Cinnamon buns are a gift from the yeasted pastry Gods and this recipe, with cream cheese laminating the dough, is outstanding.
I first stumbled across this recipe whilst perusing Michelle’s blog.  She had, in turn, got the recipe from Joy the Baker – just goes to show that a good recipe gathers a large fan base.
These cinnamon buns are remarkable, a tender utterly delicious dough swirled with dark sugar, pecans and plenty of cinnamon. I have been searching for THE recipe and this one is it. I thought I loved the sticky bun version of cinnamon rolls, but this is much nearer the kind of famous cinnamon buns that we, sadly, cannot get in the UK.

First, proof the yeast. I used Allinson’s Dried Active Yeast (comes in a 125g small orange tin).
Combine  2 ¼ tsp of the yeast, ½ tsp caster sugar and ¼ cup water heated to 115F in the bowl of a mixer. Stir to combine and let it sit for about 10 mins until foamy.

To that, add ¼ cup caster sugar, 2 tbsp light brown sugar, ½ cup milk (at room temperature), ½ tsp vanilla extract, 1 egg and 1 egg yolk. Mix with a hand whisk to combine this well.
Put the bowl onto the mixer – fit the dough hook.
Add 2 ¾ cup plain flour and a sprinkle of salt and mix on medium speed until it just comes together.
Increase the speed to medium-high and knead for 4 minutes.

Add 4oz unsalted butter (at room temperature), chopped into tblsp sized pieces, and continue to knead for about 6 minutes. Whilst in the mixer, the dough is like a half-mad possessed slop; banging and slapping the sides. Most entertaining to watch. It is sticky and wet.

Flour your work surface very well and scrape the dough onto it.

Knead a good ⅓ cup plain flour into this – I had to knead it initially by using a scraper to lift the dough over and around. The more I think about it, the more I think I kneaded more like ½ cup flour into it – maybe more. Grease a large bowl well and put the dough in to the bowl for its rise.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm and draught-free for 1 ½ – 2 hrs to double in size.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling – in a bowl, combine ½ cup caster sugar, ¼ packed cup dark brown sugar, ½ cup finely chopped pecans, 1 tblsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp mixed spice. Once you’ve mixed that lot together, add 2 tbsp maple syrup.

So, once the 1 ½ – 2 hrs has elapsed and the dough has doubled, I had this:

Heavily flour the worksurface again and turn the risen dough out onto it.

Gently knead the dough until it is no longer sticky – add more flour as you need it.

Once you have that, cover it with a tea towel for 5 minutes and let it have a rest.
Flour your rolling pin and roll it out to a 10″ square. In a small bowl, mix 4 oz cream cheese (at room temperature) to smooth it. Gently spread it over the dough square.

Fold the square,like a business letter, into thirds

Then take the open ends and fold them into thirds again to make a small square of dough

Turn the dough over so that it is seam side down, then gently – firmly but gently, roll it out. A 10″ by 20″ rectangle yielded 8 very large buns, so I rolled it out to a length of 20″ and a width of around 15″.
Brush the dough with 2oz melted unsalted butter

Then evenly scatter the filling over it – pressing it into the dough lightly. Leave one of the short ends with a naked border so that it can be sealed when rolled up.

Roll the dough up firmly but gently from the short end – ending with the naked border. You want this to be a tight cylinder so spend a bit of time getting the first turn even. Don’t rush it.

Put it seam side down in readiness for cutting. Trim off the ends as they will inevitably be uneven. You don’t have to chuck them out though – find a gap for them somewhere!

Using a sharp thin-ish knife and a firm downwards motion, cut the roll into equal slices. As I said, the original 10×20″ rectangle yielded 8 huge buns.
My 15×20″ rectangle yielded 14.

Place the slices into a greased 9×13″ pan. I put 10 in that pan and the rest (including the ends) in another smaller pan.
(The pic shows 12 in the pan, but I though better of it and re-sited 2 of them – I wanted more room for them to expand.)

This picture shows where the cream cheese is in the dough – no wonder these are so tender

Cover the pan with clingfilm and then you have a choice.
a) set them in a warm place to rise for 2 hours
b) put them in the fridge overnight.

I made these the night before our get together, because I wanted to bake them fresh that morning, so into the fridge they went. Night night.

Next morning, take the rolls out of the fridge and stand them at room temperature for about 30 mins. (Or preheat your oven whilst they do the 2 hr rise)
Preheat the oven to GM5/190C/375F
Bake until golden brown – about 30 mins.

Put the pan(s) onto a wire rack and brush with 2oz melted butter.

Let them cool for 5 mins or so.
Make up the icing. Whisk 1½ cups icing sugar (I used fondant icing sugar because I think the coverage is better) with about 3 tbsp water. Go cautiously, but make it whatever consistency you prefer. I like it thick.
Swirl, spread or drizzle the icing over the buns.

Serve warm or at room temperature – they kept well too; warm them in the oven for 5 mins if you want that just-baked taste. Unbeatable.

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Cream cheese Cinnamon Buns

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker
adapted from Joy The Baker

dough:
2 ¼ tsp Dried Active Yeast (I used Allinson)
½ tsp caster sugar
¼ cup water heated to 115F

¼ cup caster sugar
2 tbsp light brown sugar
½ cup milk (at room temperature)
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk

2 ¾ cups plain flour
½ tsp salt
4oz unsalted butter, room temperature

filling:
½ cup caster sugar
¼ packed cup dark brown sugar
½ cup finely chopped pecans
1 tblsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp mixed spice
2 tbsp maple syrup.

to laminate the dough:
4 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
4oz unsalted butter, melted

to complete:
2 oz unsalted butter, melted (to brush over the buns)
1 ½ cups fondant icing sugar
3 tbsp water

Method:

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the yeast, ½ tsp caster sugar and warm water. Stir to combine and let it sit for about 10 mins until foamy.

To that, add the caster sugar, light brown sugar, milk, vanilla extract, 1 egg and 1 egg yolk. Mix with a hand whisk to combine this well.

Put the bowl onto the mixer – fit the dough hook.
Add 2 3/4 cup plain flour and salt and mix on medium speed until it just comes together.

Increase the speed to medium-high and knead for 4 minutes.

Add the softened butter, chopped into tblsp sized pieces, and continue to knead for about 6 minutes. It is sticky and wet.

Flour your work surface well and scrape the dough onto it.
Knead a good 1/3 cup plain flour into this – I had to knead it initially by using a scraper to lift the dough over and around. The more I think about it, the more I think I kneaded more like 1/2 cup flour into it- maybe more.

Grease a large bowl and put the dough in to the bowl for its rise.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm and draught-free for 1 1/2 – 2 hrs to double in size.

-

Meanwhile, prepare the filling – in a bowl, combine the caster sugar, dark brown sugar, pecans,cinnamon, salt and mixed spice. Once you’ve mixed that lot together, add the maple syrup. Combine well.

-

Once the 1 1/2 – 2 hrs has elapsed and the dough has doubled, heavily flour the worksurface again and turn the risen dough out onto it.

Gently knead the dough until it is no longer sticky – add more flour as you need it.

Once you have that, cover it with a tea towel for 5 minutes and let it have a rest.

-

Flour your rolling pin and roll it out to a 10″ square.

In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese (at room temperature) to smooth it. Gently and evenly spread it over the dough square.

Fold the square, like a business letter into thirds, then take the open ends and fold them in in thirds to make a small square of dough.

Turn the dough over so that it is seam side down, then gently – firmly but gently, roll it out.
A 10″ by 20″ rectangle will yield 8 very large buns, a length of 20″ and a width of around 15″ will yield 14.

-

Brush the dough with 2oz melted unsalted butter, then evenly scatter the filling over it – pressing it into the dough lightly. Leave one of the short ends with a naked border of around 1″ so that it can be sealed when rolled up.

Roll the dough up firmly but gently from the short end – ending with the naked border. You want this to be a tight cylinder so spend a bit of time getting the first roll even. Don’t rush it.

Put it seam side down in readiness for cutting. Trim off the ends as they will inevitably be uneven. You don’t have to chuck them out though – find a gap for them somewhere in the pan!

Using a sharp thin-ish knife and a firm downwards motion, cut the roll into equal slices.
As I said, the original 10×20″ rectangle yielded 8 huge buns. My 15×20″ rectangle yielded 14.
Place the slices into a greased pan(s). I put 10 in a 9×13″ pan and the rest (including the ends) in another smaller pan.
If making the 8 large buns – they fitted nicely in the 9×13″ pan.

Cover the pan with clingfilm and then you have a choice.
a) set them in a warm place to rise for 2 hours or
b) put them in the fridge overnight.

-

Next morning, take the rolls out of the fridge and stand them at room temperature for about 30 mins. (Or preheat your oven whilst they do the 2 hr rise)

Preheat the oven to GM5/190C/375F

Bake until golden brown – about 30 mins.

-

Put the pan(s) onto a wire rack and brush with 2oz melted butter.

Let them cool for 5 mins or so.
Make up the icing. Whisk 1 1/2 cups fondant  icing sugar with about 3 tbsp water. Go cautiously, but make it whatever consistency you prefer. I like it thick.
Swirl, spread or drizzle the icing over the buns.

Serve warm or at room temperature – they kept well too; warm them in the oven for 5 mins if you want that just-baked taste. Unbeatable.

One Response to “Cream Cheese Cinnamon Buns”

1. cream until fluffy » Lemon and sultana buns says:

   7 September, 2009 at 2:27 pm

   [...] the cinnamon bun recipe up to the point of painting the rolled out dough with butter, ready to [...]