Norene Gilletz Cinnamon Buns

I can’t just have one cinnamon bun recipe on this blog forever so I am naming this one Cinnamon Buns #1!!! I did this with the energy bite recipes, ( this is a link to only one energy bite recipe on this blog…there are 3 ) There are so many recipes & ways to make cinnamon buns. This is not my usual recipe but I was having a busy baking day yesterday so I decided to make this one. Made in the food processor which elimates the need to knead the dough by hand for 10 minutes…

The recipe is from my stand-by cookbook THE PLEASURES OF YOUR PROCESSOR BY NORENE GILLETZ. You can buy it on Amazon…here is the link to one of her cookbooks that is still in print…I am not sure if this yeast dough recipe is in this book but I am going to put the recipe here. I am an Amazon Associate. You should check out this cookbook though. The thing about Norene’s cookbooks is that I find everything works & tastes great & there aren’t any unusual ingredients that most people don’t have in their house already… usually! I haven’t read every recipe!!!   The dough recipe is called Norene’s Yummy Yeast Dough. I made the dough recipe as it is but changed at the cinnamon part of it…

Cinnamon Buns with Norene’s Yummy Yeast Dough made in a food processor

Ingredients

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup warm water ( 105 f-115 f )

1 pkg yeast….if you buy your yeast in bulk like I do, 1 pkg is 2 1/4 tsp yeast

1/3 cup warm water or milk

3 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, cut it into chunks

2 eggs

***You need the following ingredients & I will give you approximate quantities in the method part of this recipe…amounts will actually depend on how sweet you want the buns to be

softened butter to put on the dough before baking & in the baking dish

brown sugar for the dough & baking pan

cinnamon for the dough & baking pan

Method

you need to have a 9 x 13 baking pan to make the cinnamon buns in

1. First step is to get all of your ingredients ready…get everything out & measured…makes it easier when you are working with yeast so that the yeast does not over-develop I think… I am not a yeast dough expert but that is what I do
2. Put the 1/4 cup of warm water into a 1 cup measuring cup or bowl that will be big enough for the yeast to develop in…
3. Put the 1 tsp of sugar into the water & stir it to dissolve…
4. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water & let sit for 8 to 10 minutes. *** If your countertop that the bowl will be sitting on is cold…put a warm wet cloth underneath the bowl…if the water gets too cold the yeast will not bloom… if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast & it won’t bloom either. When the yeast is foamy, it is done…stir it …
5. While the yeast is doing its thing.. warm up the milk or water…you do not want it to boil…recipe says to get it to steaming…then cool to lukewarm…I just used water & ran the tap until the water was hot….by the time I used it, it was lukewarm
6. Using your food processor….Put the flour, sugar, salt & butter into the bowl. Process for a few seconds until there aren’t any large chunks of butter left.c
7. Add the dissolved yeast & process for a few seconds
8. With the machine running, add the eggs & water through the feed tube.
9. Process until the dough forms a ball around the blade…if the machine slows down you can dump in some flour…1/4 cup the recipe says…then process for a bit longer until it is mixed in & you have a nice ball of dough
10. Put the dough onto a floured surface…knead the dough by hand without adding too much extra flour to it, I put flour on my hands to knead instead of add it directly on the dough… too much flour will make your dough tough. Knead the dough for 1 -2 minutes until the dough bounces back when poked…. ***I looked for a short video on YouTube on how to knead dough for you if you don’t know how to… here is the link to one… it is not about kneading dough from a food processor…you don’t need to knead it for as long as the video says since the food processor does the work for you as does a mix-master…but it will show you the technique of kneading if you need to know..
11. Grease a large bowl with some oil…put some oil in the bottom of the bowl & spread it all over the sides of the bowl. Take your dough & put it into the bowl. I turn my dough over in the bowl to get some of the oil all over it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & let the dough rise until double in bulk…approximatley 2 hours. at room temperature… if your oven has a proof cycle,, use that. My kitchen is not that warm so I do not leave my dough to rise on the counter. You can also put the bowl in an oven with the oven light on…that will be warmish. A friend of mine told me a tip to put the covered bowl with the yeast dough in a microwave with a cup of boiling water beside the bowl & let it rise in there….what ever way you do it…let it rise to double its size..
12. While the dough is rising, you can prepare the baking dish. I take a 9×13 baking dish. I generously butter the bottom of the dish. Then sprinkle it with brown sugar & then some cinnamon. I don’t really have quantities for this. Just cover the bottom of the dish… this makes a delicious topping on the buns….
13. When the dough is ready, remove the plastic wrap & punch the dough down…this lets out the air.. you can let the dough rise a second time if you want & have the time. If you do not want to you can now begin to shape the dough into the cinnamon buns…I did not let the dough rise a second time before shaping it
14. Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface. & knead it a bit…just to reshape it
15. Using a rolling-pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle shape…it was about 1/4 inch thick…
16. Take some of the softened butter that you have ready & butter the dough…I used about 4 tbsp maybe… you just want a nice even layer of butter all over the dough
17. Now, take about 1/2 cup of brown sugar & sprinkle this evenly over the butter
18. Next, take 2 -3 tbsp of cinnamon & sprinkle evenly over the sugar  Use your hands to make sure that the sugar-cinnamon is over all of the dough
19. Roll up the dough rectangle on the long side…make it tight but not squished.
20. Cut into any size you want… Mine were about 2 inches big maybe… up to you… depends on how big you want the buns to be
21. Put the cut buns into the prepared baking dish
22. Cover with a bowl & let rise until double in size
23. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375f
24. When the buns have risen enough bake them for approximately 15 minutes… mine took longer to bake but check at 15 then watch them
25. Take them out of the oven & let rest for about 5 – 10 minutes
26. Turn the buns out onto a cooling rack. I would put something under the rack to catch the drips of sugar if the buns are really hot when you turn them out… I had left mine to cool a bit too long & no drips…but I had put a cookie sheet with parchment paper on it under the cooling rack
27. There you have it!! Let me know if you have any questions!

Enjoy!