by Caroline Gauthier
While these tasty treats might not be good for you in a technical sense, they’re plenty good for, oh, morale, happiness, treating yourself, your soul - or for making something special for the ‘Dad’ in your life.
Father’s Day is around the corner, after all.
The ultimate sticky pastry, inspired by the ‘Cinnabon’, these are guaranteed to fly off the shelf. Forget the calories (on occasion) and dive in! Vegan and gluten-free options are also included. No less decadent and equally delicious.
Melt-in-your-mouth Cinnamon Buns
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup warm milk (an alternative milk like almond or coconut milk can also be used)
- 1/3 cup butter or vegan butter , melted
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 package)
- 4 1/2 cups flour (Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour to make these gluten free)
- 2 organic eggs (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1 tsp salt
Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar (coconut sugar can be swapped in)
- 2-3 tbsp ground cinnamon (I like lots!!)
- 1/3 cup butter or vegan butter, softened and not melted!!
Frosting
- 1 package (3 oz) cream cheese or vegan cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter or vegan butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
-1 /2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
Directions
1- In a mixing bowl, stir together 2 1/2 cups of flour with the yeast.
2- In a saucepan, melt 1/3 cup butter, sugar and salt (keep an eye on this step... we don’t want sizzling butter, just melted). Add this syrup to your flour mixture.
3- Lightly beat the eggs and add to flour mixture. Blend in milk.
4- With a hand mixer, beat on low until well combined, about 1 minute. Knead dough until it’s soft and elastic.
5- Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a greased mixing bowl. Take a kitchen towel, dampen it with warm water and cover bowl, allowing dough to rise to roughly double its size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
6- In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and brown sugar.
7- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle about 16 x 20 inches in size.
8- Distribute the softened butter evenly over the rolled out dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly on top.
9- Roll the dough carefully, starting on the long side, trying to keep your roll tight.
10- Cut the dough into 12 pieces and place them in a greased baking pan. Cover, and allow to rise for about 30 minutes.
Note: if you want to make these in advance, once you’ve cut them and covered them, pop them in the freezer. Simply take them out the night before and place on the counter, keeping them covered. If in the morning they need to rise more, preheat your oven to 200*, turn it off and place them in the oven for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
11- Preheat oven to 400*. Bake the rolls for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
12- While rolls are baking, beat cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, vanilla and salt.
13- Remove from oven and slather them with icing.
Bet you can’t stop at one!!! Enjoy!
For more great breakfast ideas, visit the Acorn Archive!
