Who says you have to wait until after a meal for dessert? Start the day with this yummy treat full of delicious pears and cinnamon, with surprisingly little sugar per serving too.
Enjoy with a coffee (or your favourite tea) and this is the perfect way to embrace autumnal mornings.
Serves 8
Ingredients
475g white bread flour, plus extra for kneading and rolling
20g caster sugar
1 tsp fast action dried yeast
50g unsalted butter
200ml semi-skimmed milk
1 egg, beaten
For the filling
20g unsalted butter, softened
60g light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Conference pear, peeled, cored and diced
100g walnuts, finely chopped
2 tbsp apricot jam
Method
- Mix the flour and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl, then make a well in the centre and add the sugar and yeast. Melt your butter in a pan with the milk over low heat so that the mixture doesn't boil, then pour into the well along with the egg. Mix with a knife to form a dough, then knead on a floured surface for around 10 minutes, or until smooth and springy.
- Pop the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with oiled cling film and leave in a warm place for 2-3 hrs to rise, until it has doubled in size.
- Lightly grease a 23cm round cake tin (one with a springform release makes the process much easier!).
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 1cm thick rectangle roughly 25cm x 35cm, and then spread your butter over the dough and top with the sugar, cinnamon, pear and walnuts.
- Roll the dough up into a tight cylinder along the longest edge. Cut the cylinder into eight slices, and arrange seven around the edge of the tin with one in the middle. Cover with oiled cling film and leave in a warm place for up to an hour until your rolls have doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to gas 5, 190°C, fan 170°C. Bake the buns on a baking tray for 25 minutes until they're golden on top.
- Once you've removed the buns from the oven, melt your jam in a pan with 1 tsp water, then brush this over the buns while they're still in the pan.
- Serve warm with a cuppa, or store in an airtight container in a cool dry place and eat within four days.
Top tip: Turn out the buns while they're still warm to prevent them from sticking to the tin.