Seriously Delicious Cinnamon Buns: January Green Drinks

What a wonderful evening! Eating cinnamon buns, drinking local mint tea and chatting about how to make the world a greener place.

Thanks to everyone who came out to January Green Drinks and shared in some cinnamon bun tasting. Here are some of the recipes:

Cinnamon Buns (David Dawson)

In a bowl combine:

2 cups white flour

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1½ tsp yeast

premix – 1½ cups warm water, ½ cup sugar (could use brown sugar?), 1 large egg - whisked, ½ tsp vanilla (optional), ¼ cup oil

add liquid mixture to flour and mix into a dough. 

A little extra water or flour may be necessary to achieve a nice soft dough. Knead until ‘rubbery’. 5 – 10 mins. Put dough back into the bowl, cover and allow to rise to double original size. Roll/stretch dough into a rectangle shape – about 12 x 24 inches. Spread with butter except the top 1 cm. Premix 1 cup brown sugar, 2 TBL cinnamon, pinch of ground cloves (optional) and spread sugar/cin mixture over, except the top 1 cm.

Some recipes include raisins and/or nuts at this stage. Wet the 1 cm strip with water. Roll up like Swiss roll and cut into approx. 1½ inch/4 cm pieces.  Place cut-side-up in a 9 x 13 well greased or covered in parchment paper baking pan. Allow to rise. Bake 30 mins at 375 deg F.

Premix some milk and sugar to make a syrup.  As soon as the buns come out of the oven brush this syrup all over.  (It makes a sticky and shiny surface).

Cinnamon Buns (Rebecca Hiebert)

1 ½ cup warm water

2 ½ tbsp oil

¼ cup sugar

4 cups flour

2 ¼ tsp instant yeast

½ tsp salt

softened butter

brown sugar

cinnamon

Add the yeast and sugar to the warm water and let sit for 10 minutes.  Add flour, salt and oil to a large bowl. Mix in the yeast mixture and stir until well combined. Knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth. Let rise until doubled in size. Roll out on a floured countertop until measures 24” x 12” (or so). Smear butter to a ¼" layer on the dough, sprinkle brown sugar thickly and spread to an even layer. Sprinkle cinnamon so that the dough is almost covered. Roll up the dough along the long side so you have a 24” tube. Cut up into 1” wide pieces with a sharp knife. Oil a 9x13 pan and place cut pieces with the rolled part facing up. Cover with a cloth and let rise until the buns are touching. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until brown.

Optional: add raisins or chopped nuts before rolling up.