Our Cinnamon Bun Recipe

The history of baking is a long one.

Tracing back to the Neolithic period where stones were used to grind the grain into flour before being mixed with water to create flatbreads over the fire, it is believed to be one of the oldest cooking methods in the world.

Whilst techniques and traditions vary across civilisations and cultures, baking is something we all have in common. From the Egyptians and their ovens and yeast to the Romans who baked for entire cities, baking is something that connects us all. There’s a purity and honesty to this ancient craft. Simple ingredients, time, patience, love and a nice hot oven. It’s why we do it every day.
Today is World Baking Day and to celebrate all that is baking, we’re sharing our beloved Cinnamon Bun recipe for you to make at home.

 
A short history of cinnamon buns

Cinnamon buns can be traced back to the introduction of cinnamon to Europe by Roman spice traders. The modern cinnamon bun we know today is thought to have come from Sweden around 1918. Known in Sweden as a kanelbulle, a korvapuusti in Finland, kanelbullar in Denmark and kanelboller in Norway - cinnamon buns are a staple of Scandinavian baking.

This twist came to us from California. Our friend, Kit Williams, showed us how to make them in the early days of GAIL's, and it's no exaggeration to say that our lives haven't been the same since. Croissant dough works spectacularly in pain au chocolat, pain aux raisins and Danish pastries. But cinnamon buns take the biscuit.

We hope you enjoy.

GAIL’s Cinnamon Bun Recipe 

Makes 14 buns

INGREDIENTS

For the buns

You will need to make one quantity of croissant dough and use after the last rolling out.

40g fresh yeast
200ml cold water
350g plain flour
750g strong white bread flour
110g butter, at room temperature
80g caster sugar
25g fine sea salt
350ml milk
600g butter for laminating

For the filling

200g light muscovado sugar
100g caster sugar
2 heaped tbsp ground cinnamon
120g butter, melted

For the topping

140g caster sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon

METHOD

1. To make the dough, mix the yeast, water and 150g of the plain flour with a wooden spoon in the bowl of a stand mixer to create a thick paste. Sift over the remaining 200g plain flour in a thick layer, and leave to sit for 15-20 minutes, until you can see the flour beginning to crack as the yeast works underneath it. 
2. Add the strong flour, butter, sugar, salt and milk, and knead on a slow speed using the dough hook for five minutes, until you have a soft but not completely smooth dough.
3. Tip the dough out of the bowl onto a clean surface and knead  y hand for a few minutes, forming it into a ball. Lightly flour a rolling pin and press the dough out into a rectangle measuring 20cm x 30cm x5cm. transfer it onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper, wrap it well in clingfilm, and freeze for 30 minutes.
4. Whilst the dough chills, take the butter for laminating the dough out of the fridge and leave to warm up for 15 minutes. Put it into a sandwich bag between two pieces of plastic film and press it down to create a rectangle of butter, about 15cm x 20cm and 1.5cm thick. Chill until the dough is ready.
5. Roll the chilled dough (it should be around 4°C) into a long rectangle, 15cm x 60cm. Lay it in front of you on the largest surface you have, short edges at the side and long edges at the top and bottom. Press the chilled butter (it should be around 12°C) over the right side of the rectangle, then fold the left half on top it, as if closing a book. Press the dough out with a rolling pin, working away from you, front to back only, not side to side – the direction you roll in is absolutely crucial. Create a rectangle that’s 1cm thick and 1 metre long, one long side should be the folded edge, sealed up, the other side should be open.
6. Mentally draw two lines across the long rectangle stretched out in front of you, dividing it into thirds. Fold the bottom third up, then the top third down over than, rather like folding a letter transfer the folded dough back to the baking sheet, wrap in cling film and freeze for another 30 minutes.
7. Remove from the freezer, unwrap, and sit the dough in front of you exactly like it was before like a folded letter, then give is a quarter turn so that the long edges are at the sides and the short edges at the top and bottom. Roll it out again a rectangle 1cm thick and 1 metre long. Mentally draw a line halfway up the dough, then fold the bottom edge up to meet the centre line, and do the same with the top edge. Finally, fold the entire top half of the dough back down over itself. Return to the baking sheet, wrap, and freeze for 30 minutes more.
8. Whilst the dough is chilling, butter one or two muffin tins with a total of 14 large cups, greasing the flat surface between the cups as well as the cups themselves.
9. Next, make the filling. Mix together the muscovado sugar, caster sugar and cinnamon until combined and set aside.
10. Remove the dough from the freezer and on the most spacious kitchen surface you have, roll the chilled croissant dough out to a 30cm × 80cm rectangle, 3-4cm thick. Lay it out in front of you so that the short edges are at the sides.
11. Use a pastry brush to brush the dough with melted butter, leaving a 4cm-wide border along the top long edges. Sprinkle the filling all over the melted butter and pat it down so that it begins to dissolve into it.
12. Starting from the long edge closest to you, roll the dough up tightly, like a Swiss roll. Turn it so that it's sitting on its seam. With a sharp, non-serrated knife, slice the log of dough into 14 equal buns. Take each bun and tug the loose end of the rolled dough out to stretch it very slightly, then tuck it under one of the cut ends of the bun to seal it up - this creates a base for them to sit on. Sit them in the buttered muffin tin(s).
13. The best place to prove the buns is in a completely cold oven. Put them on the centre shelf, along with a small bowl of hot water on the floor of the oven, and shut the door. Leave for two hours, until risen and springy to the touch
    - they won't double in size. Remove from the oven along with the bowl of water. 
14. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Place the buns in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 180°C/gas mark 4. Bake for 25- 30 minutes, until completely puffed and mushroomed over the edges of the muffin cups. They should be a dark, golden brown.
15. Remove from the oven, leave for five minutes, then lift and sit them slightly askew in their tins to cool further, so that the base of each bun isn't touching the base of the muffin cup. This allows them to cool without sticking to the cups as the sugar solidifies.
16. Making the topping by mixing the sugar and cinnamon in a large, shallow dish, and when the buns are completely cooled, roll them gently in the topping to coat them in even more sugary, cinnamony goodness. Eat as soon as possible. 

TO MAKE IN ADVANCE: If you want fresh buns for breakfast, you can put the shaped buns into the fridge overnight, sat in the muffin tins and wrapped in cling film. Just allow them to come to room temperature for 30 minutes or so, then prove and bake as above.

TO FREEZE: Once your buns are shaped, you can cover them in plastic film and freeze in the muffin tins for up to a week. Transfer them to the fridge to defrost overnight, then leave them on the worktop for an hour to come to room temperature, before proving in the oven and baking as above.