Stepping into the pastry world can be hard, especially when you don’t know what you’re doing, but the flaky layers of goodness is well worth it in the end. Today we made tender and buttery Cinnamon & Orange Morning Buns. Layers and layers of homemade laminated dough twisted together with a cinnamon orange filling creates the most precious bun ever. If you don’t already know what a morning bun is, it’s primarily a laminated dough, like croissants, that’s baked like a cinnamon roll and then rolled in cinnamon sugar. Sounds yummy, right?! Make these the night before and then the next day they’ll be rolled a bit and ready to bake. Warning: patience is needed 😉 Let’s get baking!

Ingredients:

Dough

• 4 cups + 1 1/2 tbsp bread flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 packet instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup milk, warmed
• 3 tbsp butter, softened

Filling

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
• Zest of 1 orange

Butter Block

• 1 cup butter, cold (2 sticks)

1. Start by whisking together your egg and egg yolk, warm milk, yeast, and sugar. Add this to a stand mixer with a dough hook.

*Note: If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer, but you’ll have to knead by hand instead of the mixer doing the job.

1. Add the flour and salt to the bowl mixing on low until ingredients are fully added. Then add in the butter, one tbsp at a time. Once butter is added, increase speed to medium and mix for 2-3 minutes to knead the dough.

2. Add the dough to a large bowl that’s been greased and cover with plastic wrap or a towel for 2 hours until double in size.

3. Once dough is doubled, punch a hole in the center to deflate the dough and add it to a lightly floured surface to begin rolling. Roll the dough into a 10×8″ rectangle. Then place on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment and tightly cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge overnight.

4. After the dough is in the fridge, let’s make the butter block. Place a piece of parchment on a smooth surface. Cut the butter into tablespoons and set on top of the parchment in the shape of an 8×11″ rectangle.

5. Place another piece of parchment over the butter and roll it out until even and is the shape of 8×11″. You don’t want it to be larger than this so accurately measure.

6. Once the butter is rolled out, set it in the fridge overnight as well.

7. The next morning, remove your butter block from the fridge to sit out for 5-10 minutes.

8. Next, roll out your dough into a 16×12″ rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Place the butter block in the center of the dough and begin the folding process.

9. Fold over the bottom of the dough, then sides, then the top, similar to an envelope. Press the edges to seal and roll back out into a 16×12″ rectangle.

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10. Turn the dough 90 degrees and fold into thirds. Once folded, turn the Dough another 90 degrees and fold into thirds again. Press on the dough to seal and flatten. Tightly cover dough and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

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11. Once chilled, roll back out into a 16×12″ rectangle. Fold into thirds and then rotate it another 90 degrees and fold the thirds again. Tightly cover and chill for another hour.

12. After the second chill, roll the dough out one more time into a 16×12″ rectangle. Fold into thirds and then rotate 90 degrees to fold into thirds again. Press to seal and flatten. Cover tightly and chill for another hour-3 hours.

13. While the dough chills for the 3rd time, grease 2 large 6 cup muffin tins. (If you don’t have one, use a large 12 cup muffin tin.) Once greased, coat the insides with sugar and tap out the extra. Set aside.

14. Next, whisk together your cinnamon and orange filling. In a medium bowl whisk sugar, brown sugar, orange zest, and cinnamon. Set aside.

15. Once the dough has chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into an 18×12″ rectangle. brush 3-5 tbsp of melted butter over the dough. Then, sprinkle 1 cup of the filling over the butter.

16. Starting at the long end, tightly roll the dough into a log. Cut 12 even pieces and place them in the muffin tins. Let rest covered at room temperature for 45-60 minutes.

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17. Pre-heat your oven to 375 F.

18. Once dough has rested bake them for 25-30 minutes until crispy and golden. Turn the pan around half way through the baking time.

19. Once baked, let sit for 5-10 minutes to slightly cool. Once cooled, brush with remaining melted butter and roll in remaining filling.

Ta-da! 😋

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