Cinnamon Bun Bake

Time :5 40

Yield :8 servings

Recipe Background

For the coziest mornings, this Cinnamon Bun Bake is the best of the best. Fluffy mounds of steaming hot, cinnamon-y goodness all drizzled up with some creamy vanilla glaze... yes, please! These are super special, because they're made from scratch, which means they take a little bit of time, but that extra TLC is just so worth it. Why? Because that means you get to wake up to this Cinnamon Bun Bake. It's going to be a great morning, indeed!

Ingredients

For the cinnamon bun balls:

1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more, to taste, divided
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar divided
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 stick unsalted butter softened, plus more, to taste, for greasing the pie plate
1/2 stick unsalted butter melted
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

For the vanilla glaze:

1 cup confectioners' sugar sifted
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer.
Sprinkle the yeast evenly over the water and let stand until foamy, about 5-7 minutes.
Whisk the yeast mixture until smooth.
Whisk 1/2 cup of the flour into the yeast mixture until a loose paste forms.
Let the yeast mixture rise in a warm place until it has risen and fallen, about 30 minutes.
Add the eggs, 1/4 cup of the sugar, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and the remaining 4 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and whisk to combine.
Using the dough hook attachment, knead the mixture until smooth, about 4-5 minutes.
Add 1 stick of the softened butter to the dough and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Add the extra flour if the dough is too sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead by hand until very smooth, about 3 minutes.
Transfer the dough to another bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 1 hour 30 minutes-2 hours.
Punch down the dough, pressing out the air bubbles.
Using the extra softened butter, lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate.
Place 1/2 stick of the melted butter into a bowl.
In another bowl, stir the ground cinnamon and the remaining sugar together.
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. There should be about 45.
Dip the balls into the melted butter, one at a time, and then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar and place them in the prepared pie plate.
Stack the balls on top of each other to form a dome, then sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar and drizzle with any remaining melted butter from the bowl.
Cover the balls with plastic wrap and let them rise by half, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Unwrap the balls and place the pie plate on a baking sheet.
Bake the balls until golden, firm, and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35-50 minutes.
Let the cinnamon bun bake cool in the dish, about 15 minutes.
While the cinnamon bun bake is cooling, in a small bowl, stir the confectioners' sugar and the remaining salt together.
Whisk the remaining melted butter, the milk, and the vanilla extract into the sugar mixture until a smooth paste forms.
Drizzle the cinnamon bun bake with the vanilla glaze and serve.