CINNAMON & WALNUT BUNS (a vegan, refined sugar-free take on the Swedish Classic)

And I am back with another belated recipe share! This time it’s the Swedish fika favourite: cinnamon buns. But these are not made of the same buttery dough as the original, more commonly known kind. In fact, they are dairy-free. And if that’s not enough of a departure from the classic variety, these ones are also refined sugar-free.

Now, before we all get too excited by that last point, I feel obliged to state that sugar is sugar. But for those who prefer to avoid the white refined kind, you will love these… and it must be said that the coconut palm sugar adds a rich, caramelly note to these treats that works amazingly well, especially in combination with the earthy nuttiness of toasted walnuts.

I received many comments on these buns and requests for the recipe when I first shared about them on Instagram. I also received a fair share of complaints about the difficulty of locating the recipe in amongst a couple of hundred comments. 😛

I’m not whining. I get it.

So for all of you who wanted it (and for myself, as I plan to bake these again now that autumn has rolled in), here is the recipe!

Wishing you a happy day and a lovely fikapaus, if you happen to have one!

<3 Marisa x

 

CINNAMON & WALNUT BUNS

Makes 10

BUN INGREDIENTS

1 sachet fast-acting dry yeast
250 ml almond milk (at room temperature)
60 ml boiling water
50 g coconut palm sugar
1/2 tsp salt
400 g plain flour (plus more for dusting)
4 tbsp corn flour
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
4 tbsp olive oil

FILLING INGREDIENTS

100 g coconut palm sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp corn flour
60 ml vegetable oil

GLAZE INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp boiling water
1 tsp coconut palm sugar

PLUS

Chopped walnuts for sprinkling over

DIRECTIONS

Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Combine the almond milk and water. Test liquid with your finger to check if it is lukewarm. If it is, stir the yeast into this mixture and set it aside.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, salt, plain flour, corn flour and ground cardamom.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast mixture and oil. Bring the mix together with your hands until a dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth (approximately 10 minutes). Grease the mixing bowl used earlier with a little oil, place the dough in it and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave in a warm place for an hour, or until dough has doubled in size.

Once the dough is ready, in a small bowl combine the coconut palm sugar, ground cinnamon and corn flour.

Roll the risen dough out onto a floured work surface into a 35cm x 35cm square. Brush the surface of the dough with the vegetable oil and cover with the cinnamon-sugar filling mixture. Fold the dough into thirds and roll into a 35cm x 20cm rectangle.

Cut the dough into 20cm long strips, approx. 2.5 cm wide. Take one strip and twist and roll.

Watch video below for a rough idea of how I did it.

Note that I did not twist the dough strips as fast as shown in the video as they would have come apart. Rather, I twisted one end carefully until the entire strip of dough was “a twist”, then I rolled it into a bun form, tucking the end underneath.

Place the buns on the baking tray and preheat the oven to 180°C.

Leave the buns to rise until doubled (approx. 30 minutes). Make the glaze by dissolving the coconut palm sugar in the boiling water and brush this over the buns, then sprinkle them with chopped walnuts.

Bake for approximately 17 minutes or until dark golden.

*Recipe modified from this one found at jamieoliver.com