Coffee Cinnamon Buns

Soft, pillowy sweet dough filled with cinnamon sugar and topped with a coffee glaze.

I felt like the biggest baking nerd creating this recipe last week. This was a completely unplanned recipe, born out of a serious cinnamon roll craving. I couldn’t get the idea of pillowy, soft sweet dough, filled with cinnamon sugar and twisted into delicate knots out of my head and so I found myself, sitting in front of my computer last week creating a sweet dough spreadsheet. I have a bunch of sweet dough recipes—you can check out my Browned Butter Spelt Cinnamon Buns, Tahini Orange Cinnamon Rolls, and Einkorn Pecan Sticky Buns if you don’t believe me—but they all vary slightly and I wanted to create the perfect sweet dough ratios. I compiled all of my sweet dough recipes into one very organized document, converted everything to baker’s percentages, and then decided what ratios I wanted to use for this recipe. Lo and behold, the perfect sweet dough was born.

The final dough has a fairly high enrichment percentage (milk, butter, and eggs) which makes it moist and soft, perfect for spinning and swirling and rolling into these coffee cinnamon buns.

the dough

This dough is a simple, enriched sweet dough with a high ratio of milk, eggs, and butter. It’s made brioche-style and we start by proofing the yeast in the warm milk. Then the eggs, flour, sugar, and salt, are added and mixed to form a thick dough. With the mixer running on a lower speed, softened butter is incorporated a little at a time, before the mixer speed increases and the dough kneads for a decent amount of time—until it’s smooth and elastic, with a strong network of gluten strands.

The dough rests at room temperature until doubled in size and then there are two options for shaping and the second proof. Option #1: Punch the dough down and transfer it to the refrigerator for an overnight cold proof. In the morning, let the dough warm up slightly, roll it, fill it, and shape it, and then let the buns proof for another 30 minutes or so before baking. Option #2: After the first proof, go ahead and roll, fill, and shape the dough and then transfer the cinnamon buns to the refrigerator for their overnight proof. Give them about an hour at room temperature before baking. You can adapt this recipe to fit your schedule.

the filling and frosting

Because I wanted the dough to be the star, we leaned into simplicity for this recipe. A very classic cinnamon, sugar, and butter filling is smeared over the dough before shaping and I topped them with a strong coffee glaze making them really perfect for lazy weekend mornings.

Yield 12

Author Anna Ramiz

Prep time

30 Min

Cook time

20 Min

Inactive time

13 Hour

Total time

13 H & 50 M

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Coffee Cinnamon Buns

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Soft, pillowy sweet dough filled with cinnamon sugar and topped with a coffee glaze.

IngredientsUSMetric

for the sweet dough

• 140 g (1/2 cup +3 tbsp) buttermilk, warmed
• 10 g (2 3/4 tsp) active dry yeast
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 345 g (2 3/4 cup) all purpose flour
• 3 g (1 tsp) kosher salt
• 100 g (7 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened

for the filling

• 56 g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 100 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 of a nutmeg pod, grated
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

for the glaze

• 70 g (1/3 cup) heavy cream
• 1 tbsp instant coffee
• 120 g (about 1 cup) powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Combine warmed buttermilk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment and let sit for about 5 minutes, until foamy.
2. While the yeast is proofing, combine sugar, flour, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. When the yeast is foamy, add the egg and egg yolk and whisk to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients and begin kneading on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until all of the flour has been incorporated and a dough begins to form.
4. With the mixer running, add the butter a tablespoon or so at a time. When all of the butter has been added, increase the mixer speed to medium high and knead for 5-6 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover, and let proof at room temperature for an hour to an hour and a half, until the dough has doubled in size.
6. Punch the dough down and transfer to the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, just to make the dough a little easier to work with. **see notes for alternate proofing instructions**
7. While the dough is chilling, combine butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and salt and stir to form a smooth paste.
8. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and rolled into a 12x18” rectangle.
9. Smear the cinnamon butter mixture over the center and right two-thirds of the dough.
10. Fold the left third of the dough into the center and then fold the right third over the dough into the center as well (like folding a letter, but horizontally).
11. Turn the rectangle 90° and roll out a little, just to stretch it about an inch vertically.
12. Cut the dough into 12 strips. Roll each strip up like a snail and tuck the end under the center of the bun.
13. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator overnight, or about 12 hours.
14. When you’re ready to bake, preheat to the oven to 375° F and take the cinnamon buns out of the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap and cover loosely with a towel. Let rest for about an hour, until they come to room temperature.
15. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until deeply golden.
16. While the buns are baking, make the coffee glaze. Combine heavy cream and instant coffee in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer to dissolve the coffee. Transfer to a measuring cup and whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth.
17. Pour the glaze over the warm cinnamon buns and serve immediately.

Notes

**For alternative proofing instructions, see the blog post above!

Similar Recipes

Tahini Orange Cinnamon Rolls with Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Browned Butter and Spelt Cinnamon Buns

Einkorn Pecan Sticky Buns

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Earl Grey and Cardamom Banana Bread

A floral spin on the classic banana bread. This thick, moist banana bread is filled with bright citrus zest, herbal earl grey tea, and cardamom.

Well, it’s winter. As I’m writing this, my weather app is telling me that it is currently 3° F outside and tomorrow the high is 0° F. ZERO. I’m still working on wrapping my little Florida head around this whole sub-zero winter weather. I’ve discovered that as long as you bundle up really well and spend most of the time indoors, it’s not terrible. I also have found that I love the sparkly blanket of snow that covers the ground and even the big flakes that fall from the sky every few days. And I’ve also discovered that a thick, warm loaf of banana bread makes it a lot better.

I’m always looking for ways to slightly fancy up the classic banana bread. I want to add subtle flavors that will add depth and interest, without completely changing the tried and true banana bread that I know and love. This little flavor riff is a real winner. I know this because normally, when I play with banana bread, Martin’s response is always that “it’s good” and he “really likes it” but he still “just prefers the regular banana bread”. But not with this one! I made it a couple of times, tweaking the recipe slightly each time, until on this current iteration, Martin decided that it was his “favorite banana bread I’ve ever made”. So there you go. It’s a raging success.

how to make earl grey and cardamom banana bread

This is my basic banana bread recipe, because if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

We start by creaming butter with sugar and brown sugar, but this time, we’re also adding a smattering of orange zest, a fair amount of ground cardamom, and dried earl grey tea. (Just buy a box of earl grey and slice open the tea bags to get loose ground tea). We’re going to add all of these flavor components in this first step because creaming any sort of flavor additive (like zest, or extract) allows for the oils in them to coat the fat in the butter resulting in a more assertive and evenly-distributed flavor.

When the butters, sugars, and aromatics are thick and creamy, we’ll add mashed, ripe bananas, egg yolks, vanilla, and sour cream (or yogurt) for extra moisture. Then we add our dry ingredients—flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix until we have a thick, smooth batter.

Finally, we whip our egg whites. Whipping egg whites and then folding them gently into the batter will create more rise and leavening in our bread.

A little science lesson:

Rise in baked goods comes from three different sources: air, steam, and chemical leaveners (like baking powder and soda). In this recipe, we use both chemical leaveners, but the baking soda’s main job is to react with and balance the acidic ingredients in the recipe (bananas and sour cream). The baking powder is there to actually help the bread rise. By creaming the butter, we are incorporating air into the batter and coating each of the sugar granules in fat, suspending them in the batter. Then, when the bread is baking and the sugar begins to dissolve, there will be steam released that will also aid in rising. So by folding in whipped egg whites, we are adding yet another layer of leavening (air and steam) which will leave us with a final product that is both hefty and dense (like the banana breads we know and love), but also a light with a finer crumb.

After folding in the egg whites, we transfer the batter to a loaf pan, sprinkle on a layer of crunchy demerara sugar and bake it off. Cooling the banana bread completely in the pan will help form that sticky top layer, which is the very best part in my opinion. Smear thick slices with Kerrygold butter and a little sprinkle of Maldon, curl up on your couch, and embrace all of the coziness you can in this frigid winter season.

Buttermilk Beignets with Vino Cotto

Soft, fluffy buttermilk beignets filled with browned butter and cardamom are fried and tossed in sugar. They are served with vino cotto, a reduced, spiced red wine. The only thing better than dipping donuts in coffee is dipping them in wine.

My grandpa and I are BFFs and have been since the day I was born. Immediately after I was born, the doctors cleaned me off and handed me straight to my grandpa, sparking a special connection that’s going on 31 years. As I was growing up, every Monday night, Papa and I would go to the mall just the two of us. We’d split a plate of red beans and rice in the food court, and a handful of pirouette cookies at Gloria Jean Coffee, and saunter through every store in the mall together.

He’s a sweet man, who is always moving. Even well into retirement, that man does more in a day than I could do in a week. He puts everyone else first, goes out of his way to take care of those around him, and tells great stories. A lot of those stories take place during his childhood growing up in the French Quarter, of course, eating beignets (or bye-yays if you want to pronounce it the way a cute little old Cajun man does).

In an effort to smush all of my heritages together, I paired these soft, pillowy beignets with a Sicilian reduced wine called vino cotto. Eating beignets this way is like dunking an old fashioned donut in a cup of coffee, but better, because you’re actually dunking sugared beignets in wine.

how to make buttermilk beignets

Beignets are made with a yeasted, enriched dough in a process very similar to making donuts. Yeast is proofed in liquid and then butter and eggs are added before the dry ingredients. For this recipe, we’re incorporating buttermilk for a little extra tenderness, nutty browned butter and floral cardamom for a spiced holiday vibe.

The dough will undergo a pretty vigorous kneading (a standing mixer is your bff) to create the necessary gluten structure in spite of all of the inhibitors (fat, eggs, and sugar) that will make the finished dough so lush.

After kneading, there’s one bulk proof, shaping, and one more quick rest before frying. Like most doughs, this beignet dough can be cold-proofed to develop flavor and help fit into your schedule a bit better. If you choose to cold proof the dough, simply punch it down after it’s bulk proof and transfer it to the fridge for an overnight rest. In the morning, pull the dough out and let it rest on the counter for about 30 minutes before rolling and shaping and then give the cut beignets another 30-45 minutes rest, until they are puffy, before frying.

Whether you embrace a cold proof or make the beignets all in one go, don’t forget to toss them in sugar right after frying…that’s the very best part. I used a mix of powdered sugar and granulated sugar because I wanted a little bit of crunch from the sugar crystals. As soon as you finish your sugar tossing, eat the beignets warm, dunked in vino cotto for a little Cafe Du Monde-with-a-twist vibe.

what is vino cotto

Present in many traditional Italian desserts, vino cotto is a syrup made by cooking down grape must. Before sugar cane was widely accessible, this reduced grape must was used in many Sicilian desserts and recipes as a sweetener similar to the way maple syrup or honey is used in baking. Now, you can buy vino cotto or wine that has been cooked down very slowly over a long period of time, but I decided to make a version that would complement these beignets perfectly.

My rendition of vino cotto falls somewhere between a mulled wine and a wine reduction. To make it, simply bring a bottle of red wine to a simmer along with a handful of mulling spices (cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and whole cloves). Cook the wine over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for an hour to an hour and a half until the wine has reduced by 3/4 and has slightly thickened. It should taste sweeter than a bottle of wine, but not quite syrupy. Dunk the beignets in the vino cotto and store any leftovers in a sealed jar for a later day.

Yield

24

Author

Anna Ramiz

Prep time

30 Min

Cook time

1 H & 30 M

Inactive time

2 Hour

Total time

4 Hour

Print

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Buttermilk Beignets with Vino Cotto

Soft, fluffy buttermilk beignets filled with browned butter and cardamom are fried and tossed in sugar. They are served with vino cotto, a reduced, spiced red wine. The only thing better than dipping donuts in coffee is dipping them in wine.

Ingredients US Metric

for the beignets

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk, slightly warmed
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 3- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour,
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

for the vino cotto

• 1 bottle red wine (90% merlot, 10% cab franc)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1/4 tsp whole cloves
• 2 tbsp honey

Instructions

to make the beignets

1. Place butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, for 6-7 minutes, until butter is melted, foamy, and little brown specks have begun to form on the bottom of the pot. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
2. In a small bowl, combine warm water and yeast. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes, until yeast is very foamy.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast/water, cooled butter, sugar, brown sugar, buttermilk, and the egg. Whisk until smooth.
4. Place the bowl on the stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add 3 cups of flour, salt, baking powder, and cardamom, and begin mixing on low speed until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated. Increase the speed on the mixer to medium and knead for 4-5 minutes, adding a bit more flour one tablespoon at a time, if the dough seems very sticky. After kneading, your dough should be smooth and soft.
5. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let proof at room temperature for an hour to an hour and half, or until the dough has doubled in size.
6. Turn the dough onto a lightly-floured work surface and roll it into a rectangle about 12”x16” in size. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into 24 equal squares. Cover them with plastic wrap.
7. Fill a large, heavy-bottomed pot with vegetable oil (about 3” deep) and heat to 375° F.
8. Working in batches, fry 4-5 beignets at a time. Fry for 1-2 minutes on each side, until deeply golden browned. Use a slotted spoon to remove the beignets from the oil and transfer them to a paper-towel lined tray. Repeat until you have fried all of the beignets.
9. In a large bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and granulated sugar. Toss beignets in the sugar mixture to coat and serve with vino cotto.

to make the vino cotto

1. In a large saucepan, stir together wine, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, cloves, and honey.
2. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about an hour and half, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the wine has reduced by 3/4 and has slightly thickened. Let cool and then strain out the spices.
3. You should have about 1 cup of vino cotto.

Notes:

This beignet recipe was lightly adapted from the beignet queen Joy Wilson of Joy the Baker.

You can store any leftover vino cotto in a jar in a cool dark pantry or in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

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