20 Mar Apple and Cinnamon Buns with Salted Caramel

I have many favourite sweet treats, but cinnamon buns are right up there. In the top 5 at least! Not much compares to sinking your teeth into a warm, soft, cinnamony bun, getting sticky icing all over your fingers (and face in my case – I don’t hold back when it comes to cinnamon buns).

Variety is the spice of life as they say, so I mixed things up a bit. I kept the delicious cinnamon and sugar filling, then added some buttery apple pieces and drenched the baked buns in a decadent salted caramel sauce. The result is these irresistable Apple and Cinnamon Buns with Salted Caramel. Serve them warm from the oven as an indulgent tea-time treat, or a special occasion breakfast or brunch.

Ingredients:

For the dough:
1 cup full cream milk
75g unsalted butter
70g sugar
10g of instant dry yeast (1 package)
1 large egg
480g flour
2 tsp salt

For the filling:
4 apples (or 5 if they’re small)
4 tbsp butter
1 cup brown sugar
2tbsp cinnamon

Salted Caramel Sauce
1 quantity Salted Caramel Sauce

Directions:

• Warm your milk and butter together to just above body temperature, around 40°C. Be sure it is not too hot or it will kill the yeast! Stir in the sugar, then sprinkle the yeast on top of the liquid.
• Place your flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer (you can use wooden spoon too). Make a well in the centre, then add in the egg and your milk mixture. Using your dough hook attachment, mix the dough togther well until it starts to come away from the sides of the bowl, and climb up the dough hooks.
• Remove from the mixing bowl and knead well on a floured surface for 5 minutes. The dough should be soft but not too sticky.
• Grease a large bowl with oil. Place your ball of dough in the bowl, coating it well with the oil on all sides. Cover with clingwrap and leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or until double in size. This is called “proving”.
• In the meantime, prepare the apples. Peel, core and dice the apples into small pieces. Sautée with 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp brown sugar. Cook for about 5 minutes, until fairly soft but not mushy. Drain the apples and set aside in a bowl to cool.
• Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon together. Melt the remaining 2 tbsp of butter.
• Prepare your salted caramel sauce and set aside to cool.
• Grease a large dish (20cm x 30cm) or 2 smaller dishes. Alternatively use a disposable foil tray.
• When the dough has doubled in size, place on a floured surface. Roll out to a rectangle approx 30cm by 50cm, with the long side close to you.
• Brush with the melted butter, then sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar mixture over. Spread your cooled apple pieces over this, then finish with the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.
• Carefull roll up the dough (long end to long end) into a long sausage, finishing with the seam side down. Use a serrated knife to trim each end, and then slice into 3,5cm wide pieces. I get 16-18 buns from this recipe but you can adjust the width slightly to ensure you have an even number to fill your baking dish.
• Place the rolls into the baking dish, leaving a little space inbetween each one. Cover with clingwrap, then leave to rise for a second time until almost doubled, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 160°C. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and no longer doughy.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then pour the salted caramel sauce over the buns.