Cinnamon Buns

Ever since the June Daring Baker's challenge [Danish Braid], I've been itching to try baking another bread, specifically, cinnamon buns. In all the years that I've been baking, I've always made a conscious effort to avoid bread, probably because of all the baked goods that I've tried during my early baking days, bread gave me the most trouble.

But, I'm happy to say, I'm now ready to venture into the amazing world of bread! I'm even beginning to like the smell of yeast, which I absolutely detested just a few years back.

I really must apologise again for my sluggish blog these past weeks. I've been unusually busy, and I'm only able to bake today because I came down with the flu and had a day off. Talk about silver linings!

So, the cinnamon bun recipe I used today is adapted from a Chelsea Bun recipe [I don't know what that is, or how its different from the cinnamon bun...worked well enough!] How many buns you get out of it depends on how big you cut your buns and how thickly you roll your buns, but I got around 10 buns out of it.

Great thing about this recipe: I made the whole thing with the bread hook attachment from my handheld mixer! Barely had to touch the dough. I know some people like to knead, but I'm not one of them.

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

7g Instant Yeast

1 tspn sugar

2 1/2 cups OR 310g plain flour

1/2 cup OR 125ml warmed milk

125g melted butter

1 tblspn sugar

1 egg

Filling:

60g butter, room temperature

45g soft brown sugar

3 heap tblspn ground cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins

Glaze:

1 tblspn milk

2 tblspn sugar

1. Mix yeast, tspn of sugar, 1 tblspn of flour and milk in a bowl, and leave aside in a warm place until frothy. [If it doesn't froth, the yeast is dead, and you need a new packet.]

2. In a large bowl, mix flour and tblspn of sugar well. With a spoon make a well in the middle. Pour in the yeast mixture, egg and butter. Incorporate everything with the mixer, using the hook attachment, until it comes together in a ball and doen't stick anymore.

3. Cover with cling film and allow to rise for 1 hour.

4. Punch out the dough to get rid of the air, and with the electric mixer, mix until smooth again.

5. In a bowl, prepare the filling by mixing together the butter, sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle. Spread the filling over the whole area, leaving a 2 cm space at the length of dough further from you.

7. Sprinkle over with the raisins, then roll the dough from the lengthside closest to you.

8. Cut up the roll as you wish, and place the buns either on a tray or within a cake pan. Make sure the seams are INWARDS so that they don't spill open during baking. Let rest for 1/2 hour, covered with cling film.

9. Bake in a preheated 210 degree celcius oven until browned.

10. Just before the buns are done, combine the sugar and the milk for the glaze in a small saucepan, then brush over the buns immediately after they are removed from the oven.

11. Let cool a little, and they are ready to be eaten =D