CINNAMON BUNS
Ingredients
- 100g/3½oz unsalted butter
- 200ml/7fl oz milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 250g/9oz plain or wholemeal plain flour
- plus extra for dusting
- 250g/9oz strong white flour
- 1½ tsp fast-action yeast
- 1 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
- 4 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 free-range eggs
- olive oil
- for greasing
- 75g/2½oz unsalted butter
- softened
- 100g/3½oz caster sugar
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 free-range egg
- beaten
Directions
- In a small saucepan heat the butter
- milk and salt until the butter is melted. Allow the mixture to cool until it is lukewarm.
- In a large bowl
- stir together the flours
- yeast
- cardamom and sugar until combined. Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. Pour in the lukewarm milk mixture and stir everything together to form a sticky dough. You may have to use your hands as the dough becomes stiffer.
- Oil the work surface with a teaspoon of olive oil. Turn the dough out onto the oiled surface and knead vigorously for 5-8 minutes
- using a plastic scraper as needed to prise the dough from the work surface. Don’t be tempted to add flour
- as this will make the buns dry and tough. Keep kneading until the dough is considerably less sticky
- smoother and more elastic. Shape into a ball
- and put into a large
- greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place to prove for an hour
- or until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile
- for the filling and topping
- mix the softened butter in a bowl with half the sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Use a fork to mix the sugar and spice into the butter until it is completely combined. Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl and set aside.
- When the dough has risen
- turn out onto a floured work surface and gently roll out into a 36x24cm rectangle. Spread the cinnamon-sugar-butter evenly over the dough with a table or palette knife.
- With the longest edge closest to you
- roll the dough up into a cylinder. Cut into 12 even slices.
- Place each slice onto a flattened out paper cupcake case on a baking tray
- or into a greased muffin tin. (Baking in a muffin tin will make your cinnamon buns taller and domed.) Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside to prove again for 30-45 minutes
- or until risen.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
- Brush the tops of the buns with beaten egg and dust liberally with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 12 minutes until the buns are dark golden-brown. Enjoy warm with a cup of coffee.

