Cinnamon Buns!

Cinnamon Buns just might be my favourite comfort food. Whenever my mom would make cinnamon buns, I always got to make the cinnamon sugar and spread it on the rolled out dough. She let me try and roll the dough out too, But I would always get mad that I couldn't get into a rectangle.
I Love my mom's cinnamon buns, but honestly, the bun part is kind of boring. It is a bread machine recipe from a bread machine she no longer owns. Plus, making dough is easy... So i went on a hunt for a cinnamon bun dough that i liked, and I think I finally found it!

I followed the recipe from HERE almost exactly... So you should go there to check out the beautiful photo's she has. http://sweetapolita.com/2011/03/cinnabon-style-gourmet-cinnamon-buns/

I did have to change a few things... And I learned a very basic lesson also... Before making Cinnamon Buns... Make sure you are not going to run out of Cinnamon. (or milk for that matter)
Also, I just used All purpose flour, because I don't have any bread flour to add, and I used Butter instead of Margarine, because I like cows more than Canola... Cows don't produce pollen that makes me want to die and my throat try and close up.... (I'm not allergic to Canola.. just the pollen that it makes... btw, I'm not looking forward to spring/summer around here... Also, Canola plant's stink... worse than stink weed... worse than skunks... worse than towels when you forget about them in the washer and they sit there for a few days not that i would know *shifty eyes*)
ANYWAY onto the Buns...

Cinnamon Buns with Cream Cheese Frosting

Dough:

1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast

1 cup warm whole milk (I used 2%... and had JUST enough for the recipe)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup margarine (I used Butter)

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup bread flour (I used all AP flour)

Filling:

1 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup margarine (I used Butter) - Softened



For the Dough:
Warm the milk, then sprinkle yeast on top and let dissolve (about 10 minutes)
Add in all the ingredients except the flour into the mixer with the dough hook and beat at whatever speed you feel works for you (would probably be better to have used the paddle attachment for this part, and then switched to the dough hook after)
Add in the flour 1/2 cup - 1 cup at a time until formed into a smooth but slightly sticky dough.
Also, (if you have enough cinnamon... sprinkle a bit of cinnamon in the dough... That's what my mom always used to do, and it just gives it an extra bit of cinnamon flavour)
put in a greased bowl, covered with a towel and let rise for about an hour... Make sure you let it rise in a warm area (But if it is -40C outside in March where you live too, Then, just turn the oven on for a little bit so its warm in there...just make sure you shut it off and its not Too hot when you put the dough in there to rise.)

Once your dough has doubled in size, punch it down (this is my favourite part of making bread), then roll out to a large rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick... You could make them thicker or thinner, it just kind of depends on your taste.
Spread the softened butter on your rolled out dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar around.


Make sure to leave about an inch on one long side without any butter or sugar on it, so that you get a good seal (this doesn't seem important, but it kind of is, they just seem to taste better when they seal properly)

You can leave an untouched edge on the short sides too, but this just makes the 2 end pieces look a bit weird and have less sugar in them, so just do what you feel is best, since you'll be eating them.... Your counter stays a bit cleaner if you seal the end pieces though.
Roll up the dough tightly, making sure everything stays even.
When you get to the edge you left to seal the dough, pinch to seal and then you can kind of roll the entire log of dough, pushing the ends in so the size of everything is pretty uniform (otherwise your buns will not bake evenly)

Now, cut the log in half... then cut those halves in half, so you have 4 even pieces. Divide each of these 4 logs into 3 pieces, so you end up with 12.


You can either do this with a clean, very sharp knife, or the fun way... with a piece of string. Just take the string, put it under the dough-log, then wrap the string around, and pull tightly. Here is some inspiration

(hehe, you can see my camera's reflection on the knife)

Place the 12 pieces, swirl side up, on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet (or you can make them in glass baking dish... this is my mom's way, but I really like the way they turned out on the cookie sheet... so do whichever is easiest for you). Push them down slightly (so they are all the same height). Cover the tops with a piece of plastic wrap, and then a towel (i use the plastic wrap just so the towel doesn't stick to the buns, and so the buns don't become string and lint collectors)
Let the buns rise for another hour in a warm place (like the slightly heated oven)



Once they have risen, pre-heat the oven to 375 F and then pop them in there for 10-20 minutes until they are golden, then let them cool on a wire rack.


Your house will smell wonderfully like Cinnamon and fresh baked bread,


and If you are anything like me, you won't be able to wait until they are cool, and will be forced to do a "quality assurance" test.



During the 2nd rising (once they actually start to look like cinnamon buns), Make the Frosting:

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup powdered sugar (or more if you need to firm it up a bit)
1 tsp vanilla

Let the cream cheese and butter sit at room temperature for a while, then beat them together with the paddle attachment of your mixer for about 5 minutes.
Switch to the whisk attachment and beat on high speed for about 10 minutes, slowly adding in the brown sugar during this time
Then add in your powdered sugar (a little bit at a time, unless you like cleaning up icing sugar from every surface in your kitchen), and then the vanilla. If you want/need it a little thicker, add more icing sugar, If you went a little overboard with the sugar, you can add a little water, but i would recommend not having to do this, and just being careful with your sugar additions.
Also, You could follow the Frosting Recipe on the other site, and I probably would've too, but I only had about a cup of icing sugar, and I didn't know until i was already making the frosting, AND I do like the taste that the brown sugar added... AND the colour it added as well.
Let the frosting chill in the Fridge while your buns are in the oven/cooling.

Don't frost the buns too soon, or your frosting will just melt and you will be disappointed that you wasted your time making pretty frosting for your pretty cinnamon buns. Patience is a virtue...



But if you truly can't wait, just taste the frosting with your quality assurance taste test sample... You can eat it before it melts into the bun that way. (see I've thought of everything)


Look at How long those Legs are getting.... 10 weeks old... Wilson can walk underneath her already




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