Ahead of Cinnamon Bun Day next week, kicking-off October in the best possible way, here's the Nordic Bakery's recipe for an old-fashioned, soft alternative. These sweet pastries are essential for surviving chilly, autumn evenings and are best eaten straight from the oven (though we probably didn't need to tell you that).
You will need:
Stage 1
25 g/1 ½ cakes fresh yeast or 7 g/1 envelope (2¼ teaspoons) easy-blend/active dried yeast
200 ml/generous ¾ cup lukewarm milk
1 teaspoon (caster) sugar
130 g/1 cup strong white bread flour
Stage 2
65 g/¼ cup (caster) sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, crushed with a pestle and mortar
75 g/5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
260 g/2 cups strong white bread flour
Filling and glazing
25 g/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3 tablespoons demerara sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten,
for glazing
(caster) sugar, for sprinkling
2-3 baking sheets, lined with baking parchment
Makes about 24
For Stage 1 , crumble the yeast into the milk in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugar and flour. Set aside for about 10 minutes, or until slightly bubbly.
For Stage 2, add the sugar, salt, cardamom and melted butter to the mixing bowl. Mix well. Add the flour and mix until you have a dough, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 10-15 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky.
Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and let prove in a warm place for 30 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and knead on the lightly floured surface until firm. Divide the dough into two. Roll one portion out, with a rolling pin, into a rectangle about 30 x 50 cm/12 x 20 inches. Repeat with the other portion.
For the filling, spread the butter evenly over both portions of pastry and sprinkle the demerara sugar and cinnamon all over the tops.
Roll the pastry up from a long side. Cut into roughly 4-cm/1 ¾-inch rolls and place on the prepared baking sheets, flattening them slightly with your hand. Cover with the dish towel again and let prove in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (40Q°F) Gas 6.
To glaze, brush the tops of the buns with the beaten egg and sprinkle with (caster) sugar. Bake the buns in the preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.
This recipe is from Nordic Bakery Cookbook by Miisa Mink.
If you're as obsessed with cinnamon buns as we are, you can also have a go at Brontë Aurell's Swedish Cinnamon Buns, from ScandiKitchen: Fika & Hygge, with her video tutorial below: