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Granny's Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Buns
4.93 from 13 votes
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Granny's Cinnamon Buns

My grandma was famous for her cinnamon buns - this is her old fashioned and very indulgent sticky bun recipe!

Servings 18 buns
Author FraƮche

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 2 tablespoons honey (or sugar)
  • 2 tablespoons butter (or vegan butter)
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 cups water, divided
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
  • 6-7 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for flouring the surface)

For the cinnamon buns

  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened (or vegan butter)
  • 2 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

For the cream cheese icing

  • 1/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 1/2 cup brick cream cheese
  • 2 cups icing sugar (sifted)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Make the dough

  1. In a medium microwave-proof bowl melt the butter and honey in the microwave. Stir and add 1 1/2 cups of room temperature water and the salt. Set aside.

  2. In a separate bowl or liquid measure, stir the sugar into 1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water (just warmer than room temperature) to dissolve, sprinkle the yeast on top and gently stir. Let it sit for around 10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy and 'activates'.

  3. In a large mixing bowl add the honey and butter mixture and stir in 1 cup of flour to combine. Add the yeast mixture, stir and gradually add more flour one cup at a time and stirring after the addition of each until the dough gets too stiff to stir (note that you will not have added all of your flour at this point). At this stage transfer your dough on to a clean floured surface (ie: your counter) and continue kneading the dough by hand until you get a soft but not sticky dough. It should feel squishy like a baby's bum when done!

  4. Transfer the dough into a large greased bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and place in a draft free warm area of the house to rise until doubled, around 1-2 hours.

Make the Cinnamon Buns

  1. Deflate the dough by punching it down and lightly flour a large clean surface (your counter).

  2. Using your fingers, spread the dough into an even 2x2' square (approximate - it doesn't have to be exact). You can use a rolling pin for this step, but the dough will not be as light and fluffy so I recommend just spreading it with your hands!

  3. Once the dough is spread out, evenly spread the butter on top of the dough (I use my hands for this step). Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the butter and sprinkle the cinnamon evenly on top of the brown sugar.

  4. Roll the cinnamon buns starting at one edge and carefully roll it up into a tight log. Using a sharp knife or dental floss (wrap a long piece of floss under the roll and cross the floss to cut through the dough if you don't have a very sharp knife) the buns into 2" sections (approximate) - you should get 12 or so buns.

  5. Grease a 9x13" baking pan and place the buns cut side down in the pan: 12 buns should fit nicely into this size pan: depending on how thin you rolled your dough and how you cut your buns you may have a few more buns than 12. If so, simply place a few of the buns in an additional small pan (greased) if they don't all fit into your 9x13" pan. Cover the pan(s) with a clean dish towel and set aside to rise in a warm draft free area until doubled, about an hour. If making these as overnight cinnamon buns, cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight to rise. You will just take them out of the fridge in the morning to finish rising if needed, uncover and bake.

  6. Once the buns have doubled in size preheat the oven to 350F and place a large piece (bigger than your pan) of aluminum foil or parchment paper on your counter. Bake the buns until the brown sugar mixture bubbles and the tops of the buns are golden brown, about 25 minutes. As soon as you remove the buns from the oven carefully invert the pan onto the parchment or foil and let the buns cool slightly before eating OR ice the cinnamon buns with the cream cheese icing in the pan once cooled if desired.

Make the Cream Cheese Icing

  1. In a medium bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add the sifted icing sugar and the vanilla and beat again until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to ice the cinnamon buns.