Quick Cinnamon Buns

These buns live up to their name: They’re quick. If you want a hit of carbs you can proudly say you’ve made yourself, this is it. Use plenty of brown sugar and cinnamon in these.

Quick Cinnamon Buns:

4 c. (1 L) all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. (25 mL) baking powder

2 tsp. (10 mL) salt

2 tbsp. (25 mL) granulated sugar

1/2 c. (15 mL) vegetable shortening

2 c. (500 mL) milk, room temperature

1/4 c. (60 ml) butter or margarine, softened

1/2 c. (125 mL) dark brown sugar

1 tbsp. (15 mL) cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 deg. F. To large bowl, add dry ingredients, combining well. With clean hands, rub in shortening until size of peas. Add milk all at once, continuing to mix with hands to form a ball. Do not overwork. 

Lump of dough ... 

Pat out dough, working with fingers and palms and back of wrists until about 1/2-in. (1.25 cm in width), forming a rectangle of about 13x9 in. (33x23 cm). 

Pat it out ... 

Dollop butter onto patted dough, spreading evenly. In small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle generously over butter, paying close attention to edges of dough, which tend not to get enough (Guilty as charged!) 

Sugar, cinnamon ...

Working from long end of dough, roll tightly and evenly, directing any loose brown sugar mixture back onto the roll. Seal long edge with a little water on your finger and a loving squeeze. 

And now to slicing and baking this little masterpiece! Don’t - I repeat, don’t - hack and saw with a knife. A length of dental floss does the job better: Loop it under each slice and tighten to create a perfect slice, each time.

Dental floss ...

Bake about 18 min. on parchment-covered sheet. Makes about 15. 

Note: If you like, drizzle the slightly cooled rolls with a basic glaze: 2 c. (500 mL) sifted icing sugar, a dollop of soft butter or margarine, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a little milk. I didn’t, but will, next time. It took us four Cinnamon Buns each (gobbled in a period no longer than 10 min.) to determine they’d be even better with this sweet touch.

All in all, a decent little bun, though the yeast version remains the very best. You’ll find it by putting the words Best-Ever Cinnamon Buns into the search engine at the top left of this page.

Into the oven ... We ate what  
would have been the final photo.