I love going to bakeries and looking at pretty pastry cases filled with parchment-lined desserts. Something about good ol’ brown parchment makes baked goods feel a tiny bit more homemade. I’ve been using variations of this dough for everything, it’s so dang versatile.

I N G R E D I E N T S

Dough

• 4 1/4 cups of bread flour
• 1 1/2 cup of warm milk (100°F-106°F is good)
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast
• 4 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 egg

Filling

• 4 tablespoons of softened butter
• 4 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

D I R E C T I O N S

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the milk, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy.
2. Add in the flour, the remaining of the 1/3 cup of sugar, salt, egg, and melted butter. Using the dough hook attachment, knead on low speed for 5 minutes.
3. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let the dough rise in a warm, draft free space for an hour.
4. Roll the dough into a rectangle, approximately 15×18 inches
5. Combine the filling ingredients into a paste, and evenly spread it onto the dough. Roll up the dough lengthwise to form a log.
6. Using a piece of string, slice the dough into 12 equal portions and place into a parchment lined muffin tin. Or, you can bake these in a greased or lined 13×9 inch pan.
7. Let the cinnamon buns rise for another 30 minutes before baking at 350°F for 25-28 minutes.
8. While hot out of the oven, sprinkle extra cinnamon sugar on the buns for extra sparkle.