Dorie Greenspan’s Cinnamon Raisin Buns , Brown Sugar Sticky Pecan Buns
Let me tell you a story about Annie and her husband. I’ve never met Annie, never spoken to her and she doesn’t even know I exist. And her husband? He died at the age of 35.
But somehow, I know they will change my life. I came across Annie while reading an article from the New York Times. The article was on how people tend to procrastinate having fun. How many of us are guilty of NOT redeeming frequent flier miles, NOT cashing in gift certificates, NOT drinking that special bottle of wine (in my case, SAVING that special bottle of balsamic vinegar for a special occasion)? Many of us are by nature, procrastinators of pleasure.
If there is one thing I urge you to do today please read these articles . I don’t think I can paraphrase better than the author can write so best you check it out yourself . Please don’t just bookmark it and save reading for a day when you have more time. Read it now.
So I learned about Annie when I read her comment to the article. This is what she said:
“My late husband was a frugal, intelligent, cautious man who made choices carefully, researched his options, weighed the cost versus benefits of any situation and generally erred on the side of saving, money, time, and energy for later. He worked very hard, took good care of his health and his things and didn’t allow himself too much pleasure, often stealing from the pleasures he did allow to touch him by worrying that they were undeserved or could have been gotten for a better price, the time or money used for something more “useful”. He died when he was 35 years old with money in the bank and all his bills paid. He loved to ski but hadn’t done any skiing in years. He was waiting, who knows what for? I have made it my task in life to honor his memory by living the life he denied himself. I appreciated everything about him, and I know he is glad that I am living a joyful life in his absence. It was the only request he made of me before he left the planet, that I be happy. If you can’t seem to allow yourself joy for your own sake, do it for someone who can’t do it for themselves. A friend or love one who is in the hospital or sick, or dying or gone. Do it in celebration of them and the life they didn’t get to live fully….”
Why do people put of for tomorrow what they can enjoy today?
So here’s a simple New Year’s Resolution that I have made to myself – start having fun… NOW!
Oh, and what better way to do it than to make some delicious Cinnamon Raisin Buns using Dorie Greenspan’s Spiced Sweet Dough.
Basic Recipe – Spiced Sweet Dough Adapted from Dorie Greenspan
- 1 cup warm whole milk (41 c)
- 2 envelopes active dry yeast (total 14 grams or 4 1/2 teaspoons)
- 1/4 teaspoon plus 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature(125 grams)
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Stir milk, yeast, and 1/4 teaspoon sugar in small bowl. Let stand until mixture bubbles, about 6 minutes. Stir again.
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Mix remaining 2/3 cup sugar and orange peel in medium bowl.
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Add flour, cinnamon, salt, and ginger to bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment; mix on low speed. Add yeast mixture; mix on medium-low speed until dry shaggy mass forms, scraping down bowl occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk; beat on medium speed until well blended. At this point in time I was starting to doubt the recipe was going to work. The dough did not seem to be coming together into a smooth mass, it had looked almost like it had split.
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Add sugar mixture; beat until moist soft dough that resembles thick batter forms, about 3 minutes. Dough now starting to improve… looks like there is hope!
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Add butter by 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls; beat on medium-low speed until almost incorporated before adding more, about 2 minutes (dough will be sticky). Beat dough on medium-high 2 minutes longer. Finally dough has come together into a smooth mass! Hooray! Let dough rest in bowl 10 minutes (dough will become less sticky).
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Scrape dough out onto work surface; gather together. Place in large buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature until almost doubled, about 2 hours. Punch dough down; cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
Recipe for Filling – adapted from Dorie Greenspan
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons golden brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
- 3/4 cup raisins
- Spiced Sweet Dough (above)
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, warm room temperature (Around 125 grams)
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Butter two 33 x 23 x 5-cm baking dishes.
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Whisk both sugars and cinnamon in small bowl.
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Turn cold Spiced Sweet Dough out onto floured surface; sprinkle with flour. Divide dough in half. Roll out dough to two 38 x 30 -cm rectangles. Using fingers, spread 4 tablespoons butter evenly over each rectangle. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar, half of the grated orange peel and half of the raisings over each. Starting at 1 long side of each dough rectangle, tightly roll up dough jelly-roll style, enclosing filling. Using a piece of butcher’s twine, cut each roll crosswise into fifteen 1-inch-thick slices. (See image below, otherwise, use a sharp knife). Arrange 15 dough slices in the baking dish, spacing evenly apart. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm draft-free area until buns are puffy and doubled, about 1 hour 45 minutes. This will depend on the weather as well. It has very hot the day I made these and only needed an hour before the buns rose.
- Preheat to 170 °C (fan forced). Bake buns until deep golden brown and filling is barely bubbling around edges, about 25 minutes. Let buns stand 2 minutes. Cool at least 45 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
To Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Heat the milk and maple syrup in a small saucepan.
- Pour the milk mixture into a bowl with the icing sugar and stir until the mixture is lump free.
- Spread over the cinnamon rolls.
I totally agree with you – we need to live life to the fullest! And what’s a better way to do so than to eat cinnamon buns? These look fantastic.
Fantastic post, photos, and dessert!! I agree with you and Annie. Let’s start enjoying life now!!! I’ve suffered from depression since I was a kid and have finally started to work on getting better. This is my resolution for this year…to enjoy life. Thank you.
Too true – and great buns.
Perfect new years resolution! We only live once and why not enjoy it now? we never know what is a head of us.^_^ Hope to see you more in 2010 with more eating adventures.
Woman, your photography is amazing the photos and the props in the background make it look as though its for a food magazine. Those scrolls look SOO GOOODDDDDDDDD id love to have one of those for my afternoon tea.
What an important message and —- another delicious recipe! I really love the way you make your recipes meaningful and tie them into the lessons you learn. Inspiring!
Great sharing, Trissa. I couldn’t agree with you more.
This story reminds us of what a life should be balanced in some way or the other way.
We have to work hard for our living, but don’t forget to enjoy what we have already earned. We’ll miss many important things in our lives otherwise.
Your buns look delicious and yummy, that convey the same thing here….After you have done all the hard work, kneading the dough, the filling and baking, it’d be a shame if you don’t have time to enjoy the good taste of them. Is that right?
That’s a very touching story. I fully agree that we should have fun and should not procrastinate having fun. But sometimes it’s not easy to strike the balance especially when you have kids and other commitments. They can cause a fortune especially their education. Frugality can be a great virtue and having fun doesn’t have to be expensive.
Love your cinnamon buns, Trissa. Looks very delicious. Would be great to have with a cup of hot coffee in a quiet corner & do some reading.
Wow, these look right up my alley. I’m so glad I discovered your site – it’s fabulous!
Great story! I agree, you need to live daily like it may be your last day. Not just in accomplishing the important and special things in your life, but in how you treat people as well. You never know when you will be gone and how or if you said goodbye. Delicious and beautiful rolls!
Hi Trissa,
What a lovely post – a great recipe and, even more so, a lovely article.
I have bn reflecting a lot on my life since returning from overseas.. I’ve bn thinking a lot happiness in people’s lives, but I’d never really thought about how procrastination can affect it! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Ladybird x
Another great post and I love your New Year resolution. Enjoy the moment and have fun. This is also my motto 🙂 I never know you can cut the dough with twine. Something new I learnt today.
Great story… good code to live by these days. I just read in the NYTs today that people are doing more and buying fewer things… you can’t take it with you!! The recipe looks wonderful… the sentiment… priceless!!
Now that’s my kinda new year’s resolution! your pictures are beautiful. And a new spin on the old cinnamon roll!
I agree. Life is too short to waste. Another decade has passed Friends have come and go. Jobs have changed. So I made a ppoint this year to change my bad habit of procrastination.
What a great little recipe! thanks for sharing your insights.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
I always love your personal moments of introspection 🙂 I agree – life is short and should be enjoyed. These cinnamon buns look like a great way to get started. Yum!
It’s an interesting article you posted. The cinnamon rolls you made look incredible gooey and decadent. A perfect way to ring in the year. Happy New Year to You!
I am so glad I have that book.You’ve inspired me..It’s true about this life of ours not being a dress rehearsal~
Thanks for sharing the article and I pledge guilty to some of the things you’ve mentioned e.g. stashing away my frequent flyer mileage thinking it would be better to accumulate it for that big vacation somewhere…. btw, those cinnamon rolls look amazing!
Definitely a resolution worth sticking too Trissa. My mum and mum in law are classic, they both “save the best crockery” for special occasions. I only have one set that gets used regardless of who’s at the dinner table, small fry or big fish. Life is definitely too short not to savour the good bits. Those buns certainly look like they have loads of good bits in them. Yum!
Tried these today – yummy!!! I could not stop at one!
I haven’t baked the cinnamon buns for long….yours made me crave for some NOW with a large pot of hot Oolong tea!
Eat Drink and be Merry!! Thanks for sharing such a lovely recipe and the inspiring story.
Angie
The best ever cinnamon buns I ve tried….
Happy New Year! My mom always said, ‘Procrastination is the thief of TIME’! These days, I try to commit myself so I have no choice but to follow thru, like having friends over to dinner…which had been in the works for over 6 months! And making macarons…which I’ll be doing today 🙂 Yay.
I understand Annie’s story so well for the same thing happened to my family when my dad died suddenly a few years ago…..Till today, I no longer save pieces of jewellery or clothes for special occasions. i get them, I wear them…..life is so short!!!!!!
Would you send these to yeast spotting…they’re LOVELY. Though, I have a cheat’s way….using store-bought puff pastry. Forgive me, I know my New Year’s resolution is to make my own pp but…..its still early.
LOL XXX
I love your new year’s resolution! Definitely one that is worth sticking to 😉 Those buns looks deliciously sticky, I want one with a big cup of tea. Going to go read those articles right now!
I think being careful in life and planning for the future can be balanced with having fun. It is only ever a problem when you focus more on one than the other that things can go pear shaped!
what a coincidence my sister’s name is annie too
The thing I hate most about procrastinating is the time wasted. I’m the worst when it comes to procrastinating, therefore stressing when I have to get everything done last minute. That story rings true to my beliefs, I don’t understand why some people deny themselves the simple pleasures that life has to offer, I know this is a cliche, but you can’t take it with you. Anyway, I love the scrolls but dislike cinnamon, next time I make, I should leave out the cinnamon, or just reduce it. btw my NY resolution is to start exercising =(
This ties in nicely with my decision to be more spontaneous in this new year, avoiding the safer easier options. I hope I follow through with this. Perhaps I need some cinnamon rolls to energise me through this journey 🙂
Nice! I can see you’re wielding that lens like a master now. And I agree with your sentiments. I was all work and no play before I started suffering from chronic pain two years ago. I learned my lesson, although it took me a long time since I’m incredibly stubborn. We even took an unheard of 2 1/2 week vacation to Australia. 🙂 Life is too short, isn’t it?
That story hits home. When my father passed away suddenly 7 years ago, I was affected deeply. My father was a horder of nice things. He saved them for another day. He had such a stockpile of “stuff” that in the end, we donated everything to charity…brand new. I vowed to live my life to the fullest from then and not deny myself what makes me happy. I’m sure that those cinnamon buns, hot from the oven in the morning, would make me quite happy.
What a wonderful way to start off the new year. Thanks for your post on enjoying happiness now, and the link on procrastinating pleasure. There is so much unhappiness in this world – we need to return to joyful living! Happy New Year!
Trissa, very touching story and nice recipe. I made a similar type of scroll where I added cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, apples and demerara sugar. I might give these ones a go!
My parents are like Annie’s husband. I’ve been telling them to have fun since they’re really of age. Hay, addicted na yata sila sa ganoong buhay..heehee
The cinnamon buns looks good…
Great resolution Trissa. ehehehe. I can see this year to be full of suprises for you. The Cinamon Buns look great. They remind me of those Cinabons in America. Oh they were so delicious.
Wow, that’s so true. In my case it’s the ol’ “oh I’ll wait until I lose that last 2 kg before I do x”. Screw that, I’m going to eat some peanut M&Ms today (small pleasures). The cinnamon rolls look absolutely gorgeous – a good cinnamon roll is my weakness!
Well said Trissa! Too many people “wait” for that moment and never get to it. The cinnamon raisin buns are a great way to start enjoying life! Love the spices.
I’m absolutely gaga over your blog pics … they are simply gorgeous. Have been showing them to my hubbs, and we’ve both been singing your praises! And of course, I love Dorie G. so of course this recipe is making me salivate 🙂
That is fantastic Trissa! I love this. I have no doubt that I will think about this when I’m making decisions. Not to mention the fantastic buns!