Delicious mince pie cinnamon sticky buns recipe

This is where the flavours of a glorious mince pie and a sticky cinnamon bun drenched in caramel get together and become one, and it all just makes so much sense. Since December is the month where calories don’t count or shouldn’t be counted, it’s a time to tuck into in all things indulgent and Christmassy. These mince pie sticky cinnamon buns with cream cheese frosting are just what Santa ordered.

I’ve wanted to make a mince-pie version of the buns since I did a hot cross bun rendition a couple of years back for Easter. I used my own pear fruit mince which I made and preserved two years ago and I can’t recommend making your own highly enough. Also, it’s so easy. You could just as easily make this using apples instead of pears.

I used 2 cups for the filling in these buns but you can easily take it to 3 cups if you are making your own. If you are using store-bought mice which are cloyingly sweet, 2 cups will be just fine. You can decide how fruity you want to go. You could also add additional raisins too.

These buns are made from brioche dough, which is enriched with butter, and it’s a critical aspect of the recipe. Butter is also used to brush the dough for the filling and give it delicious richness and it’s also used to make the delectable caramel sauce that gets baked into these buns and drizzled over the top. Lurpak is the butter of choice here and of superior quality. I always use salted.

Recipe for mince pie cinnamon stick buns – makes 16

Ingredients

DOUGH:

¼ cup warm water
10 g active dry yeast instant
1 t sugar
1/3 cup sugar
¾ cup milk
50 g Lurpak butter plus extra for greasing
3 large free-range eggs
1 T orange zest finely grated
1 t salt
4 cups flour and extra for dusting

FILLING:

2 – 3 cups Christmas fruit mince
1 T ground cinnamon
+- 40g Lurpak butter softened, kept separately

CARAMEL TOPPING:

115 g Lurpak butter
¾ cup Muscovado dark brown sugar
1 cup cream
¼ cup golden syrup maple flavoured is a nice option
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

¼ cup cream cheese
½ cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
a few tablespoons of milk as needed

Instructions

To make the Dough:

Combine the water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon of sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and set aside for around 5 minutes to dissolve and become frothy.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl, but only 3 of the 4 cups of flour. Fit a paddle attachment and lightly mix until just combined.
Change to a dough hook attachment and mix. While this is going, slowly add the remaining 1-cup of flour, and continue to mix until you have a smooth dough, about 5 minutes.
Shape the dough into a large ball and grease the mixing bowl with butter. Roll the ball in the butter to coat all sides. Place the ball in the greased bowl, cover with plastic cling wrap, and set aside in a draft-free, warm area to rise for about 1 – 2 hours. You want it to double in size. If it is cool, this could take up to 4 hours.
Tip the dough onto a floured surface and roll into a rectangular shape about 45cm long and 30cm wide.
Brush / spread the softened butter over the entire surface and sprinkle the cinnamon filling evenly over this.
Spread the Christmas fruit mince evenly over the surface area.
Starting from the longest edge, roll the dough and filling up until you have a long log. Keep the join seam underneath.
Trim the edges of the roll and then cut it into 16 even pieces.

To make the topping:

Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat, and then add all the other ingredients except the salt. Bring this mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer until the sauce comes together and is golden brown with a nice sheen, about 3–4 minutes.
Pour ¾ of the glaze into a baking pan (about a 23cm x 32 cm), or ovenproof dish, and swirl this around to evenly coat the bottom and some of the sides. Set the rest aside.
Place the 16 cut slices of roll on top of the caramel allowing some space in between for expansion during proving. Cover with a tea towel and allow to prove in a warm spot for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F and bake the buns for 35 minutes until golden brown. If necessary, and to prevent over-browning, loosely cover the tray with tin foil from about halfway through.
Remove from oven and spread the remaining glaze over the buns followed by the ¼ t of salt sprinkled. Allow to cool in the pan on a cooling rack. Tip out onto a large serving plate and serve warm or at room temperature.