Cinnamon Heart Buns

What is this? A Monday post?

I know, how unlike me to deviate from my careful Tuesday-Thursday posting schedule, but these were too cute and too timely not to share. What better way to celebrate Valentines Day than with some heart shaped buns? You can share them with your sweetie or do as I did and revel in the fact that these can be all yours.

My friend Caitlin passed this recipe along to me after talking about her homemade cinnamon buns on Facebook. I played around with her original recipe a bit, but I really like its simplicity. My favorite cinnamon buns are from SmittenKitchen, but those take hours due to the necessary rising time for yeast. These are yeast-free but still utterly delicious. And seriously, fresh cinnamon buns in about 30 minutes (and that’s including pre-heating time for my oven) cannot be beat.

There’s an odd piece of equipment for this recipe – dental floss. I’d read about the trick before, but it had never seemed worthwhile. Let me tell you, it’s totally worthwhile. It makes cutting the log of dough into buns so much easier and cleaner. Plus, you’ll then have the floss on hand for when you need to brush your teeth from the sugar bath they’ll receive from eating the buns!

I think you might be well served by putting the rolled dough in the fridge for a minute or two to help it firm up. It’ll make cutting and forming the hearts a bit easier.

 Caitlin’s Cinnamon Buns

You don’t have to use whole-wheat pastry flour, the original recipe called for entirely all-purpose. However, I’m currently on a whole-wheat flour kick and wanted to see if I’d notice the difference using whole-wheat pastry flour (which is essentially whole wheat flour that has been sifted an extra time to become more airy and less dense). I didn’t. Taste just like a regular cinnamon bun!

You can also leave out the cardamom. I think it makes everything taste and smell better, but I realize it’s not something everyone has on hand. If you do have it, use it! This Scandinavian will thank you for it.

Ingredients

Buns

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cardamom

1 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda

3⁄4 teaspoon salt

1 1⁄4 cup buttermilk

6 tablespoon melted butter

Filling:

3 tablespoon softened butter

3 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoon cinnamon

Glaze:

2 tablespoon water

3/4 to 1 cup powdered sugar

Equipment

Baking sheet, mixing bowl, small containers, parchment paper/silicon baking mat, dental floss

Preheat your oven to 425.

Mix all of dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then add in the melted butter and the buttermilk. Knead the dough until it's free of lumps and is pretty elastic (this should only take a minute). If the dough stays really wet, add a bit more flour.

Roll it out into a roughly 12″ x 9″ rectangle, about a 1/2″ thick. It doesn’t need to be perfect.

Spread softened butter over rectangle, creating an even coat and leaving about an 1/2 inch margin on all sides. Mix together cinnamon and sugar and spread over butter. To make hearts, roll dough from both long sides until the two sides meet in the middle. For more conventionally shaped rolls, roll along one of the long sides.

Using dental floss, thread the floss around the roll and use it to cut a roll about 2 in. wide, or however big you want. Layer a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and place the rolls on the cookie sheet once cut; give them some room, because they spread a bit. Bake them for about 15 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, mix together the ingredients for the glaze until it is smooth.

Remove the buns from the oven and pour the glaze over top.

Makes about 16