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Cinnamon Buns (UK Recipe!)

August 7, 2016 By Amy 31 Comments

Cinnamon Buns

I’d always enjoyed a good Cinnamon Bun but one of the girls at work seems to have brought out an obsession within me. It started with Starbucks – delicious but bloody expensive! Then a Greggs opened up across the road from work and their Cinnamon Buns are just as good and only 90p! What more could you ask for? I’ll tell you what more – an entire tray of Cinnamon Buns, home baked and fresh from the oven. Can you blame me for being obsessed?

I have searched for the perfect Cinnamon Bun recipe for quite a while now, usually being disappointed to find that they are either incredibly tedious or in American units (ie. cups). So I decided to take it upon myself to try some out and come up with a fool-proof UK recipe for Cinnamon Buns that although does require a couple of dough rises, is not impossible for your average home baker to achieve without the aid of professional bakery setting.

The dough on these Cinnamon Buns (or Cinnamon Rolls, as some know them) is delicious, so much so that I reckon they would be just lovely on their own. But with the simple, yet well established buttery, cinnamon-sugar filling the dough transforms into a the beautiful buns that I find myself obsessed with. In terms of the icing, I like to keep it simple but I found a lot of recipes that opt for a cream cheese icing if you fancy something a little richer.

You might notice my recipe is also lacking in raisins, which is a personal choice. Not that I don’t enjoy a raisin filled Cinnamon Bun but these are optional and when it comes to making your own, you can mix things up however you please – more raisins, no raisins, even changing up the filling…not a cinnamon fan? Try smothering with Nutella instead!

Whatever you do with these classic Cinnamon Buns, you’re sure to be onto a winner!

Granny’s Top Tips
♥ For perfectly neat buns, instead of cutting your dough with a knife, use a piece of thread. Simply place under your sausage of dough and pull around in a circle for nice neat, even buns.

Cinnamon Buns

Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Cinnamon Buns (UK Recipe)

Prep Time5 hrs
Cook Time20 mins
Author: Baking with Granny

Ingredients

For the Dough

  • 240 ml Milk
  • 140 g Granulated Sugar
  • 2 Packs of Easy Yeast 14g
  • 115 g Butter at room temperature
  • 2 Eggs
  • 300 g Plain Flour
  • 250 g Strong White Flour

For the Filling

  • 90 g Butter at room temperature
  • 100 g Granulated Sugar
  • 1½ tbsp Ground Cinnamon

For the Icing

  • 100 g Icing Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2-3 tbsp Milk

Instructions

For the Dough

  • In a small pan warm the milk until it's lukewarm. Pour the milk into a large bowl.
  • Add the sugar and yeast to the milk and gently stir with a spoon until the sugar has dissolved. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let the mixture sit until the yeast is foamy - this should only take 5-10 minutes.
  • Using a dough hook (or a spoon if not using an electric mixer) beat in the butter on a low speed until it has broken into little pieces.
  • Still on a low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Then gradually add the flour.
  • Once all ingredients are added, beat on a medium speed until you have a soft dough - about 6 minutes. (If you are not using a mixer you can knead the dough by hand for this step).
  • Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it by hand for 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball and transfer into a lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with a piece of lightly greased cling film. Leave to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size (around 1 to 2 hours).
  • Lightly grease a baking tray with butter and line with grease-proof paper - a 9x13 inch tray is perfect.
  • Once your dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll it into a rectangle around 13x18 inches in size. It's important to make sure your dough is of even thickness all over to ensure you have nice neat buns.

For the Filling

  • Spread the butter over the dough (I find using my fingers to be the easiest way to do this!) right up to the edges.
  • In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon together and then sprinkle evenly all over the buttered dough.
  • Roll the dough tightly and evenly to create a 18 inch sausage. Cut the sausage into 12 individual rolls - I tend to cut in half, quarters and then thirds to make sure I get even rolls. Arrange the rolls in your pre-prepared tray and cover loosely with lightly greased cling film.
  • Leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours until they look light and puffy.
  • After your buns have gone through their second rise, remove the cling film and place the tray in a pre-heated oven at 180°c and bake for around 20 minutes until golden brown.

For the Icing

  • Mix together the icing sugar, vanilla extract and milk to create the icing. You can add more or less milk depending on your personal preference.
  • Spread evenly across the buns shortly after the come out the oven. Leave your cinnamon buns to cool a little until they are just warm and enjoy.

Notes

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addicition
 Cinnamon Buns

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Filed Under: breakfast, cinnamon, recipe

Comments

  1. Georgina Ingham | Culinary Travels says

    August 19, 2016 at 10:25 am

    I adore cinnamon buns and have tried many recipes, including a ‘dangerous’ 30 minute recipe which I have on my blog. These look absolutely lush. Perfect for lazy Sunday mornings.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 1, 2020 at 6:22 pm

      5 stars
      Made these and stored overnight for baking in the morning for taking in to work as a treat for colleagues. Everyone said they were delicious. I did use dark brown sugar with the cinnamon.

      Reply
    • Harry Pinsent says

      June 11, 2020 at 10:29 am

      5 stars
      Absolutely delicious. These were great fun to make and even though they say they take about 5 hours to make a lot of that time is proving so it’s really not that bad. Also, I found if you put mixed spice in instead of cinnamon it makes something equally delicious or dare I say better .

      Reply
  2. From Day Dot says

    August 19, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    Thank you for sharing this recipe – I have a cinnamon bun obsession and this has made my day! And great tip on Greggs, I’ve been a Starbucks devotee but could be turned for that price! Can’t wait to try these :) #foodiefridays x

    Reply
  3. Single Mum Speaks says

    August 19, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    These look amazing! I love cinnamon buns. Cinnabon do fantastic ones, albeit a tad enormous. I’m very much a novice baker so not sure if I’ll be brave enough to try this myself just yet though!

    Reply
  4. AdventuresofaJerseyGirl says

    August 21, 2016 at 5:31 am

    Love love cinnamon buns! I always struggle with making yeast doughs in the past, but these look so good that I may have to give it another go. Great share and one I’ll definitely book mark #foodiefriday

    Reply
  5. Sarah says

    August 21, 2016 at 10:22 am

    These look amazing. I’m not sure I would have the patience though! Maybe for a rainy day :D #foodiefriday

    Reply
  6. Becky sparklymummy says

    August 25, 2016 at 2:30 pm

    Omg these look amazing I will definitely be giving these a try !!!

    Thank you for linking up with #foodiefriday

    Reply
  7. Mummy in a tutu says

    August 25, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    OK, so it;s a bank holiday weekend so an extra lazy (ish) day so i am definitely going to take some time out to try this recipe, I can almost smell them. mmmmmmm
    Thank you for linking to #foodiefriday

    Reply
  8. Colin Bell says

    August 27, 2016 at 3:52 am

    Hi Amy,

    I really like the Cinnamon Buns recipe and wanted to say thanks. If I had one comment to make though, I doubled the amount of Icing Sugar for the topping and thought this gave a better amount of Icing on top of the Buns:-)

    Reply
  9. Pam Fleming says

    April 19, 2017 at 11:35 am

    Has anyone made the dough the day before and baked them at a later stage?

    Reply
    • Amy says

      April 19, 2017 at 9:20 pm

      Hello Pam. I’ve had great success in prepping these the evening before and baking for breakfast in the morning. Follow until “For the Filling: step 3” and as opposed to leaving the buns to rise in a warm place for a couple of hours, pop them in the fridge (ensuring they are well covered). In the morning, bring them out, allow them to warm to room temperature and until they look light & puffy. Then bake as normal! I often find you get a better tasting bun with this method too as it gives the dough an extending proving period.

      Reply
      • Halz says

        September 6, 2019 at 10:35 am

        Hi, I’ve been looking for an easy to follow and reliable cinnabon recipe for ages and I can’t wait to try these. Just wanted to clarify, if making the dough the night before, should I put the buns in the fridge after the second proof or before the second proof?

        Reply
  10. Kate says

    July 29, 2017 at 7:51 am

    I’ve got 6 kids of my own and they had friends to stay last night so made these and popped uncooked in fridge overnight, I was up before the kids this morning took out of fridge and put on open over door whilst oven was on, 1/2 hour later popped in oven (and closed door) and they baked beautifully. Happy kids waking to fresh cinnamon buns!! Thank you

    Reply
  11. Lisa McFall says

    November 11, 2017 at 5:49 pm

    These look awesome – going to give them a try!

    http://www.lisainwonderland.com

    Reply
  12. Jen Potter says

    December 23, 2017 at 9:51 pm

    Just made these and was amazed at how easy the recipe was. I replaced the milk in the icing for the juice of a clementine with a little of the rind – delicious xx

    Reply
  13. Charlotte says

    December 26, 2017 at 9:16 pm

    Hi these are fab but to much for us to eat in a couple of days, can the dough be frozen or maybe the buns before icing?

    Thanks.

    Reply
  14. Jenny says

    March 27, 2018 at 12:00 pm

    Thank you!!! As a fellow cinnamon bun obsessive I was very grateful to find a UK recipe I could have a go at. These are brilliant. They turned out so well and were much lighter and fluffier than the shop bought versions I’ve tried. I will definitely be making these again. I think I might add a little warmed apricot jam as glaze before the icing next time to make them extra sticky!

    Reply
  15. Lyndsey Mattinson says

    May 28, 2018 at 11:04 am

    I tried this recipe this morning and could not make a workable dough, mine was to wet but followed to the letter the weights and measures. Would have loved to have had these at the end of my efforts. I tried twice

    Reply
  16. Liz says

    June 24, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    The dough is extremely wet. Not holding out much hope for these!

    Reply
  17. Conny says

    September 18, 2018 at 8:17 am

    This is by far the best cinnamon bun recipe I have ever tried, I make these buns quite a lot, sometimes I make them with a nut-filling, family/friends eat them as fast as I make them, Thank you, all the best

    Reply
  18. Rachel says

    September 24, 2018 at 10:12 am

    Made these yesterday. The dough is very wet but keep kneading on a well floured surface and the dough comes together in the end. They turned out really well. Next time I will cook them a few minutes less as the ones on the inside were definitely the best & those on the outside a little drier. Really yummy. I will also cut into 16 not 12 as they were really big.

    Reply
  19. Aimee-Jane Hacker says

    December 21, 2018 at 2:12 pm

    This cinnamon bun recipe is amazing, they tasted 10 times better than any store bought ones and the recipe is much easier than I previously thought, thank you!

    Reply
  20. Pam says

    February 17, 2019 at 8:04 am

    Can I freeze these please and at what stage would be best

    Reply
  21. Brian Sutton says

    September 12, 2019 at 6:02 am

    As our local Coles store stopped selling the Cinammon buns in West Australia as I was baker for the US Navy but never baked buns for them,searched here & will try tomorrow but never heard of the strong flour only plain.We have self raising,,plain ,wholemeal &corn flour.

    Reply
    • Lesley says

      November 15, 2019 at 1:09 am

      HI Coles and Woolies sell strong bread flour “Lighthouse Brand “ works a treat

      Reply
  22. Lesley says

    November 15, 2019 at 1:15 am

    Hi Made these this week to take to work on an early morning shift, wanted them to be warm , so did I did the second prove in the fridge overnight ,then baked them in the morning .
    Great compliments from my colleagues, one said “ best cinnamon bun they had ever eaten”
    First time I had made them won’t be the last.
    Thank You ❤️

    Reply
  23. Susan says

    May 4, 2020 at 9:03 am

    please could you advise if it is possible to use fresh yeast with this recipe? If so, what would the quantities be? Thank you

    Reply
  24. Mel says

    May 14, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    This did not start out well. The yeast mixture and the butter don’t mix when you do it by hand. I had to add part of the flour to the mixture early to make something workable enough to blend.
    I ended up with a very sticky dough to which I had to add more flour to be able to actually get it off the worktop and into the bowl.
    I think it probably would be fine if you have a food processor, but if you’re doing it by hand, the way the ingredients combine is tricky.
    I left the dough to prove for 2hrs each time, and the buns have come out really well. Just need to find a fix for the initial mixing process.

    Reply
  25. Nick says

    September 10, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    Love making these now. Essentially all in the bread maker after dissolving the sugar in the milk. Job done. Yum

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Cooking Experiments: Cinnamon Rolls – Jessie's Reviews says:
    April 27, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    […] by the sweet and spicy cinnamon butter. MMMMM, there’s nothing like it. The link to the recipe is here. I’ve it also posted […]

    Reply

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