During this psycho baking time of year I will use all my secret weapons in the kitchen and one of my favourites is my breadmaker. I was supposed to have the whole week to bake but life intervened every day. I pushed myself to the physical limits for the love of baking and friends, this year my homemade treats were my presents. While I was making the fudge, rugelach, meringues and Christmas cookies the dough for these cinnamon buns was spinning around in my breadmaker:
This is the most beautiful dough! You can find the recipe to make it by hand here. This is my way of making the dough in the breadmaker. Add ingredients to the pan in this order:
1/2 cup warm body temperature water
1 cup of warm body temperature milk
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 tsp of salt
1/3 cup of sugar
2 room temperature eggs
4 1/2 cups of flour
3 tsp of breadmaker yeast
Select dough cycle.
It takes just under two hours for the dough to come together. If you are not ready to roll out the dough, just leave it inside, I love that I can do that! Make sure to watch the dough while it is in the breadmaker, you really have to make sure the dough is not too dry. Everyone’s humidity is different and the biggest issue with breadmaker dough is dry dough. Do not be afraid to add a little extra oil, milk or water if the dough is not looking wet enough.
On a floured surface roll out the dough to an 18 x 10″ rectangle. This is a little challenging to do with just a rolling pin. I stretch it out by hand a lot to get that shape and size. The filling is 1/2 cup of soft butter with 1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar mixed in. Then blend in 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 2 tbsp of cinnamon. Slather over the surface of the dough but leave some space around the edges. Roll up the dough from bottom to top to make a long cylinder.
Put cake pans in a warm draft-free place like above the fridge and cover with a clean towel and let rise for 30 to 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. I find this is a little long in the oven, I usually check it at 20 minutes. The biggest baking sin when it comes to these treats is over baking which I did commit this time:
They seem to continue to darken after they come out so it is better to risk taking them out too early than leaving them in too long. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then invert onto wire racks. Then invert again to cool. Once cooled create a glaze for them by mixing 1 cup of icing sugar with 2-3 tbsp of warm milk and a touch of vanilla, although I used maple extract for this batch which worked great.
Considering by the end of the day my body was on red alert screaming danger danger! I think I performed some baking miracles. The biggest one being that I could walk the next day, my feet were scolding me fiercely with pain that night. Yes, I would have much preferred to have had the week to make treats in a non-rushed, non-health-threatening manner but it is the holidays. I wanted to bring my friends joy with food and I think I just may have accomplished that!
Cinnamon buns are one of my faves. Yum!
I am also a big fan of my breadmaker for dough recipes. You be careful hun, nothing is worth risking your health for, not even those gorgeous cinnamon buns.
Mmmm yet another lovely recipe!
Just thought I would say hello, I’ve been enjoying your blog for a while now, hope you have the loveliest Christmas and New Year.
Oh and maybe you’ve thought of this but a lightbox might help you overcome the lack of light for your food photos..I live in Ireland and today is the shortest day of the year so I understand how much you miss the light! I teach photography and made a lightbox quite easily with my class, it’s great for soft light for food. Here is a link for a good tutorial. http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/06/food-photography-made-easy-lunch-box.html
Hope maybe it helps, happy christmas! Aoife
I don’t have a breadmaker, but I do make cinnamon buns on a regular basis, usually on Sunday mornings. It’s amazing how my sons (and often their girlfriends) who’ve been up until all hours on a Saturday night will still show up the next morning at 9am if they know that cinnamon buns can be expected. I’d highly recommend to any mother that she learn how to make some version of these.