Cinnamon Morning Buns

Hi there! It’s Dana from This Silly Girl’s Life and I have another sweet treat to share with you today. These gorgeous little buns are a perfect way to start out your morning. Be it with a cup of coffee, hot tea or just a big glass of milk they are sure to become a new addition to your baking arsenal. They would be perfect for an after dinner snack too, but sometimes it’s fun to have “dessert” for breakfast isn’t it?!

Cinnamon Morning Buns

These morning buns are super flaky on the outside and moist, cinnamony deliciousness on the inside! The recipe for the dough is from the show America’s Test Kitchen and the cream cheese frosting is from my red velvet sandwich cookies recipe.

 Ingredients

1. 3 Cups all purpose flour
2. 3 /4 tsp salt
3. 1 pkg rapid rise yeast
4. 1 Tbls sugar
5. 24 Tbls (3 sticks) unsalted butter
6. 1 Cup sour cream
7. 3 Tbls ice water
8. 1 egg yolk
9. 1/2 Cup sugar
10. 1/2 Cup light brown sugar, packed
11. 2 tsp cinnamon, ground
12. 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

Step by Step Directions

Cut the butter into slices, about 1/2 inch thick and place in the freezer while getting the dry ingredients ready.

Add the flour, salt, yeast, 1 Tbls sugar into a ziplock bag and toss to mix together.

Add into the bag with the flour mixture the sliced butter. Close bag and toss so the butter cubes are coated in flour.

With a rolling pin, roll out the flour and butter while still in the bag. You are looking to make the butter into long thin planks of butter. This doesn’t have to be perfect but do the best you can.

Pour the mix into a large bowl. Add in the sour cream, ice water (here is a tip, fill a cup with ice and water, dip in your tablespoon into the water avoiding the ice cubes to put into the mix, ta-da, ice water!) and egg yolk.

Mix this with a spatula until it starts to form a very crumbly dough. Flour your work surface and place mixture onto counter.

Work the dough with your hands kneading until a more solid dough forms. This will take a while since the ingredients are so cold, be patient! Roll out the dough until it is roughly 12×20 inch rectangle.

Roll the dough over itself like a jelly roll long ways. Flatten this out using your hands and rolling pin if needed until 4 inched wide. Place on baking sheet covered in plastic wrap and place into freezer for 15 minutes.

While the dough is in the freezer mix the remaining sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla in a bowl and set aside.

After 15 minutes take the dough out of the freezer and roll it out again into a 12/20 inch rectangle.

Sprinkle evenly with the sugar/cinnamon mixture leaving a 1/2 inch border around the outside.

Once again roll this like a jelly roll the long ways. Sealing the edge together, you may need to us a tiny bit of water on your fingertips to help securely seal the edge.

Using FOIL cupcake liners, line a cupcake tin and spray with cooking spray, this part is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Otherwise all the sugars in the bun will stick to your pan and will leave a huge mess and the buns won’t come out of the pan.

Trim the ends of the dough 1/2 inch off each end.

Cut dough into equal 12 inch pieces. Cut in half, Half the halves

and then cut those into three pieces.

Put the pieces cut sides up into each cupcake wrapper and cover with plastic wrap. Place this in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

Now you are going to let the buns rise. Boil three cups of water, place this into a baking dish and place on the lowest rack in a cold oven. Place the rolls on the rack above the water and close the door. Let the rolls sit in the oven with the water until they double in size. This will take 30 minutes to an hour. If after 30 minutes the buns don’t seem to have rise much, boil the water again and place it back in the oven.

Bake buns at 425 degrees for 5 minutes and then reduce the heat to 325 degrees, leaving the buns in the oven. Cook 40-50 minutes until golden brown.

When the buns are done cooking, let them sit in the tin for 5 minutes then take them out. Take off the foil wrappers and place on a wire rack to cool. Top with cream cheese frosting and enjoy!

That’s it! I know this seems like a lot, and it is. This isn’t a recipe for beginners but if you take the time to make this you will not be disappointed!