Cinnamon Buns with a Sticky, Yummy, Unforgettable Glaze that makes you Glad You’re Alive, Glaze
My mother is a cinnamon bun nut! My cousin Susan from Sweden makes the best cinnamon buns you’ll ever have. So when Susan came for a visit earlier this summer my mother determined that I would learn how to bake these buns. So I went to my mother’s house for the lesson and Susan got upset because in Canada, we don’t have the proper ingredients she needs. I thought the buns turned out amazing; Susan didn’t like them at all. I had given up on the buns and then one day I was watching “Pioneer Woman” on Food Network and she was making a orange marmalade roll using the same method Susan was but with ingredients I could get in Canada!!! I paid attention and realized, wow, there is a lot of butter and sugar in these rolls (the Pioneer Woman isn’t shy!). I set out to change the world of naughty cinnamon buns and this is what I came up with. In the event that either lady ever see this recipe, thank you Susan and Pioneer Woman for teaching me how to make a cinnamon bun.
Makes 35 – 40 buns
Buns:
½ Cup butter, divided
2¼ Cup milk (I used 1%)
½ Cup sugar, divided
11 ml (2 ¼ tsp/1 envelope) quick rise yeast
5-6 Cups flour, divided, see notes
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp cinnamon
Sticky, Yummy, Unforgettable Glaze that makes you Glad You’re Alive, Glaze:
1 Cup Icing (confectioner’s) sugar
2 tbsp cold strong coffee
1 tbsp maple syrup
¼ Cup milk (I used 1%)
– In a large sauce pot, melt ¼ cup of the butter over medium high heat. When the butter is melted, add the milk and a ¼ cup of the sugar; stir.
– Bring the milk to an almost boil and then set the pot aside to cool to room temperature.
– When the milk has cooled, add the yeast to the pot and let it sit for at least a minute.
– Add 4 cups of the flour (I used half white and half whole wheat).
– Stir it together until the dough comes together and then cover the pot with a clean dishcloth and leave it to rest for at least an hour.
– After it has rested for at least an hour, top the dough with the reserved ½ cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix it well.
– Pour the dough onto a heavily floured counter.
– Using a well-floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a shape of a rectangle, a ½ inch thick. Trust me this dough is wet at this point, add more and more flour and when you think you’ve added too much, add more.
– Melt the remaining ¼ cup of butter, I just melt it in the microwave.
– Spread the butter evenly on the rolled out dough.
– Top the butter with the remaining ¼ cup of sugar.
– Top the sugar with the cinnamon.
– Now for rolling the rolls! Start at one end of the rectangle (you’re rolling the widest part the dough), working towards the other end. Roll the dough, keeping it tight and straight. If the dough tears, try to pinch the whole back together and keep rolling.
– When the dough is rolled, pinch it together at the seam so it doesn’t fall apart when you slice it.
– Slice the roll into 1 inch pieces and lay them on a good quality nonstick baking sheet (if it’s not too great then you may want to grease the pans first with some butter).
– After you have sliced up all of the rolls then cover the baking sheets with a clean dishtowel and let them rest for another 30 minutes.
– Preheat your oven to 375.
– Bake the rolls (after they have rested for the 30 minutes) for 15–18 minutes, until they are slightly browned.
– As the rolls are baking, prepare the glaze; combine all the ingredients together, I used a large measuring cup for easy pouring. The glaze is going to be a little on the thin side but trust me; it’s so good!!!
– When the buns have finished baking, pour the glaze evenly all over the rolls; as soon as they come out of the oven! The hotter, the better to absorb the yummy glaze!
– Lock them away, it’s really easy to eat a lot of these bad boys!!!
Notes:
- Have fun with the glaze, I saw a recipe that called for bourbon (my son is still too little for bourbon, he’s 13 months).
- Feel free to use more whole wheat flour here, I ended up using a 2:1 ratio of whole wheat to white flour.
