Healthy Cinnamon Buns

Whenever I think of cinnamon buns, the image of the bread covered with a oogey layer of thick icing on top always pops up. If you have ever tasted one that looks like that, you will know how sinfully good but also sinfully sweet it is! But who can resist a good soft cinnamon bun? Not me for sure, haha! In order to satisfy my craving for cinnamon buns (meaning eating one after another without guilt), I came up with a pretty good recipe (if I do say so myself, lol!) that will satisfy anyone's cinnamon bun appetite!

Why would my cinnamon buns be healthy? Well, besides the addition of the 5 grain powder which I bought all the way from Taiwan, I even added a combination puree of red dates, red beans and black glutinous rice puree. You must be thinking where in the world can you get this 5 grain powder....well any orangic store will carry them. But here is a picture of the one I bought:

No worries if you can't find the same exact brand, I believe the quality won't differ much. As for the trio puree, I actually got it from my latest gardget Luby puree king, but you can of course get the puree yourself by cooking these 3 components together of equal amount without sugar till it is soft. Then using a blender to zap it till smooth.

You can even opt not to add this puree in if you find it too much of a trouble, the texture of the bread should not differ too much.

I actually shaped the dough the night before and left them in the fridge overnight to proof. I wanted them freshly baked the following weekend morning but by all means you can bake them anytime you like. :) 

Ingredients for Healthy Cinnamon Buns (recipe by HoneyBeeSweets)
420g bread flour
105g 5 grain flour 
50g caster sugar
7g salt
7g instant active yeast
100g red bean+red dates+black glutinous rice puree
165ml fresh milk
200ml water (+- 10 ml ; add as per needed )  

40g unsalted butter

Filling:
3 tbsp salted butter, melted & cooled
6-8 tbsp light brown sugar (depend how sweet you want it)
1 tsp cinnamon power

• In a large mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients except the butter. Stir and mix till everything comes together to form a pliable dough.
• Continue kneading till the  dough becomes elastic and pulls away from the side of the bowl and not sticky anymore.
• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it reaches window stage. 
• Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover to let proof for 1.5-2hrs till it doubled in size.
• Punch out the air and roll out the dough into a large rectangular, about 11" by 14".
• Brush a thin layer of butter over the surface of the dough, leaving about 1" at one of the long ends.
• Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon powder together. Then sprinkle the mixture all over the surface of the dough where there's butter. Spread evenly if needed.
• Then taking the other long end of the dough, start rolling it in like a swiss roll till it reaches the other end which we initially left without brushing butter on it. Seal it tight.
• Slice the roll carefully and place each wedge in a well greased baking dish (deep enough for it to bake up) Again brush a bit of the melted butter over the top, or you can omit this step.
• Cover and let proof. At this point you can either let it proof at room temperature till it double in size or leave it overnight in the fridge till next morning to bake. If you do leave it in the fridge to proof, make sure you let it seat out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before baking it.
• Preheat the oven to 175C.
•  Bake in the oven for 25 to 28 minutes till the buns are golden brown and your kitchen is filled with that wonderful buttery-cinnamon scent!!
• Serve while it is still warm...yummy!

The cinnamon buns was a big hit, everyone loved it! Sorry about the arrangement though, looks kind of mis-arranged. :P I was trying to squeeze in a couple more buns into the whole dish, lol! My hubs said it's even better then those sold outside...*victory*!

A close up look of the soft, delicious bun.....you can see the specs of the trio-puree and yet the fluffiness of the bread. This is what I say "Healthy can be delicious too!". I have actually baked this recipe twice already, once without the puree, so don't worry if you want to omit it. But be a bit watchful of the liquid addition. :)

Gotta show you all this last picture to temp you all further, hahah! The oogey sweet cinnamon sugary syrup oozing out, yummy! Do away with that thick icing coat over the buns, really not necessary to sweeten it up so much in my opinion. Do give this recipe a try, it really won't disappoint. :) Bake a batch this weekend and give your family a very good and sweet reason to wake up to... ;)

Okay, got to go, hope everyone have a great weekend ahead!
Cheers!