My indulgence..Home Made Cinnamon Swirls

We have all heard about the damaging, inflammatory effects of trans fats. Unlike the healthy, natural fats founds in meat, fish, nuts, seeds, butter etc., trans fats are not good for our bodies and cause inflammation and disease. Many of the baked goods on our supermarket shelves are highly processed and contain harmful fats as well as very high levels of sugar, preservatives and additives. If you read the label on a packet of baked buns/cakes/bread you will see a list as long as your arm.

Baked goods should only list a few basic ingredients such as flour, eggs, butter, water, raising agent (and sugar/honey if a sweet baked product). Baking your own breads and cakes means you know what you and your family are eating and there also is a great sense of satisfaction from producing something so delicious! I spend a lot of time reading and trying out different recipes from books, newspapers and online. I cook and enjoy healthy meals and snacks, but like everyone I also love a treat every so often and a warm cinnamon bread bun is one of those treats I really like! So when I came across a recipe (and very tempting picture) of Cinnamon Buns in the Sunday Times a few weeks back I ripped it out and stuck it up on my kitchen pin board.

Yesterday I showed my children two lovely recipes and asked them which they would like me to make, Cinnamon Buns or Lemon Chia Seed Buns. Cinnamon Buns was … and I got to work tweaking the recipe to reduce the sugar but at the same time keep the sweetness and taste. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating “ and these were rated highly among all “volunteers” who tried them. Great when hot and delicious when cold too.

So next time you want to give you and the family a warm, comforting snack, dessert, refuelling snack for sport, put a bit of love into baking these Cinnamon Swirls and enjoy!

Cinnamon Swirls

• 100 g caster sugar
• 100 g butter
• 700g plain flour
• 18g dried yeast
• 1 large egg
• 300ml whole milk

For the filling

• 50g caster sugar
• 100g butter
• 3 tablespoons of cinnamon

For glazing

1 egg beaten

You can brush with honey (diluted a little with water) and sprinkle with sugar for a very sweet bun but they taste perfectly sweet without!

Makes about 24 smaller swirl buns

For the dough beat together the sugar and butter for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Sift the four into a separate bowl and mix in the yeast. Add egg to the butter mixture and beat for 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk and sifted flour alternating between them and mix well until you get sticky dough. Knead and work the dough for 15 minutes until elastic. Put back into bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm room for 1 hour. Shape the risen dough into a rectangle and roil to about 2cms thickness.

Beat the sugar and butter for filling until light. Spread over the dough and sprinkle the cinnamon on top. Fold the dough in half and then in half again. Roll out again until it is about 1.5cms thickness. I used a pizza cutter (could use a sharp knife) and cut the dough into strips about 1 cms wide. Try making about 24 strips (so they don’t need to be too long). Roll the strips into snail shapes. Place on a tray lined with baking paper (If you have time leave them at room temperature for a further 30minutes. I didn’t and they worked out fine!) brush with beaten egg and bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.

Delicious hot, actually irresistible not to try hot, and gorgeous cold too!

After we all tasted them, I packed them in fours into freezer bags and popped them into the freezer when cold … otherwise damage could be done!!