It wouldn't be an official lockdown if I didn't attempt to bake something I've never tried before to keep myself sane (hello, German Pretzels and Iced Buns). This morning I fell down a baking rabbit hole on Pinterest and discovered these beautifully intricate crowns from Sweden and instantly fell in love. These buns have a variety of fillings and spreads inside such as blueberries (coming soon, I promise), and chocolate, but I was immediately drawn to these particular cinnamon filled crowns known as Kanelbullar. I LOVE cinnamon scrolls, though the cream cheese frosting, while delicious, is often sickly sweet and makes them very much a *sometimes* food. These Kanelbullar are much more reserved in their sugar fix, and focus a lot more on the subtle hum of cardamom and the soft, pillowy texture of the dough.
While kneading my dough I had a mini epiphany, and I realised all my recipes are written to be hand-kneaded. This is for two reasons; one, I get a lot of joy from making all my recipes with my hands, and two, I can't be bothered cleaning a mixer, and I'm aware a lot of people don't own nice mixers with the proper attachments. The problem with this is it is incredibly ignorant of me to assume all my readers (all average 40 of you) have the same physical ability as me (or maybe you're just too damn tired to knead dough for 10 minutes), which is why all my recipes from now on will have both hand-kneading and mixer-kneading times.
This recipe is slightly untraditional, as I've adapted it to rise a bit quicker and be a bit more familiar to my fellow bread bakers. You may choose to omit the cardamom if it's not really your thing, but I highly recommend using at least a sprinkle of the ground stuff in your dough - the flavour is incredible.
The dough needs to rest for at least an hour to double in size, however it may take up to two hours on colder days. To speed up this process in Sydney winter, I like to sit my dough in front of the heater, wrapped up with a warm scarf and a pair of mittens - or just the heater works too.
Ingredients:
For the Dough:
3 Cups Plain Flour
1/4 Cup Caster Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Ground Cardamom
7g Dry Active Yeast
1/4 Cup Butter, Melted
1 Cup Milk, Lukewarm
For the Cinnamon Butter:
1/3 Cup Butter, Softened
1/3 Cup Caster Sugar
1 Tbs Ground Cinnamon
1 Tsp Gro9und Cardamom
To top:
1 egg, Beaten
Royal Icing (optional)
Let's Make These Kanelbullar:
In a small bowl, add the yeast to the lukewarm milk and stir. Sit aside and allow to bloom for around 5 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, cardamom, and salt. Mix to combine.
Add the milk/yeast mixture along with the melted butter to the flour mix and stir.
If mixing by hand, stir until dough slightly comes together, then turn out onto a floured bench and knead for around 10 minutes, or until dough is soft and bounces back when lightly pressed. If using a mixer, use the dough hook and mix for 8 minutes until dough is soft and bounces back when lightly pressed.
Clean and dry your mixing bowl, then transfer the dough back into the bowl to proof. Cover the bowl tightly with cling wrap, and place in a warm spot. Proof for 1-2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.
In a mixing bowl, add the butter, sugar, cardamom, and cinnamon and mix well.
Place dough onto a lightly floured surface, and roll out into a rectangle. Spread the cinnamon butter across the dough and fold into thirds.
Roll our the dough slightly to help the butter stick to the dough, then cut into 2cm wide strips.
Take each strip, and lightly twist, then wrap the dough around your hand twice, then across itself to create a twisted ball.
Place buns on a parchment-lined baking tray, making sure there is plenty of room between each bun to allow for growth.
Cover with cling wrap and allow to proof again for around an hour, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, fan forced.
Brush buns with beaten egg and add your desired toppings.
Bake for around 20 minutes - buns will be golden brown.
Allow to cool before adding any icing and serve. Store in an airtight container for the few days they'll last in your house.
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