Name: Homemade Cinnamon Buns
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 210 min
Yield: 12 buns
Ingredients: 1/2 cup fresh water; 1/2 cup milk; 2 fresh eggs; 1/4 cup melted butter; 1/4 cup caster sugar; 4 cup flour; 1 tsp salt; 1 package yeast (I prefer dry ); 1 cup chopped pecans; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 3/4 cup butter; 2 tbsp chopped pecans; 1/4 cup melted butter

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Soft and buttery inside, crunchy and gooey outside, they are our special Christmas Cinnamon Buns morning treat. Make the dough in the bread machine. Prepare them the night before and bake them at dawn.

Easy to make cinnamon buns with a bread machine

These are very easy to make as I make the dough in a bread machine. To have them fresh in the morning, I prepare the buns the night before to let them rise overnight.

Bake them at dawn, and the lovely fragrances of cinnamon and caramel will spread throughout the house, welcoming in the new day.

If you don’t have a bread machine, you can still make the dough following the instructions in this article: Brioche & Bread Rolls’ Dough without a Bread Machine

Why are these cinnamon buns so special

I know many of my friends and their children have been waiting for this recipe. When Liam was in Lower School, all his schoolfriends were looking forward to his birthday.

In the morning he would arrive in class with freshly baked Cinnamon Buns. Even older brothers and sisters would remember to stop and wish him a happy birthday! Not just his class, the entire school was cheerful!
I always made sure one was put aside for Mrs Tindle, the Lower School Headmistress, otherwise, there would be none left!

Do you want to know why these cinnamon buns are so special?

They are cooked over a base of brown sugar butter caramel sprinkled with grated walnuts. As soon as they are out of the oven, I turn them upside down on the serving dish.

The brown sugar butter caramel, which is still melting hot, percolates inside the buns making them gooey and crunchy at the same time.

The size of the tin

The size of the tin will depend on if you want to have fewer but larger cinnamon buns or many but smaller ones. Here I use a tin 10 in – 25 cm in diameter and I get 12 large cinnamon rolls.

Sometimes I use a 13 in – 33 cm diameter tin and I can make 24 smaller buns. If you use a large tin you will have to make a longer thinner roll with the dough so that you can cut more buns.

Ingredients for the buns

For the dough

Wet ingredients

1/2 cup – 100 ml fresh water
1/2 cup – 100 ml milk
2 fresh eggs
1/4 cup – 55 g of melted butter

Dry ingredients

1/4 cup – 55 g of caster sugar
4 cups – 500 g of flour
1 tsp salt
1 package of yeast

For the cinnamon mix filling:

1 cup – 100 g chopped pecans
1/2 cup – 110 g brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

For the caramel:

1/2 cup – 110 g brown sugar
3/4 cup – 170 g butter
2 tbsp chopped pecans

For brushing

1/4 cup – 55 g melted butter

Make the dough for the cinnamon buns

Melt the butter in the microwave, wait for it to cool down
Mix all the wet ingredients
Mix all the dry ingredients
Load the ingredients into the machine, wet first. dry second
Set the program for fresh dough (number 10 in the Kenwood). The dough will be ready in 1.5 hours.
IMPORTANT: the ingredients should be placed in the bread machine in the exact order as listed above, liquids first.
While the dough is mixing in the bread machine prepare the ingredients for the filling

Prepare the ingredients for the filling

Melt the 55 gr of butter for brushing
Grate/grind the walnuts
Make the cinnamon mix with walnuts, cinnamon and brown sugar

Prepare the caramel

Prepare the caramel by melting the brown sugar with the butter.
When the sugar and butter form a foamy caramel take it off the stove, pour it in the baking tin and sprinkle with the chopped pecans.

Assemble the cinnamon buns

Roll the dough over a well-floured parchment paper and brush it with 55 grams of melted butter.
Cover it with the cinnamon mix made with walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon
Roll it and butter the outside with a pastry brush.
Cut the dough into slices and put them around the baking tin. Space them out as they need room to rise.
The size of the tin will depend if you want to have fewer but larger cinnamons buns or more smaller ones.
Let it rest for an hour, or overnight

Bake and turn

The buns will double in size
Bake in 355 F – 180 C oven for 30 minutes.
As soon as they are ready, take them out of the oven and turn them upside down onto the serving dish.
This will allow the caramel and the butter to penetrate inside the buns making them nicely soft and gooey.

Tips for making the best homemade cinnamon buns

Tips for making the dough:

Melt the butter before you add it to the other wet ingredients. Ensure it is not hot otherwise it will cook the eggs. I usually add cold water and milk to cool it down
The ingredients should be placed in the bread machine in the exact order as listed above, liquids first.
If you don’t have a bread machine, you can still make the dough following the instructions in the article: Brioche & Bread Rolls’ Dough without a Bread Machine

Tips for making the caramel:

This caramel is easy to make as the butter prevents the sugar from recrystallizing if moved. It is a more stable caramel compare to the classic sugar and water
You can make it directly in the tin you use to bake the buns in or in a separate pan and pour it in the baking tin after. Either way is ok

Tips for shaping the buns

I roll the dough over parchment paper as it is easier to roll and easier to clean after. All the filling that falls out of the buns will be retained on the parchment paper.
The size of the tin will depend if you want to have fewer but larger cinnamon buns or many smaller ones.
If you use a large tin you have to make a longer and thinner roll with the dough.

Tips for baking the buns

You can make the buns the night before and bake them in the morning, although I wouldn’t leave the buns proving for longer than 10 hours
Make sure you turn the buns upsidedown onto a serving dish as soon as they are out of the oven. Otherwise, the caramel will solidify and will get stuck in the bottom of the tin

If you are making these Homemade cinnamon buns, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.

Homemade Cinnamon Buns

Soft and buttery inside, crunchy and gooey outside, our special Christmas Cinnamon Buns morning treat. Prepared the night before and baked in the morning #yourguardianchef #breakfast #cinnamon

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

2 hours 30 minutes

Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Servings: buns

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Author: Laura Tobin