Cinnamon buns

Hellooooo, sexy. I don’t think you can beat a fresh cinnamon roll – they’re so ridiculously scrumptious. They’re made using an enriched dough but it’s pretty simple. Best of all, you can cheat and use a dough hook, so there’s no faff with getting dough all over your kitchen! These are fun to make with kids as they don’t take too long and it’s amazing to see the buns grow before you put them in the oven. I like mine served with a hot chocolate.

This recipe is adapted from one on BBC Good Food. Makes 8 large of 12 smaller cinnamon buns.

• 450g strong white flour
• 50g caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 85g butter, cut into small pieces
• 7g sachet dried yeast
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 150ml full-fat milk
• vegetable oil, for greasing

for the filling

• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 120g dark brown sugar
• 150g melted butter

for the glaze

• 125ml maple syrup
• 50g dark brown sugar
• 200g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp water

  

1. Pop the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl, and rub in the butter until the mix has the texture of breadcrumbs.
2. Add the yeast, eggs, and milk and mix well until you get a soft dough (you may need to add a little more milk).
3. Pop into the bowl of a standmixer and knead with a dough hook for 7 minutes (or by hand for about 15 mins) until the dough is smooth, soft and springy.
4. Tip into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film then leave in a warm place for an hour or so or until doubled in size.
5. Meanwhile, mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together. Melt the butter.
6. In a separate bowl, mix the maple syrup with the brown sugar for the glaze.
7. After the dough has risen, punch it back, knead it lightly to knock out the air, then split it in two. Roll and stretch each piece to form a 25 x 35cm rectangle. Brush melted butter all over each rectangle, then sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture over each. Use a rolling pin to press the filling into the dough.
8. Tightly roll each rectangle up from one of the long ends to get a thick log, then pinch the ends together to seal. Cut each log into 8 pieces if you want big rolls of 12 pieces if you want little ones.
9. Brush two 20 x 30cm deep baking trays with melted butter. Mix the maple syrup and sugar mix into the remaining butter, then pour this over the bottom of each baking tray, swirling around so it is coated.
10. Place the rolls on the tray, leaving a gap of around an inch around each roll. Cover with lightly oiled cling film, then keep in a warm place for about 30 mins until slightly risen.
11. Heat oven to 180°c. Take off the cling film and bake for 30 mins until the buns are lightly browned and feel firm.
12. Remove to the oven and leave to cool for 10 mins in their trays. Remove to a cooling wrack.
13. Carefully mix the icing sugar with the tbsp of water until you have a very thick but pipeable paste. Transfer to a piping bag. When the buns are completely cold, snip off the end of the piping bag and ice them.
14. Serve immediately! These are best eaten on the day you make them but you can keep them for around 24 hours in an airtight container. They’re pretty tasty when warmed slightly in the oven, too.

Enjoy!