Holiday (or Birthday!) Morning Buns
These holiday or birthday morning buns are very light, fluffy, and tender with just the right hint of cinnamon and sugar!
So yesterday was my husband’s birthday. I normally don’t go out of my way to do anything special for birthday breakfasts, but this year I did and I’ll even admit it was for selfish reasons.
I had seen the recipe for these morning buns on the King Arthur Flour blog and was ecstatic because I have been looking for a recipe to make for Christmas morning that wouldn’t take any time the morning of.
When I saw this I decided to surprise my husband and make it for his birthday to give it a trial run. Two things happened: a) the buns were an incredible success and b) my husband thought I was the best wife ever (and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I only really did it to see if they would be worth a Christmas morning breakfast).
Anyway, the gist of the story is that these buns will definitely be made on Christmas morning.
I was shocked that a homemade biscuit could turn out so light and fluffy and that the breakfast was such a huge hit at my house.
The buns are very tender with just the right hint of cinnamon and sugar – not overly sweet, which is great, in my book, for a breakfast recipe.
I can’t wait to make these over and over – a little work at night for a no-fuss special breakfast in the morning is a fabulous recipe in my book.
Holiday (or Birthday!) Morning Buns
Ingredients
Buns:
- 3 ½ cups (497 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 to 2 ¼ cups heavy cream
Coating:
- 7 tablespoons (100 g) butter, melted, OR 2 5/8 ounces milk
- Cinnamon and sugar for rolling, I just mixed my own together
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 9×13 pan, line with parchment, and grease the parchment. Parchment isn’t absolutely necessary, but it makes it easier to get the bubbly, sugary buns out of the pan once they’re baked.
- Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add 2 cups of the cream all at once, then toss and stir the mixture till the dough comes together. If necessary, add additional cream to make the dough cohesive. Gather the dough in your hands and knead it a few times to make sure there are no dry spots.
- Place the cinnamon sugar in a small, shallow bowl or pan; or in a plastic zip-top bag. Break off pieces of dough about the size of a ping pong ball, or about 1 1/8 ounces. Dip each piece in melted butter or milk, then roll or shake in the cinnamon-sugar to coat. Place the cinnamon-coated dough balls into the pan of your choice in a single layer; they’ll be touching one another, which is just fine.
- Cover the pan with plastic, and place in the freezer overnight, or for up to a week or so. If freezing longer than overnight wrap the entire pan in plastic wrap, then in foil. Next day, remove the pan from the freezer, and let the buns rest at room temperature while you preheat your oven to 350°F. The buns don’t need to thaw.
- If you’re baking the buns immediately (not frozen), bake them for 45 to 50 minutes, till the buns in the center are cooked through. You can assess this by taking a toothpick and actually digging into the center bun to take a look; it should look totally baked, not doughy. If the buns have been frozen, bake them for 65 to 70 minutes, testing for doneness as instructed above. Tent them with aluminum foil after 45 minutes of baking. (I actually forgot the “tenting” step and the buns didn’t get burned – phew!)
- Remove from the oven, and serve immediately. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired, right before serving.
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from King Arthur Flour blog
These are SO good and are in desperate need of new pics I think. Can we put them on the 2023 Recipes the World forgot list?
While practicing social distancing, my daughter is baking up a storm and most the recipes have come from your website. THANK YOU!!! It got me thinking about THIS recipe I made probably 10 or 11 years ago! I’ll put this in my daughter’s social distancing to make pile, or I may have to make it before that (typing this we I’m licking th glaze from my fingers from the monkey bread she just made!)
Thanks Mel for your substantial round up of AMAZING recipes! Have been following along and baking along since the beginning!
Thank you so much, Kali! This is an oldie for sure! I need to make it again!
What would be a good substitute for heavy cream in this recipe? Would whole milk do?
You could definitely try it!
The flavor of these were great but mine came out really dense. What did I do wrong? I baked 1/2 of the batch so they weren’t touching each other in the pan. Would that have an effect?
That could certainly make a difference. Also over mixing or overflouring could contribute to them being a little dense.