Cinnamon buns: somebody stop me now!

These are so very moreish, so if you do make them, make sure you have lots of guests, a padlock on your cake tin, or are very very strong willed. Stronger than I am, as I've eaten two of these plus nibbled around the edges (oh all right, I ate two more of the really really small ones) and that was just before dinner. I am now very full.


Should you wish to get like this.

Norwegian Cinnamon Buns from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

for the dough:

600g flour
100g sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
21g easy-blend yeast of 45g fresh yeast
100g butter
400ml milk
2 eggs

for the filling:

150g soft, unsalted butter
150g sugar
11/2tsp cinnamon
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

roasting tin approx 33cm x 24cm or large brownie tin, lined with baking parchment

Preheat the oven. Nigella says preheat it to 230 degrees C or gas mark 8, but when I've done this my buns are burnt. In fact as I have a hot oven even when I put it at 200 degrees C they were a little too brown. So this time around I stuck it at 180 degrees C. So you'll need to judge your own. And of course, preheating some 45 minutes before you actually need the oven is a waste of energy so I'd wait a bit until later in the recipe.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Melt the butter and whisk it into the milk and eggs, then stir it into the flour mixture. Mix to combine and then knead the dough until it is smooth and springy. Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover and leave it to rise for about 25 minutes.

Take one-third of the dough and roll it or stretch it to fit your tin; this will form the bottom of each bun when it has cooked. Roll out the rest of the dough on a lightly floured surface, aiming to get a rectangle of roughly 50 x 25 cm. Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and then spread the rectangle with the buttery cinnamon mixture. Try to get even coverage on the whole of the dough. Roll it up from the longest side until you have a giant sausage. Cut the roll into 2 cm slices which should make about 20 rounds. Sit the rounds in lines on top of the dough in the tin, swirly cut-side up.

Don't worry if they don't fit snugly together as they will swell and become puffy when they prove. Brush them with egg and then let them rise again for about 15 minutes to let them get duly puffy. I really like the way they expand to fill the space squishing up against each other.

Put in the hot oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes, bu which time the buns will have risen and will be golden brown in colour. Remove them from the tin and leave to cool slightly on a rack. Tear off and eat warm.