Whole Wheat Maple-Nut Cinnamon Buns

In an attempt to make a healthy cinnamon bun, I adapted a bread recipe for Vermont Maple Bread into a cinnamon roll. The bread is from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion.

Compared to regular cinnamon buns, they are a bit heavier and slightly less sweet. The whole wheat flour contributes a nice flavor of its own. Instead of slathering them with sugary frosting, I let their wholesome flavor shine through and was overall quite pleased with the results. I won't be abandoning my love of white flour-based cinnamon buns but these are a good alternative, even if just to reduce the guilt factor a tad.



Whole Wheat Maple-Nut Cinnamon Buns

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons hot water
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon maple flavor
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Filling
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, oats, maple syrup, maple flavor, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm; this will happen naturally as you stir.

2. Add the flours and yeast, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 7 minutes by machine, or on the dough cycle in the bread machine), enough to make a nicely springy dough.

3. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or large (8-cup) measuring cup, cover the bowl or cup with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 60 to 90 minutes. It should become very puffy, and just about double in bulk.

4. Gently deflate the dough, and roll it out to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Spread melted margarine over the dough and sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar, nut mixture. Slice into 12 evenly sized rolls and cover for approxmately 60 minutes until almost doubled in volume. Near the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

5. Bake the buns for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting with foil if browning too quickly. When they reach 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer they are done. Remove from the oven, and rest for 10-15 minutes before turning ouof the pan onto a rack to cool.