I hope all of my lovely readers had a wonderful New Year’s Day. I myself have been super lazy with blogging but I promised myself to share the best cinnamon bun recipe that I have ever tried. I made these over the holiday weekend and wish you all could have had some!

I always thought that cinnamon buns were complicated, but this recipe is really easy. That being said, it does take some time so prepare this well in advance or the night before.

My girlfriends got together at my place this past weekend and I know we all love to have something sweet with our chai (that is another recipe I have to share for another day). My good friend Sarah has a weakness for cinnamon buns, so I decided this recipe was the perfect match for our chai date.

I adapted my recipe from Paula Deen. Just as a note, for my Muslim sisters who avoid vanilla extract because of the alcohol, you can make your own or buy alcohol free vanilla extract.

As you can tell, the cinnamon buns were very tempting, so I made little baby ones as well as big fat ones.

Here is the adapted Paula Deen cinnamon bun recipe:
Ingredients

Dough:
1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional

Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar mixed with 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon alcohol free vanilla extract
3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside.

In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg.

Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth.

Add yeast mixture.

Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle.

Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes.

Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough.

Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle.

Spread melted butter all over dough.

Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough.

Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired.

Cut into 12 to 15 slices.

Beginning at the 15-inch side, roll up dough and pinch edge together to seal.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency.

Spread over slightly cooled rolls.