Daring Bakers September Challenge - Cinnamon Buns

With every new month comes a new and exciting Daring Baker challenge. Alas, I am a few days late in posting about September's treat-of-the-month so it is no surprise that Cinnamon Buns and/or Sticky Buns were the order of the day.

Let me start by saying that I love making cinnamon buns. Once the apprehension of using yeast evaporated, making these yummy swirls of cinnamony goodness were a breeze. I especially liked the recipe that Marce from Pip in the City had us use. It produced a fabulous dough that was both soft and airy. I have made buns in the past with a different recipe and noticed that sometimes the dough ended up cakey and hard, but not this time. I was really quite impressed with the final result.

One thing I though made these buns more special was the addition of lemon rind into the dough. It gives the buns an extra flavour dimension but not so much that the lemon is overpowering. I also liked the simple cinnamon sugar filling. It was light and didn't overpower the bun. I suppose if you like, brown sugar mixed with cinnamon would give you a more substantial filling - it all depends on what your tastebuds like.

Overall I can't say enough good things about these buns. The dough was a dream (though I had to add extra flour) and they came out perfect even though I was pressed for time and had to reduce the proofing times somewhat. One little thing I tweaked was to warm up the milk before adding it to the mix. I just thought this would help the yeast do its magic and I'm just so used to doing it anyways. This was my favourite DB challenge by far and and I am officially adopting Marce's recipe as my own. It's great. Period.

To see the other gorgeous buns made by my fellow Daring Bakers, check out our growing blogroll. To see the complete recipe, please visit Marce.