Brown sugar & cinnamon filling in delicious sweet and delicate pastry braided and rolled into cinnamon roll knots.
Servings 8Rolls
Prep Time 10 minutesmins
Cook Time 25 minutesmins
Rising Time and Braiding Time 2 hourshrs
Equipment
Candy thermometer
Rolling Pin
Electric beater or standing mixer
Baking sheet with 1/2 to 1-inch sides so the filling does not spill over into your oven
Parchment paper
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
3 1/2cupsall-purpose flour
1package active dry yeastor 2 1/4 teaspoons
1 1/4cupsmilk
1/4cupgranulated sugar
1/4cupbutter
1teaspoonsalt
1large egg
1egg white for brushing on knots before baking them.
Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Butter Filling (If you really love the filling, then make 1.5 times the recipe for extra cinnamon-gooey knots!)
1cuplight brown sugarpacked
4oz.butter, at room temp
2tablespoonscinnamon
1/2teaspooncardamomoptional, but we love this spice!
Instructions
DIRECTIONS - Dough
Mix 1 1/2 cups flour and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a saucepan, heat milk, butter, sugar and salt until warm (110 to 115 F) and butter is melted, stirring constantly.
Add milk mixture to dries along with the egg. Beat all at low speed for 30 seconds or so to moisten all dries. Then beat for 3 minutes at high speed.
Stir the remaining flour into the dough by hand to form a soft dough.
Dust your hands with a little flour and shape the dough into a ball.
Place dough ball in a lightly greased or sprayed large bowl, turn dough once to grease the entire ball and then cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and leave in a warm spot in the kitchen (not in the oven) to rise until doubled in size. This will take about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Once the dough is doubled in size, punch down the dough to deflate slightly and let rest for 10 minutes.
Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Butter Filling
Mix all together well to incorporate butter, sugar, and spices.
Making the Cinnamon Knots
Line a baking sheet with 1-inch sides with parchment paper. (You want a tray with sides so that the brown sugar-cinnamon butter does not spill over into your oven!)
Sprinkle a cutting board or pastry cloth with flour. Roll the dough out into a large 14 x 18-inch rectangle on a floured cutting board or pastry cloth.
Spread Filling Over Entire Dough Rectangle
Spread cinnamon brown sugar butter evenly over the entire rectangle. See video.
Fold Dough into Overlapping Thirds
Starting at the longer end, roll the dough into thirds, lapping one-third over the center third and the last third over that to make a three-layer dough.
Cut Each Dough Strip into Three Slices, leaving the top 1-inch uncut (See Video Below)
Cutting across the narrow side of the folded dough, cut the dough into 8 strips, roughly 2-inches wide per strip.
Starting at the end with the open fold, cut the dough strip into three strips, but DON’T cut through the top end of the dough. Leave about 3/4 to 1-inch un-cut at the top.
Braid Dough Pieces (See video below)
Now, starting at the solid end, begin braiding the dough strips all the way to the bottom.
Roll the dough up towards you and then keep rolling to the top of the braid to form a cinnamon knot.
Roll Braids into Knots (see video below)
Place each knot on the prepared baking sheet and let rise for about 30 minutes to poof up a little bit more.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly brush the tops of the knots with the beaten egg white.
Sprinkle the tops of the knots with pearl sugar, raw sugar, or cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until rolls are just beginning to brown on top and the filling is beginning to bubble at the edges.
These are amazing fresh out of the oven, but you can certainly make ahead of time and freeze until ready to reheat and serve