Cinnamon Bun Wreath - Bakemas Day 8

As its Saturday I figured it would be a good time to chill and make something a little less healthy a little more curl up with a coffee.


Sometimes it’s nice to make something that takes a little longer to make than consume, have a mosey around the kitchen in no hurry with some music on and a layer of flour covering all the work surfaces. I always thought that about those chocolate and vanilla Catherine wheel biscuits when I was a kid, which now that I think about it is a similar process to cinnamon buns, simple recipe, a little time consuming but pretty enjoyable. It's about the cooking process as well as the eating process

I’m saying all this; make a cuppa, put some tunes on, tie your hair up and get stuck in malarkey but really these are speedy fast for cinnamon buns, you can have them on your plate in an hour...they might still be a touch warm but seriously, an hour.

So they’re not technically bread...

For the last 5 years I’ve been making cinnamon buns like this and honesty I think I prefer them, I mean the making time is a massive bonus, but they’re still everything you could want in a cinnamon bun all soft and gooey and cinnamony, they even keep better overnight. I made them into a wreath because like I keep saying ‘Christmas’ and if you’re planning on taking them somewhere it looks like you put a lot more effort into your baking but it’s pretty simple.


You will need
335g/12oz self raising flour
1½ tsp baking powder
85g/3oz butter/margarine
40g/1½ oz caster sugar
150ml milk, I use almond but any will work
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling
55g/2 oz butter/margarine
110g/4 oz light muscovado sugar
6½ tsp ground cinnamon

For the icing (optional)
½ tbsp water/milk
5 tbsp icing sugar
A drop of vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas mark 7
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add the butter/marg and rub with your finger tips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs then stir in the sugar.
Mix the milk and vanilla extract together then add enough milk to make a soft dough.
Turn on to a floured surface and knead very lightly.
Melt the butter or margarine for the filling, mix in the sugar and cinnamon then set aside.
Roll the dough out into a long rectangle then spread the filling on top.
Roll the dough up to form a long log, trim off the ends then place on a greaseproof paper lined baking tray in a circle roughly joining the ends together making a ring. Slice the dough in roughly 1 inch increments then pull and twist the sections to lay flat on the tray making sure they’re all still attached. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until well risen and golden. Leave to cool on the baking tray.
While the buns are cooling mix together the water, icing sugar and vanilla. Once the buns are cool drizzle on the icing sugar.