Cinnamon Buns

Someone is waiting patiently for a taste!

I've gotten a couple of requests for this recipe, after some friends saw this picture on facebook. So I've decided to post it here. Although this blog is mostly meant to be an open journal of my fitness journey, for me, a big part of that journey includes food.

My family enjoys eating nutritious AND delicious foods. Most of what I make at home, I would consider to be fairly healthy and mostly vegetarian/plant based. We do love our desserts though! I'd rather make something yummy from scratch, even if it has a bit more sugar than one might consider "healthly", than buy something packaged from the market or a restaurant.

This particular recipe was derived from one I found on the "America's Test Kitchen" website a few years ago. This is an excellent resource for recipes, especially if you are like me and like detailed, well tested, recipes. I made a few changes after trying this recipe for the first time (mostly in regards to the type of milk and measurement of sugar and spices for the filling). Here is the current recipe I use:

Dough:
1 1/3 Cups warm almond milk (you may use any type of milk)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter (or coconut oil), melted
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 package rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon ground sea salt

Filling:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (Florida Crystals is what I use)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
 2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground sea salt
2 tablespoons butter (or coconut oil), melted

Icing:
1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
2 ounces American Neufchatel Cheese (cream cheese)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 ** If you use butter in the recipe, do not use margarine ~ use real cream butter. It makes a big difference in your baking taste and outcome! Neufchatel is the the type of cream cheese that's a little softer than the regular one, and is usually marked as "1/3 less fat". You'll find ounce markings on the wrapper of the cream cheese to help you figure out the ounces needed.

** I recommend always reading entire instructions and gathering ingredients, before you start preparing the recipe.

1. Place the milk, maple syrup, and butter in a container and warm for 2:35 seconds in the microwave, or on stove top on low heat if you do not have a microwave.

2. Turn on your oven to 200 degrees.

3. Mix flour, yeast, and salt together on low speed in a stand mixer with dough hook. With mixer on low, slowly pour in milk mixture. Continue to mix until the dough is smooth.

4. Remove dough from mixture and put on floured surface. I usually spray my hands with cooking spray to make it a little easier to handle the dough. Shape dough into ball and place in a greased bowl and cover with a kitchen towel.. Turn off the oven and place covered bowl in oven for about 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile combine filling ingredients in a bowl: Sugars, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter. Mix well.

6. Remove the bowl from the oven and place dough on lightly floured surfaced. Roll dough out in rectangle shape. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over dough and lightly press mixture into dough.

6. Starting along long edge nearest you, slowly roll dough up into a cylinder. Then use a good knife (not serrated) to cut dough into 12 even slices.

7. Spray a 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray. Space slices evenly in the pan, cut side up. The picture below shows the recipe doubled. If you want to make this many, I would recommend doing it as two separate sessions, rather than just doubling up on all the ingredients. It doesn't always work out well when you simply double a recipe.

8. Use cooking spray to coat plastic wrap, and cover pan. Place the pan back in warm oven (make sure it's turned off!) and let it rise for about 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and turn oven up to 350 degrees. The rolls will continue to rise while you wait for oven to heat.

9. Once the oven is warm, place pan in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until brown.

10. Remove pan from oven and place in cooling rack. Prepare icing by combining powdered sugar, cream cheese, almond milk, and vanilla in a bowl. A hand mixer works best for this. Or you may use a whisk or stand mixer if you do not have hand mixer. Mix until smooth.

11. Spread icing evenly over rolls. Slice rolls along edges to separate.

12. Serve warm and enjoy!!

I hope you will like this recipe. It's great for breakfast or brunch, or anytime of day. If you do try this recipe, please share your experience and any changes you made to the recipe.

God Bless!