Cinnamon Breakfast Buns

Cinnamon is a spice that definitely triggers comfort to me.  As children, when we were ill, my mother always made us cinnamon toast with our tea, not to mention, the Snicker doodles she would have baking when we came home from school in the afternoon.  Yes, I love cinnamon.

I remember in the 80s, when we moved to California for my husband's job, my daughters and I were so excited to learn that Swenson's had a Cinnamon Ice Cream.  Do you remember Swenson's?  These ice cream parlors sprung up at about the same time that Haagan Dazs did where unusual ice cream flavors enticed us in to buy their expensive product:-D  Swenson's is only located in five states now--California, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, and Texas, so I haven't had my beloved ice cream for a long time, unless I make my own.

Cinnamon has a long history of use, dating back to being mentioned in the Hebrew bible where Moses is commanded to use both sweet cinnamon and cassia in the holy anointing oil.  In Greek mythology is was highly prized as a gift fit for monarchs and even for a god.  There is a fine inscription that records a gift of cinnamon and cassia to the temple of Apollo at Miletus.  In 1518, Portuguese traders landed in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and began exporting this precious spice.  The Dutch East India Company took over the trade and in 1796 the British eventually took it over from them with their occupation of the area.  It's widely used as a spice for desserts--how could you make a apple pie without it--but in some cultures, it's used in savory dishes as well, such as lamb and chicken.  And, if that's not enough information, I found that it has been proposed as a an insect repellent, although not fully tested.

Cinnamon Breakfast Buns
1 cup milk
4 T unsalted butter
In a 2-cup glass measure, microwave the butter and milk for 45 seconds to 1 minute to melt the butter.  Add water to this mixture to equal 2 cups of liquid.

1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 large egg
2 T (or 2 pkg) SAF  Gold Yeast
5-5 1/2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix the sugar, salt and egg together.  While the mixer is running, pour the milk/butter/water liquid into it.  Continue to run mixture on low and sprinkle in the yeast.

Turn off the mixer and remove the paddle attachment; add the dough hook to the stand mixer.  Allow the mixture to set for 5 to 7 minutes until it's "foamy."

Add 3 cups of the flour and the cinnamon and mix on speed #2.  Gradually add the remaining 2 to 2 1/2 cups of flour until the dough is pulling away from the sides.
Transfer to a lightly flour bread board and knead to form a smooth ball.

Place in a large bowl (or dough bucket) that has been brushed with melted butter.  Allow to rise until double, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

To check to see if it's risen enough, press your finger into the dough, an impression should remain of your finger.

Cinnamon~Sugar Mixture
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Vanilla powder (I found this product at Williams-Sonoma)

Mix together and set aside.  Meanwhile, melt 4 T butter with 2 T maple syrup in a small saucepan.  Remove from the stove when the butter is melted.

To assemble buns:
1. Roll dough to a 12" x 18" rectangle.

 2. Brush with the melted butter/maple syrup mixture, then heavily sprinkle with over half of the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

3.  Starting at the side, away from you, tightly roll up the dough towards you.  Pinch the seam to seal.

4. Use a serrated knife to cut the dough in half, then each half into 6 pieces--this recipe makes a dozen.
5. Butter the wells of two jumbo muffin pans.

6.  Keeping one hand as your "dirty hand," pick up one of the buns and brush additional butter/maple syrup around the sides and on top.

 7. Take the bun over to the cinnamon/sugar bowl and sprinkle additional mixture around the sides and on top before setting it into a muffin well.

8. Cover the muffin pans with plastic wrap and allow to rise again...about 30 to 40 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F-degrees.

9. When buns have risen, brush some additional butter on top and sprinkle with more cinnamon/sugar.  Bake in the preheated oven for 18 minutes.

10.  When done, allow to set in the pan about 10 minutes, before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

In addition to your home smelling heavenly, these buns were delicious and those memories of childhood came back with my mom making me toast and tea...sitting by my bedside and telling me it would make me feel better.  Enjoy!

 

Strawberry Sweet Buns

My mother used to make us, what she called "Fruit Pizza" in the summertime.  Usually the fruits were sliced peaches or plums placed on top of a sweet dough that had been stretched to fit a long baking sheet and then, a heavy sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon over the fruit; enough to feed a large family!  Subsequently, I like to take her ideas and add my own twist because that's what she always encouraged me to do.

Today, I made up a quick brioche-like dough to create individual fruit pizzas or as I have named them--Strawberry Sweet Buns.  I've started to see strawberries from California in the market,  so I know they're pretty fresh and along with some of my homemade strawberry jam, from last summer, I knew this would be my choice of fruit.  It's not to say, that peaches with some homemade peach jam, or raspberries with raspberry jam or blueberries with...well, you get the picture, wouldn't be just as good:-D

The garden strawberry was first cultivated in Brittany, France in the 1750s; prior to that, wild strawberries were the common source used in baking and preserving.  I know my Sis would loved these sweet buns, as she was often caught in the strawberry patch at my grandparent's house!  When we both lived in California, we could see acres of strawberry plants, around Oxnard, mound with black plastic covering their roots.  Not only did that plastic keep weeding down, but it absorbs the sunshine and produces earlier crops by warming up the ground.  The Strawberry Festival in Oxnard, California was an event held in May and we'd all looked forward to, not only the attractions, but the wonderful treats made from strawberries.  My daughters' favorite was "fried dough" with strawberries and whipped cream on top.  These sweet buns do bring back that memory as well...baked, not fried, of course:-D

Strawberry Sweet Buns
Yeast dough:

1 T. dry Saf-instant Gold Yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp. honey

Mix all the ingredients and proof the yeast in a 1-cup glass measure for 5 to 7 minutes

4 1/2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour + 2 to 4 T as needed
2 tsp. salt

Place dry ingredients into a bowl of a stand mixer, using the dough hook, briefly mix these two ingredients together.

3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup honey
1 large egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very soft (but not melted)

In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, mix the milk and honey together.  Stir while heating and remove after the honey has blended into the very warm milk.

Add the milk and honey to the dry ingredients and blend together about 1 minute.  Add the egg and the proofed yeast and mix again.

Add the softened butter, a tablespoon at a time and "knead" with the dough hook until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl, adding a tablespoon of flour as needed, but keeping this dough soft.

Lightly flour a bread board and turn dough out onto the board.  Knead a few times to get a smooth ball.  Place in a large bowl that has been brushed with melted butter and then, cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to rise about 1 to 1 1/2 hours--until doubled.

 Meanwhile, prepare the filling:

1 1/2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
 1/2 cup (preferably homemade) strawberry jam

Streusel:
4 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup King Arthur all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamon

Mix all the dry ingredients together, then cut in the butter to create the streusel.

Punch down dough and divide into eight pieces.

 Roll each piece into a round ball and set in place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Brush the smooth balls with 1 large egg + 1 T water, whisked together, then, sprinkle with some granulated sugar and place plastic over them just to rest while you preheat the oven to 375F-degrees.

My oven took about 20 minutes to preheat.  This time allows the dough to rest and soften again.  Press down the dough to flatten (like pizza!) 

Add about 1 tablespoon of strawberry jam in the center.

Divide strawberries among the pastries, on top of the jam.

Finally, add the streusel; sprinkling it on top of the fresh berries.

 Bake immediately in the preheated oven for 13 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.

Allow to cool, then mix up a vanilla-bean glaze to drizzle on top.

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 T light Karo syrup
4 to 5 T heavy cream
1 vanilla bean split and scraped (or 1 tsp. vanilla extract)

Mix all ingredients for a thin glaze.

Now, how would you like to have these in the morning or with afternoon tea?  On a rainy day, it was like having a bit of sunshine~

...right in my kitchen. Enjoy!