‘Sugar and Spice’ Salted Caramel Buns
This sweet and salty twist on the classic cinnamon bun takes a little bit of patience and preparation, but the results sure are worth it! These brilliant buns can be enjoyed hot or cold, and the addition of a delicious drizzle of salted caramel adds an extra level of indulgence.
2 hours 30 minutes
Serves 12 people
Ingredients
- 240ml warm milk
- 2 ½ teaspoons dry yeast
- 2 Free Range Ethical Eggs, room temperature
- 75g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 100g granulated sugar
- 630g plain flour
- 385g brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 112g unsalted butter, softened
- 300ml double cream
- 50g unsalted butter, room temperature
Method
- Into a mixing bowl, pour the warm milk followed by the yeast.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, melted butter, 1 teaspoon of salt and granulated sugar. Add the egg mixture to the milk and yeast, followed by the flour. Incorporate the flour gradually, forming a dough, then rest for 5 minutes.
- After the dough has rested, knead on a medium speed for 5 minutes – if using a mixer, and for 10 minutes, if by hand.
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place in a warm area to prove for 30-60 minutes, or until it has just about doubled. Take care not to allow it to rise too much, as this may cause the buns to be too airy.
- Flour your work surface and knead the risen dough a few times by hand, to remove excess air. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle. It should measure around 12 by 15 inches.
- Mix together the 210g of brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon, then spread the softened butter over the rolled dough and sprinkle with an even coating of the cinnamon sugar.
- Roll the dough lengthways into a tight cylinder, then grease a 12 hole muffin tin with butter. With a sharp knife, slice into 12 equal buns and place one into each hole of the greased muffin tin.
- Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan and whilst the oven is heating up, place the muffin tin in a warm place, for 20 minutes, to allow the buns to rise again.
- Bake the buns for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them and reduce the heat to 350F/175C after 12 minutes – if they look like they are browning nicely.
- Whilst the buns are baking, start preparing the salted caramel sauce by combining 175g brown sugar, the double cream, the room temperature butter and ½ teaspoon of salt in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat and allow the mixture to bubble for around 3 minutes, until it forms a golden coloured syrup.
- Remove the buns from the oven and slice one open, to check the texture of the dough. If there is any raw dough, pop them back into the oven for 3-5 minutes.
- If serving the buns warm, remove them from the muffin tin. Take care and use tongs, as they will be piping hot! If saving for later, allow the buns to cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack.
- To serve, drizzle the syrupy salted caramel sauce over the buns. If you can resist and want to save them for later, the sauce can be made later and trickled over the buns just before serving.
