You know there is nothing more yummy and satisfying as a breakfast that you make with your hands. There is no need to go to the bakery. There is no need to visit Tim Hortons. All you need is YOU!
Its a family favorite for me to whip up a batch of cinnamon buns for breakfast. Honest to goodness, these are easy. Drop dead, easy.
Its a family favorite for me to whip up a batch of cinnamon buns for breakfast. Honest to goodness, these are easy. Drop dead, easy.
Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cup flour (I use white)
2 TBSP sugar (I use cane)
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 cup butter (cold!)
1 cup milk
For the filling
soft butter
brown sugar
cinnamon
Icing
1 Cup icing sugar
1/8 cup butter (soft!)
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
Start by mixing the dry ingredients; flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Now to add your butter. I learned a trick a few years ago from Chef Michael Smith, grate it. Take your box grater and grate in that cold butter. He suggests leaving your butter in the freezer. Honestly, I've never done this. If you keep butter in the freezer, you can use it here. Once your half cup of butter is grated, then loosely and gently toss in the butter to your dry ingredients (or maybe your a smoosh it in kinda person, if so, smoosh now). Once you can squeeze your flour and it sorta holds together, your done. Now to add your milk, make sure it's as cold as possible. Don't add hot milk here! slowly, little bits at a time, add your milk. Gently mix it together with your hands. GENTLY. This is not bread, you're not going for hearty, you're going for flakey. Keep mixing in your milk little bits at a time, until your dough is holding together. it's going to be a little sticky. But that's okay! Your going to have to knead it a little, just a little. Not bread kneading here! just gently yielding the dough together. Gently. Once that baby is done. Stick it either back in the fridge, or if your mouths need feeding now, roll it out. Flour the surface first. FLOUR! flour your rolling pin too. Roll out the dough until it's pretty darn thin. I don't have exact here. I just don't. Your going to have to trust yourself that it's just thin enough. See my picture above? it's pretty thin. Not quite paper, maybe a plate thin? Once you have your dough rolled out, spread that baby with butter. A think layer. Edge to edge. Spread it out. Once the butter is spread then you can add your brown sugar. Enough to cover the butter. Totally to taste. Then after add your cinnamon, again to taste. Once your done buttering, sugaring and seasoning, it's time to roll! Roll that bad boy as tightly as you can, gently. It's not a rolling race, just nice and tightly, roll. Then cut! I like to cook my buns in a muffin tin. I find that way they don't stick to each other and cook evenly. Make sure they trays you are using have been greased. When you cut your buns, don't make them bigger then what will fit in the tray! cook in a hot 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. They should be firm to the touch and browned. To make the icing: place the icing sugar and butter is a decent sized mixing bowl. Try to mix these two together, they are hard to get together...just do the best you can! once they are mixed up add a pinch of salt and your vanilla, mix lightly. Then add milk. Don't dump it in, just little bits at a time. Mix until icing forms and there is no bumps! you may need more milk, if you've added to much, don't freak out! just add more icing sugar!
You don't have to wait for these to cool to put on the icing! It's nice when the icing melts onto and around your buns! This is not a low fat, low calorie recipe. This is a wow, you rock recipe. You just made cinnamon buns and you didn't even have to leave your house!
Note: You won't find a lot of measurements in my recipes, or exact times. I believe in two things when it comes to cooking 1) you know your kitchen and ingredients better then I do. 2)You know your tastes better then I do. This is a recipe, I don't expect you to follow it exact. I know for newbies in the kitchen this is a hard thing to follow and probably really frustrating approaching a recipe with 'however much you want' written in it. However, I want you to get to know food! I want you to be comfortable with 'that feels like too much sugar, I should add less' I want you to know your kitchen and ingredients. Cooking isn't about getting it perfect. Cooking is an experience and you should get as much joy and excitement out of it as possible. This means a lot of playing and experimenting. Trust yourself. Trust that you can do this. Trust that you can produce a meal any chef would be thrilled about. Have fun with your food and learn the joy of your kitchen. Remember, buy the best ingredients you can afford. If that is no name flour and dollar store cinnamon, then so be it.
Yours in Health
-Tiffany-
2 and 1/4 cup flour (I use white)
2 TBSP sugar (I use cane)
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 cup butter (cold!)
1 cup milk
For the filling
soft butter
brown sugar
cinnamon
Icing
1 Cup icing sugar
1/8 cup butter (soft!)
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
Start by mixing the dry ingredients; flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Now to add your butter. I learned a trick a few years ago from Chef Michael Smith, grate it. Take your box grater and grate in that cold butter. He suggests leaving your butter in the freezer. Honestly, I've never done this. If you keep butter in the freezer, you can use it here. Once your half cup of butter is grated, then loosely and gently toss in the butter to your dry ingredients (or maybe your a smoosh it in kinda person, if so, smoosh now). Once you can squeeze your flour and it sorta holds together, your done. Now to add your milk, make sure it's as cold as possible. Don't add hot milk here! slowly, little bits at a time, add your milk. Gently mix it together with your hands. GENTLY. This is not bread, you're not going for hearty, you're going for flakey. Keep mixing in your milk little bits at a time, until your dough is holding together. it's going to be a little sticky. But that's okay! Your going to have to knead it a little, just a little. Not bread kneading here! just gently yielding the dough together. Gently. Once that baby is done. Stick it either back in the fridge, or if your mouths need feeding now, roll it out. Flour the surface first. FLOUR! flour your rolling pin too. Roll out the dough until it's pretty darn thin. I don't have exact here. I just don't. Your going to have to trust yourself that it's just thin enough. See my picture above? it's pretty thin. Not quite paper, maybe a plate thin? Once you have your dough rolled out, spread that baby with butter. A think layer. Edge to edge. Spread it out. Once the butter is spread then you can add your brown sugar. Enough to cover the butter. Totally to taste. Then after add your cinnamon, again to taste. Once your done buttering, sugaring and seasoning, it's time to roll! Roll that bad boy as tightly as you can, gently. It's not a rolling race, just nice and tightly, roll. Then cut! I like to cook my buns in a muffin tin. I find that way they don't stick to each other and cook evenly. Make sure they trays you are using have been greased. When you cut your buns, don't make them bigger then what will fit in the tray! cook in a hot 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. They should be firm to the touch and browned. To make the icing: place the icing sugar and butter is a decent sized mixing bowl. Try to mix these two together, they are hard to get together...just do the best you can! once they are mixed up add a pinch of salt and your vanilla, mix lightly. Then add milk. Don't dump it in, just little bits at a time. Mix until icing forms and there is no bumps! you may need more milk, if you've added to much, don't freak out! just add more icing sugar!
You don't have to wait for these to cool to put on the icing! It's nice when the icing melts onto and around your buns! This is not a low fat, low calorie recipe. This is a wow, you rock recipe. You just made cinnamon buns and you didn't even have to leave your house!
Note: You won't find a lot of measurements in my recipes, or exact times. I believe in two things when it comes to cooking 1) you know your kitchen and ingredients better then I do. 2)You know your tastes better then I do. This is a recipe, I don't expect you to follow it exact. I know for newbies in the kitchen this is a hard thing to follow and probably really frustrating approaching a recipe with 'however much you want' written in it. However, I want you to get to know food! I want you to be comfortable with 'that feels like too much sugar, I should add less' I want you to know your kitchen and ingredients. Cooking isn't about getting it perfect. Cooking is an experience and you should get as much joy and excitement out of it as possible. This means a lot of playing and experimenting. Trust yourself. Trust that you can do this. Trust that you can produce a meal any chef would be thrilled about. Have fun with your food and learn the joy of your kitchen. Remember, buy the best ingredients you can afford. If that is no name flour and dollar store cinnamon, then so be it.
Yours in Health
-Tiffany-