Michelle Darmody: How to make the classic cinnamon bun — and the mistakes to avoid

Pulling a soft, warm, sticky cinnamon bun from its snuggly baked neighbour is one of life’s simple treats.

Pulling a soft, warm, sticky cinnamon bun from its snuggly baked neighbour is one of life’s simple treats. 

They are not the simplest of things to bake however, the recipe takes a little time and patience. 

Most of the patience is in the waiting for the dough to rise, which happens twice. 

First the dough bubbles up and doubles in volume under the warm blanket of a damp tea towel, and second when your buns are rolled and cut and nestled into the oven-proof dish it rises again. 

As your dough is raising it is not only trapping air, but the yeast is also developing sugars which will give your buns a good flavour and structure.

I love working with yeast dough - there is a satisfaction to the tactility and softness of the dough between your fingers, but also it is nice seeing a sticky mass turn into such a smooth and elastic ball that springs back into shape when touched.

These are the perfect autumnal bake with the tops of buns turning the colour of fallen leaves. The smell of cinnamon and pecan nuts gently toasting in the oven will fill the kitchen with comfort and warmth.

Cinnamon Buns

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

These are the perfect autumnal bake with the tops of buns turning the colour of fallen leaves. The smell of cinnamon and pecan nuts gently toasting in the oven will fill the kitchen with comfort and warmth.

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 45 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• for the dough:

• 200mls milk

• 100g soft butter

• 250g strong flour

• 250g plain flour

• 4 tbs golden caster sugar

• 1 ½ tsp fast-action yeast

• 2 eggs

• ½ tbsp sunflower oil

• for the filling:

• 85g light muscovado sugar

• 40g soft butter

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 100g pecan nuts

• for the icing:

• 120g icing sugar

• 1 tbs melted butter

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 2 tbs milk

Method

1. Heat the milk and butter over a low heat until the butter has melted. Set aside to cool to body temperature.

2. Add both flours, the sugar and yeast to a large bowl and combine.

3. Crack the eggs into a jug and add them to the flour as well as the milk mixture.

4. Stir until a sticky dough is formed.

5. Use the sunflower oil to grease a clean work surface.

6. Tip out the dough using a scraper to get it all out of the bowl.

7. Knead for about five minutes until the dough forms a smooth ball.

8. Place the ball into an oiled bowl and cover it with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.

9. While the dough is rising add all the ingredients for the filling into a food processor and blitz until it forms a rough paste.

10. Grease a large oven proof dish thinly with butter.

11. Turn your risen dough onto a lightly floured worksurface and gently pat it down and roll it gently into a rectangle about 15 x 10 inches.

12. Spread the filling over the dough and roll it from the longer side to form a sausage shape.

13. Cut the sausage into 12 discs and place these neatly into the prepared dish.

14. Set aside in a warm place to rise again, covered with a damp tea towel.

15. Preheat your oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6.

16. Bake for about 18 minutes until the buns are golden browned and feel firm to touch.

17. Make up the icing by whisking the ingredients together.

18. Pour the icing over the buns when they have cooled slightly.

Baker's Tips

When you turn out the dough onto your countertop do not be tempted to add more flour. It is supposed to be sticky. Your kneading will toughen up the gluten in the flour and help the dough to become smooth and stretchy.

When rolling the dough into a rectangle it is best to try and make the sides of the rectangle as even as possible with sharp corners. This ensures the rolled sausage of dough will be the same thickness across its entire length, and your buns will all be a similar size when baking.

Do not roll the sausage too tightly as it will over stretch the dough and squish out the filling. Instead, gently nudge it into a sausage shape.

Cut the discs gently so you do not allow the filling to leak out. You can use a serrated knife or a pizza slicer to get an even cut. Another option is to use a piece of thread. Loop the thread around the sausage of dough and swiftly pull each end for a clean cut.

When you are doing the final rise of your dough, after the buns have been cut, it is advisable to prop up the damp tea towel, so it does not sit directly onto the dough. You can use wooden skewers or two spoons to do this.

Allow to the buns to cool slightly after removing them from the oven to firm up. If you tamper with them too quickly, they will fall apart.

You can freeze the unbaked buns. Freeze them before the last proving, then take them out of the freezer the night before you need them. Leave them out on a countertop in a cool kitchen and they will slowly rise after they defrost. Bake in the morning.

The buns will stay tasty at room-temperature for up to two days. Store them in an airtight container.

Three delicious variations

Cardamom & pistachio buns

In place of the cinnamon filling use 85g light muscovado sugar, 2 teaspoons of ground cardamom and 100g of pistachio nuts. I would brush the top of the buns with a beaten egg and a drop of milk before baking and serve them without the icing.

Dried fruit buns

Replace the pecan nuts with 100g of dried fruit. Lightly chop the fruit. Golden raisins work very well, as do a mixture of currants, raisins and dates.

Puff pastry cinnamon swirls

In place of the yeast dough, you can use a sheet of puff pastry. Spread the cinnamon nut filling onto the sheet and roll it up and bake for about the same time at 200ºC/gas mark.