Be Mine, Cinnamon Bun

Finally! A beautiful, sunny day in Sydney :) After what felt like months of grey skies and rain (isn't this why I LEFT Vancouver??) I was finally able to put on my sun glasses and go for a walk.

Oh! And I haven't mentioned my big news! As of today, I am officially self-employed! Exciting day today. I am now 100% devoted to my new catering company Catering 4 You! Business cards and website are soon to come, but please contact me at christine.amanatidis@gmail.com if you are in the Sydney area looking for any type of catering. Private dinner parties, birthday parties, office functions, baked goods, I do it all! You can check out some pictures of my catering work on the tab labelled Catering 4 You in this blog right beside the home tab.

But enough advertising (for now), back to the blog. Everyday these past two weeks while I trudged through the wet streets of Sydney dodging puddles and trying to avoid buses+potholes, I day dreamed of the warm water and white sand beaches of the summer time. Lying in the sun, playing beach volleyball, snorkeling, my list of favourite summer time activities could go on forever... But you know what? I think sometimes we forget how much fun winter can be as well! It's easy to get bogged down by rain and lack of sun, but I've got a few tricks that help keep me going even through the REALLY rainy weeks. Want to know my #1 trick? Cooking something yummy, delicious, can't just eat one, won't regret even after eating 3. Can you guess what? Cinnamon buns!

Crispy tops, sticky icing, and the dough has an almost brioche-like quality... SO GOOD.

There's something magical in these wonderful crispy/soft/chewy/spicy/sweet little gems. It's just so hard to explain! The outsides are crispy, and the insides are soft, tender, fluffy, and chewy all at the same time. But once you roll these babies up with a delicious brown sugar cinnamon butter filling, your options haven't run out yet! Will you bake and then drizzle with cream cheese frosting? Or bake in the stickiest, most delicious concoction I've ever discovered?... thanks Aunt Gladi! Ah! You'll just have to make a few different batches of these and find out which combination is your favourite!

For this posting I topped mine with cream cheese frosting. I'm just not sure if I'm ready to give up my sticky cinnamon bun recipe yet! For now your only option will be to come visit and eat them here :)

Just one word of warning. I would err on the smaller/more rolls side rather than making 12 giant rolls. Each roll should be one serving. There's no point splitting one in half and sharing it, because the best part (the very very centre of the roll) is just too small to share and you'll most definitely end up fighting over it!

Cinnamon Buns

Dough: 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 egg
5+ cups flour
2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup softened butter

Filling: softened butter
brown sugar
cinnamon


In a large mixing bowl, combine the warm water and milk (should be ever so slightly above body temperature) with the oil, sugar, salt, and eggs.

Mix together the flour and yeast so that they are evenly combined. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until you get a soft and sticky dough. Now knead in the softened butter until the dough comes together. Add any extra flour necessary to get a soft and not sticky dough. Knead this dough for 5-10 minutes until smooth.

Put your dough ball in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size. 

It should look like this after it's rise

Now is the point where you can decide on the quality of your rolls. If you have time, repeat this step two more times, kneading the dough and developing a little more gluten each time. This results in a soft and chewy texture that I absolutely love. But if you don't have the time for the multiple rises and punch downs, you can skip straight to shaping your rolls after the first rise. This will still give you delicious cinnamon buns, but their final texture will be lighter and more fluffy.

After your dough has finished rising (either just the one time or three times) it is time to shape your buns (hehe). This was the stage I was always mesmerized with when I was a little kid watching the people at Saint Cinnamon's through the glass. Effortlessly rolling out the dough (this dough is super soft and easy to work with) then using their hands to smear butter and cinnamon sugar all over, no one can resist!

Roll out your dough to a rectangle. If you think you won't be able to handle this amount of dough in one rectangle, just make two instead! This will make it easier for you to divide between two pans anyways.

First spread the softened butter

Next add a generous amount of cinnamon brown sugar (about 1 tbsp cinnamon per cup of sugar)

Roll up carefully and cut!

Roll lengthways, so you get a long roll. And don't worry about making it too tight either. It's actually important that you roll the dough just tight enough, because if you roll it too tightly once it's baked the centres will pop up and give your rolls a funny shape. The same lightness of hand is required for slicing the rolls as well. Using a very sharp serrated knife, cut the rolls without pressing or squishing anything. You want nice circles, not frisbees okay?

Now take your nicely sliced rolls and place them in a baking dish lined with parchment paper to ensure each roll comes out perfectly.

It may not look like they fit, but just wait until their final rise....

Poof! Like magic, after 30 minutes in a warm place covered with a tea towel you get a pan bursting with cinnamon roll-y goodness :)

Now all that's left to do is bake in a 175C oven for 20-30 minutes until they are golden brown and your house smells like you're trying to sell it (did you know real estate agents use cinnamon scent to make a house seem more cozy and inviting?)

They look a bit naked... Cream cheese frosting anyone?!

To top these babies off, just mix an equal amount of softened butter with softened cream cheese. Add enough powdered sugar (it takes a lot of powdered sugar) to get the desired consistency, and finish off with a splash of vanilla extract. Easy peesy!

Use as much or as little frosting as you like. After I took this artsy fartsy photo I put about a cup more frosting ontop :)

And don't forget what I told you about the middle! So simple, so delicious, SO MANY more ways to make them! Apple, chocolate chip, pulled pork! Ah! This won't be my only cinnamon roll post :)