. Use a fork to mix the sugar and spice into the butter until it is completely combined.
When the dough has risen, turn out onto a floured work surface and gently roll out into a 36x24cm rectangle. (I didn’t measure this, just went with what looked best hahah). Spread the cinnamon-sugar-butter evenly over the dough with a table or palette knife. With the longest edge closest to you, roll the dough up into a cylinder. Cut evenly into 12 slices.
Place each slice onto a baking tray (with greaseproof paper) and cover with a clean tea towel and set aside to prove again for 30-45 minutes, or until risen. Then pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C/Gas 6.
Bake for 12 minutes until the buns are dark golden-brown. Once cooled, mix together some icing sugar with water, adding in as much vanilla extract as desired. Then drizzle over the top of the cinnamon buns. Voila – done!
Have you ever made cinnamon buns?
Lucy