Cinnamon Sugar Morning Buns

cinnamon sugar morning buns on wire rack

It’s a callback to the cinnamon sugar-packed original but done one better. With our Danish Dough base and brown sugar and cinnamon filling, there was only one thing missing from these Cinnamon Sugar Morning Buns: crunchy, toasted pecans. Shaping these buns can seem daunting, but our visual tutorial on lamination is your passport to perfectly flaky breakfast pastry! Once these beauties are out of the oven, be sure to roll them in some of our favorite sugar coatings for a satisfying (and sweet) crunch. 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Cinnamon Sugar Morning Buns
 
Makes 14 to 18 buns
Ingredients
  • ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and divided
  • ⅓ cup (67 grams) granulated sugar, plus more for dusting
  • Danish Dough (recipe follows)
  • ½ cup (110 grams) firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (12 grams) ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
  • ⅔ cup (75 grams) chopped pecans
  • Desired sugar (see Shake Up Your Sugar for recipes)
Instructions
  1. Brush muffin cups with 2 tablespoons (28 grams) melted butter. Dust with granulated sugar, tapping out excess.
  2. Freeze Danish Dough for 15 to 30 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 18x12-inch rectangle.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
  4. Using a pastry brush, brush remaining ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (85 grams) melted butter onto dough. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over butter, leaving a ½-inch border along one long edge. Top with pecans. Starting at long side oposite border, roll up dough, jelly roll style. Trim edges, if needed, and cut into 1-inch rolls. Place rolls, cut side up, in prepared muffin cups, gently pressing down until dough fills mold. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F/24°C) until puffed, 45 to 60 minutes.
  5. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
  6. Bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 210°F (99°C), 20 to 25 minutes, covering with foil halfway through baking to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool in pans until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and toss in desired sugar. Let cool completely on wire racks.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Danish Dough
 
Makes dough for 14 to 18 buns
Ingredients
  • 1 cup (240 grams) whole milk, room temperature (70°F/21°C)
  • 1 large egg (50 grams), room temperature
  • 1 large egg yolk (19 grams), room temperature
  • 2¼ teaspoons (7 grams) instant yeast*
  • 4 cups plus 1½ tablespoons (520 grams) bread flour*, plus more for dusting
  • ⅓ cup (67 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup plus 4½ tablespoons (290 grams) unsalted butter, softened and divided
  • 1 tablespoon (9 grams) kosher salt
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together milk, egg, egg yolk, and yeast by hand. Using the dough hook attachment, add flour, sugar, 3 tablespoons (42 grams) butter, and salt, and beat at low speed until dough comes together, about 1 minute. Continue beating until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and is smooth when a small amount is pinched off, about 5 minutes.
  2. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape into a smooth ball. Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F/24°C) until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
  3. Using a pencil, draw a 12x8-inch rectangle on a sheet of parchment paper; turn parchment over. Place remaining 1 cup plus ½ tablespoons (248 grams) butter on parchment. Cover with a second sheet of parchment, and shape to fit inside drawn rectangle, keeping edges straight and even. (If butter gets too soft to work with, refrigerate for 5 minutes before continuing.) Keep wrapped in parchment paper, and refrigerate overnight.
  4. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Lightly dust with flour.
  5. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and gently shape into a 10x8-inch rectangle. Place on prepared pan. Cover tightly with plastic wrap (to ensure dough does not dry out), and refrigerate overnight.
  6. Place dough in freezer for 15 to 30 minutes. Let butter block stand at room temperature until pliable, 10 to 15 minutes.
  7. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 16x12-inch rectangle. Unwrap butter block, and place in center of dough. Fold dough over butter block, meeting in the middle, and press lightly to seal dough around butter block. Turn dough 90 degrees, and immediately roll dough into an 18x12-inch rectangle. Fold into thirds, like a letter; turn 90 degrees, and roll out again. Fold into thirds again, like a letter. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and freeze for 15 to 30 minutes. Roll and fold, letter-style, one more time. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for ½ hours. (Alternatively, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use, let thaw in refrigerator overnight.)
Notes
*We used Red Star Platinum Superior Baking Instant Yeast and King Arthur Bread Flour.

 

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11 COMMENTS

  1. You say to let the dough rise for 2 hours, but the next instruction is preparing the butter to be refrigerated overnight. Do I refrigerate the dough or do I prepare the butter the day before?

  2. I made these yesterday and here is what I’ve learned: read the recipe from the beginning 🙂 I made an assumption because this was using a muffin pan that it’d make 12 pastries. So I cut my roll into 12 pieces and proceeded to put them into the tin: they didn’t quite fit. So I went back to the recipe and realized it makes 14-18? I mean I totally blame myself for not reading that but why not make a recipe for 12 pieces? So since I already cut them, I ended up slicing them again so I ended up with 24. Thus they came out a bit strange looking ( short) and crispy. Taste was pretty good, not super sweet ( I didn’t roll in sugar, just sprinkled some on top). Not sure it’s worth the trouble being so close in taste to cinnamon bun, Next time I’ll try the savory version with cheese and bagel seasoning, I think it’d be good.

    • Hi Faye,

      We haven’t tried this but it sounds pretty wonderful! Let us know how it turns out if you give it a go!

    • Hi! One tablespoon or 9g is the correct amount of salt for the Danish Dough recipe. We recommend weighing the salt by weight. Happy baking!

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