I have officially fallen in love with my pink Kitchenaid, especially its dough hook. I have even bought a cover to protect it-not that my kitchen is a target for stray missiles, but to keep the greasy stickiness that inevitably envelops everything at bay. Previously, I had shunned most dough and bread baking, mainly because I didn’t have the strength or will to knead for the 10 minutes required. Now I pop all of the ingredients in the big bowl, attach the hook and I can come back 6-7 minutes later and it will be kneaded. I say I can come back but I never do, as I prefer to watch the dough hook mix it all in in some sort of perverse food porn observation ritual.
These are so ridiculously moreish that I found myself eating 5 of these babies for lunch and forgoing my usual relatively healthy lunch. And this is from a girl that rarely has seconds. So I warn you, make these with caution and at someone else’s behest. Invite a large group of friends or lumberjacks in for morning tea. Anything to put some distance between yourself and 20 of these tempting, deliciously scented, buttery buns.
Norwegian Cinnamon buns
For the dough:
- 600 g flour (I added some extra flour as the dough was too sticky)
- 100 g sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 21 g (3 sachets-yes, really) easy blend yeast or 45 g fresh yeast
- 100 g butter
- 400 ml milk
- 2 eggs
For the filling:
- 150 g soft, unsalted butter
- 150 g sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
- Roasting tin approximately 33cm x 24cm or large brownie tin, lined with baking parchment bottom and sides
Preheat the oven to 230°C/ gas mark 8 (I wouldn’t do this until the end of Step 3)
The ginormously risen yeast beast
1. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Melt the butter and whisk it into milk and eggs, then stir it into the flour mixture. Mix to combine and then knead the dough either by hand or using the dough hook of a food mixer until its smooth and springy-add extra flour until the dough becomes a good rolling consistency. Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave it to rise for about 25 minutes.
Vast tundra of dough with buttery cinnamoney sugar filling
2. 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 50×25cm. Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and then spread the rectangle with the buttery cinnamon texture (you can made this mixture up during the 25 minutes of proving the dough in Step 1). Try to get even coverage on the whole of the dough.
A little uneven, I’m sure you’ll do better than my rather poor effort
3. 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 let them rise again for about 15 minutes to let them get duly puffy.
Snug as a bug in a rug
4. Put in the hot oven and cook for 20-25 minutes (a couple of mine were a bit black at the top by 20 mins so watch out for them), by which time the buns will have risen and will be golden brown in colour. Don’t worry it they catch in places. Remove them from the tin and leave to cool slightly on a rack-it’s easy just to pick up the whole sheet of parchment and transfer them like that-before letting people tear them off, to eat warm.
From How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson
22 Comments | Add your own
absolutely lovely-licious! i adore cinnamon buns
You’ve convinced me to get a Kitchenaid (or a cheaper version thereof). And I like how you’ve showed each step in the process – but where are the pics of you eating the 5 buns??
Brandon’s mum makes these and they are reeeallly yum
:D
Hi airy fairy-Why thankyou!
I was one that always liked them but tasting one fresh from the oven makes me LOVE them 
Hi belle-I think Sunbeam make something similar but not as costly. Hehe well the 5 step process involved me taking one virtuously and then consuming it, then going in to clean up and sneaking another one and once I finished cleaning I just had to have another as a reward and….well you can see how I got to 5!
Hi Kathy-Oh cool!
Does she use Nigella’s recipe for it or does she have one of those fabulous family recipes?
Family recipe
(which I have to steal!)
They come up looking just like yours though
oh wow. I could sit here for hours reading your foodblogs! Just made these cinnamon buns. They turned out amazing! And yes, very morish. GOD BLESS THE KITCHENAID! Indeed I had to add more flour than the recipe asked for to get it to that doughy stage because it was looking awfully sticky. Kept adding bits at a time until after a good mixing it stayed doughy instead of gooey again. I ran out of plain flour for adding so used SR instead and that was fine. MMM my house smells fabulous. Thanks for the recipe. Might see u around Mosman!
Hi Kathy-Definitely worth getting now that you’re part of the family and all!
Hi Maria-Thankyou so much
I know, I can’t believe I lived without my KA for so many years. To think I was scared of making breads 
So glad to hear you liked them-the smell is incredible most definitely. See you around Mosman!
I too like to watch my machine (a Kenwood Major) kneading dough! It is so strong and capable and doesn’t complain. It has saved me from almost certain RSI, I used to make bread by hand every week. I am so glad people are bothering with yeast bakery, I find it very challenging yet rewarding.
Hi Lori-Glad to know I’m not the only watcher! Wow, you are dedicated and strong, I’ve never kneaded that much, I’ve always asked my husband to do it as I’d always feel too tired and sore halfway. Its definitely rewarding making breads and the like!
Yum yum yum!
I’m going to make these tomorrow.
However, my digital scales have packed up on me so I need a huge favour…how much is 600g flour, 100g sugar and 150g sugar in cups?
Hi Kel-From looking at my WW cooking book:
150g sugar=2/3 cup
150g flour=1 cup so you’d need 4 cups
A friend of mine left her KA to knead some dough once, then went off to do something else, all suddenly heard a big crash. Through all the kneading, the KA had walked itself off the bench!
Hi Y-Given how heavy they are, I’m sure that would’ve made an almighty crash! Thankfully mine doesn’t move when it kneads although I don’t tend to put a lot of dough inside. Perhaps if its a really large amount or a hard dough, it might do that.
Be careful with the KA and mixing dough, mine shook violently when it was on a high setting when mixing dough and it can go walk abouts. Low to med seems to be the way to go
Hi Maria-I almost get scared using my KA on a high setting. I did it once (on a very light mixture) and it scared me a little so I avoid it wherever possible!
hello there! I just tried baking these today but my dough didn’t rise! they ended up becoming hard like rocks… any idea why? I used active yeast. would that be under easy blend yeast or fresh yeast? I’m soooo confused! thanks in advance!!!
Hi Cheryl-Oh no, really? How disappointing!
I use instant yeast by Lowan Whole Foods and its always been fine, everything has risen as it should. I’m not sure of the difference between active and instant dried but perhaps active needs to be treated differently? Perhaps try it with the instant dried yeast and see how you go. Its always been reliable for me.
Have decided to give these a go for a brunch I am having. Lack a lot of confidence in yeast cooking, but they look too good to ignore. And yes, I also go into a trance watching my kitchenaid knead.
Hi jules-They’re an excellent idea for a brunch as they smell so gorgeous when they’re baking. Just don’t worry if the dough is too sticky, just add more flour. I had to add in quite a bit more (about 1/2 cup or so) until it was the right texture-just don’t want that to throw you
Good to know I am not the only one that does that with the KA!
I just made these and whilst they LOOK great - they SMELL REALLY YEASTY! What’s the go? It overpowers even the cinnamon! Did you find a strong yeasty smell when you baked these?
Hi can you please tell me what size tin you used to bake these?
Hi smelly_cat-does the yeast smell remain after it’s baked? It was quite strong before it was cooked but milder once baked. It definitely didn’t overpower the cinnamon. Perhaps it depends on what kind of yeast one uses i.e. dried versus fresh. I’m not sure of the differences, but I think the measurements required for each are different.
Hi rama-I’m not at home at the moment but I used a tray approximately 35cms long and 25cms wide. There was some space at the end though of about 5cms. If you could find one slightly smaller that would be ideal.
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