Buttery Flaky Cinnamon Morning Buns Recipe

​Morning buns, delicious pastries with flaky, buttery layers,  filled with orange scented cinnamon and sugar.

I love cinnamon rolls and am always trying to find the recipe that I remember from my childhood. My sister on the other hand loves Morning Buns. For those of you who are not familiar with them, they are basically a cross between a cinnamon roll and a flaky, croissant like sweet roll with buttery, cinnamon and sugar goodness in the inside and sugar on the outside.

This recipe uses laminated dough, so if you are going to make a batch leave extra time because the recipe takes 2 days from start to finish. They are not complicated but they are a little bit of work, the end result is totally worth it though!

I loved these morning buns and will definitely make them over the holidays, they are the perfect treat for Christmas morning. Enjoy the warm buns with a cup of coffee or afternoon tea.

If morning buns seem a little too complicated why not try my pecan caramel rolls made with Rhodes sweet dough? Or my almond cinnamon rolls?

MORNING BUNS

INGREDIENTS

Danish Pastry Recipe Recipe from Nigella Lawson

• 1/4 cup warm water
•  1/2 cup milk at room temperature
•  1 large egg at room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups white bread flour
•  1 package rapid rise yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
•  1 tablespoon sugar
•  1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into slices

Ingredients for Cinnamon Sugar Filling

• 6 tablespoons browned butter, cooled
• 1/3 cup sugar + more for dusting
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• zest of one orange, finely grated
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cardamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• pinch of cloves
• pinch of salt

Directions for Morning Buns

On the day before you want to make morning buns make the dough, the following day proceed with the next steps.

Dough

• In a small bowl, beat the egg, water and milk together, set aside. Put the  flour, yeast, salt and sugar into food processor and pulse to mix, add the cold slices of butter and process until the butter is cut up, empty into a large bowl and add the milk mixture. Fold together.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight or up to 4 days.
• To make the pastry, let dough come to room temperature. Lightly flour your counter or boars and roll the dough into a rectangle.
• Then fold the dough into thirds, like a business letter, turning it afterwards so that the closed letter fold is on your left.
• Roll out the dough again to a rectangle and repeat the steps above 3 times.
• The dough my be sticky and hard to work with(it was for me), if so put into refrigerator between turns and rolling.

Filling

• Preheat oven to 375.
• In a small bowl combine, sugars, spices and orange zest, set aside.
• With a pastry brush, brush the inside and bottom wells of 12-cup muffin tin with a little of the melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar and coat the wells, dump out excess sugar.
• On a lightly floured surface, using a rolling pin, roll the pastry  dough into a 8 x 20 inch large rectangle, coat the top of the dough with browned butter, the sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture, press spices lightly into dough.
• Roll dough from the long side, like a jelly roll and cut into 12 equal pieces. Place rolls into muffin pan.
• Set aside to raise in a draft free, warm place for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
• Bake buns until golden brown and fluffy, about 18-20 minutes.
• Remove from oven, invert on wire rack. After 10 minutes roll in sugar. Enjoy!

FAQ

What is a morning bun?

A morning bun is a pastry that is made with laminated croissant dough filled with cinnamon and sugar, rolled like  cinnamon buns and baked in a butter and sugar coated muffin tins.

Who invented morning buns?

Although Tartine Bakery in San Francisco makes famous morning buns they are not the inventor. Two bakeries lay claim to that honor, La Farine and Ovens of Brittany in Madison, Wisconsin. Ovens of Brittany created the morning bun in 1972, La Farine in 1977.

What is the difference between a morning bun and a cinnamon roll?

A morning bun is made with yeasted laminated dough creating buttery, flaky layers like a croissant. Cinnamon rolls are made with yeasted bread dough creating a pillowy, fluffy cinnamon treat.

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Morning Buns

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​Morning buns, delicious pastries with flaky, buttery layers and filled with orange scented cinnamon and sugar.

• Total Time: 24 hours 20 minutes
• Yield: 12 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Danish Pastry Ingredients

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup milk at room temperature

1 large egg at room temperature

2 1/4 cups white bread flour

1 package rapid rise yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into slices

Filling

6 tablespoons browned butter, cooled

1/3 cup sugar + more for dusting

1/3 cup light brown sugar

zest of one orange, finely grated

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cardamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

pinch of cloves

pinch of salt

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Instructions

Directions for Dough

In a small bowl, beat the egg, water and milk together, set aside. Put the  flour, yeast, salt and sugar into food processor and pulse to mix, add the cold slices of butter and process until the butter is cut up, empty into a large bowl and add the milk mixture. Fold together.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight or up to 4 days.

To make the pastry, let dough come to room temperature. Lightly flour your counter or board and roll the dough into a rectangle.

Then fold the dough into thirds, like a business letter, turning it so that the closed letter fold is on your left.

Roll out the dough again to a rectangle and repeat the steps above 3 times.

The dough my be sticky and hard to work with(it was for me), if so put into refrigerator between turns and rolling.

Preheat oven to 375.

In a small bowl combine, sugars, spices and orange zest, set aside.

With a pastry brush, brush the inside and bottom wells of 12-cup muffin tin with a little of the melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar and coat the wells, dump out excess sugar.

On a lightly floured surface, using a rolling pin, roll the pastry  dough into a 8 x 20 inch large rectangle, coat the top of the dough with browned butter, the sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture, press spices lightly into dough.

Roll dough from the long side, like a jelly roll and cut into 12 equal pieces. Place rolls into muffin pan.

Set aside to raise in a draft free, warm place for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake buns until golden brown and fluffy, about 18-20 minutes.

Remove from oven, invert on wire rack. After 10 minutes roll in sugar. Enjoy!

Notes

Pastry dough recipe from Nigella Lawson

Make the dough the day before you want to eat the morning buns.

• Author: Elizabeth
• Prep Time: 24 hours
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Bakes
• Cuisine: American