Cinnamon Buns – high protein, lower sugar but honestly still delicious!
This recipe combines two of my favourite things—cinnamon buns and yoghurt dough. It uses the same base dough recipe as the high-protein flatbreads we make weekly. . As this doesn’t use yeast, it doesn’t need much proving time.
Yes, cardamom buns are very on trend, for a good reason, but there’s something about the humble cinny bun that gets me. My favourite cinnamon bun memory (yes, I do have a favourite memory linked to most foods) was from way back when Beast from The East mega-storm hit us. I was in university in Dublin studying dietetics. The morning it hit, I got to Trinity’s gym at 6 am only to be told the whole university was closed and we weren’t supposed to be making unnecessary journeys. Whoops. I jumped on the first bus back to Galway to wait it out at home.
While everyone else was off enjoying the week off, our lecturers insisted on running virtual lectures so I was stuck at my desk learning about the protein structures and pureed diets. One morning while I was watching the snow fall through the big window at my desk, I got a waft of the incredible cinnamon buttery smell of cinny buns baking. Twenty minutes later my sister Fluff brought me up little plate with a cinnamon bun and a cup of tea. It was just what I needed... a little bun of joy when I was very sorry for myself!
In honour of Fluff, as I am typing this I’m tucking into a hit bun fresh from the oven with a big cup of Barrys tea. Perfect.
Makes 8 buns
Ingredients
Dough
300g self-raising flour plus about 3-4 Tbs extra
30g brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp baking powder
280g yoghurt – thick Greek or natural
Filling
60g butter at room temperature
60g brown sugar
2.5tsp cinnamon
Method - see pictures for below for guidance!
1. First make the dough. Mix 300g self-raising flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and baking powder. Add the yoghurt and mix well into a messy dough. When it comes together sprinkle over an extra tablespoon of flour to help gently bring it together to a smoother ball using your hands. Put a clean tea towel over the bowl and leave for at least 30 minutes to let the dough settle – this makes it easier to handle as it is a soft dough.
2. Next make the filling – mix the sugar and cinnamon and then add in the butter. Using the back of a spoon mix the butter into the sugar mixture. This takes a bit of elbow grease! If your butter is too hard pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds, but be careful as we don’t want it to be liquid.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Get a medium sized deep baking tray – mine was 24cm x 29cm measured across the top. Use a little butter to grease the tray.
4. Back to the dough. Pop the dough out onto a clean surface and sprinkle over a little flour. Knead gently for 2-3 minutes just to get a smooth dough. Using a rolling pin, and another sprinkle of flour, roll out the dough to a rough rectangle. Be liberal with the flour as this is a very soft dough and we don’t want it sticking. Roll out to approx. 24cm x 31 cm.
5. Back to the filling – pop the filling in the microwave or warm oven for 10 seconds to make it spreadable. Using a flat knife or spatula, spread the filling all over the dough. I like to use a very old flat butter knife.
6. Gently roll up, by rolling the longer side inwards to make a Swiss role type structure. Using a sharp knife cut into 8 lengthways. Use small sharp cuts to cut through the soft dough. If you do a continuous back and forth motion you risk squashing the soft dough and losing the swirl structure.
7. Pop into the tin, and bake for 20 minutes. Check after 20 minutes and give another 5 minutes if not yet golden and cooked through.
8. Serve warm with a cup of tea – best eaten on the day they are made!
