Honey-Sourdough Cinnamon Buns

In a previous post, I extolled the virtues of substituting honey for sugar in your baking -- honey enhances the taste, shelf life and digestibility of your baked goods. Today I’m sharing a recipe for cinnamon buns that contains three of my favourite ingredients: honey, maple syrup, and sourdough starter. This combination creates a unique yet superior-tasting cinnamon bun in which honey truly shines.

The inspiration for this recipe comes from a previous life when we lived on a small farm in Northern Ontario. I found myself with a surfeit of honey (from our bees), maple syrup (from our maple bush) and sourdough discard (from our bread making). While we still have plenty of homemade honey and sourdough around the house, since moving to Winnipeg, we’re no longer producing maple syrup. Luckily, store bought works just as well here.

I’ve incorporated honey three different ways in this recipe. First, I used a teaspoon of honey in the yeast starter instead of a teaspoon of granulated sugar. Next, I replaced a half cup of sugar with 100 g of honey in the dough. And finally, I used 70 g of honey in place of a third cup of brown sugar in the filling. My substitutions illustrate the fundamentals of using honey in place of refined sugars. For small quantities, as in the yeast starter, a 1:1 substitution works well. For larger volumes, I reduce the amount of honey used to 60% of the weight of sugar or 75% of the sugar if you are measuring by volume.

These cinnamon buns are delicious and can be enjoyed right out to the oven. For an even more complex flavour, try refrigerating the buns overnight after you have shaped them.

INGREDIENTS

DOUGH

• 50 g (1/4 cup) warm water

• 1 tsp Manitobee honey

• 1 tsp active dry yeast

• 230 g (1 cup) freshly fed sourdough starter

• 100 g of Manitobee honey

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• 35 g (1/4 cup) powdered milk

• 75 g (1/3 cup) butter, melted and cooled

• 10 g (1 tbsp) vital wheat gluten

• 480 g (4 cups) all purpose flour

FILLING

• 75 g (1/3 cup) butter, melted

• 75 g (1/3 cup) Manitobee honey

• 40 g (2 tbsp) maple syrup

• 1 tbsp cinnamon

• 30 g (1/4 cup) dried cranberries

• 30 g (1/4 cup) pecans, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the water, honey and yeast and let rest for 5 minutes

2. Mix together sourdough starter, honey, and eggs with the yeast mixture

3. Combine together the dry ingredients. Add these gradually to the liquid.

4. Knead the mixture either in a stand mixer or by hand for about eight minutes. You’ll know you're done kneading when the dough ball looks smooth and elastic.

5. Place in an oiled, covered bowl and let rise in a warm spot for about 90 minutes or until the dough has about doubled.

6. Punch down and roll out into a rectangle about until it’s about 0.5 cm thick.

7. Combine the ingredients for the filling.

8. Oil a 22.5 cm by 30 cm pan. Spread about a quarter of the filling mixture over the bottom of the pan.

9. Spread the remaining filling mixture evenly over the rolled out dough.

10. Starting with the narrow end of the dough rectangle, roll up the dough to form a log. Then slice the log into 12 equal pieces using a bread knife. Place the 12 pieces into the pan

11. At this stage, you can either pre-heat the oven to 190C (375F) or cover the pan and place in the refrigerator overnight.

12. When you’re ready, bake for 30 minutes, checking for doneness at the 25 minute mark. Invert the pan and the buns onto parchment paper after baking, let cool for a few minutes and serve.