Cinnamon Buns
To me, Cinnamon Buns are the taste (and smell) of Sweden! Whenever I spent time in Stockholm in the early 2000s, I practically lived on these fluffy pastries. Before heading to work, I'd buy 2 or 3 Kanelbulle, as they are called there, and devour them before lunch. Back home in Germany, I quickly found myself in the Cinnamon Bun diaspora. So, a Swedish friend shared this recipe with me and I started baking.
Ingredients
For the Dough
100 g unsalted butter
350 ml milk
20 g fresh yeast (2 tsp dry yeast)
560 g flour
50 g sugar
1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
For the Filling
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
50g brown sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 pinch of salt
For the Topping
1 beaten egg
pearl sugar and/or sliced almonds
Method
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the milk. Leave on the stove on medium heat until the milk is warm.
Crumble the yeast into a small bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the warmed up butter and milk. Let it sit for a while.
In the meantime, combine the flour, sugar, cardamom and salt in a large bowl.
Add the yeast mixture as well as the remaining milk. Stir with a wooden spoon until it has a doughy consistency.
Start kneading the dough until it’s smooth and elastic. If the dough feels too sticky, knead in some more flour.
Roll your dough into a ball and leave it to rise in the bowl for approximately an hour.
For the filling, make sure the butter has reached room temperature and combine it with the sugar, cinnamon and cardamom.
Prepare two baking trays and cover them with baking sheets.
After the dough has rested and risen to double its size, give it another good knead. Divide it in half to make it easier to handle.
Roll the first half of dough into a rectangle.
Spread half of the filling over half of the dough and roll it up into a large sausage and cut the roll into 2cm wide pieces.
Repeat with the second half.
Put your buns on the baking trays, cover them with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise for another 45 minutes.
In the meantime preheat your oven to 180°C.
Before baking, beat an egg in a bowl, brush the egg wash onto the cinnamon buns and sprinkle them with pearl sugar and/or almonds.
Bake your cinnamon buns in the preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes until they are golden brown – one tray at a time.
Transfer onto a cooling tray and let cool before you dig in!
