Cinnamon buns are an incredible and delicious treat known for its mixture of spice, sweetness and soft fluffy rolled up dough. Now, we take this favorite recipe and take it to a whole new level by adding in an extra boost of flavor with our Chai ground and mixed in. The result is even more flavorful than the original.
We are not going to waste any time and provide you the recipe up front and all the commentary at the bottom. Scroll past the recipe for more links, information on Chai and more.
Kitchen tools required for this recipe:
Bowls, Measuring spoons and cups, 3 Quart baking pan (13x9), coffee grinder or something to grind your Chai tea into a powder, oven, spatula's, knife.
Clairee Chai Cinnamon Bun Recipe
To make these great Cinnamon Buns you will need to complete four parts. We have broken it down into each part separately.
Prework
Before you start you will need to make the following ingrediants and set aside:
- Brew a strong batch of Clairee's Chai. Approximately 3 teaspoons of Chai to 8 oz of water. Set aside.
- Grind up approximately 4 tablespoons of Clairee's Chai into a powder. We used a coffee grinder.
Where can you buy Clairee's Chai?
Clairee's Chai is available in our online store here.
Watch the YouTube instructions here or read them below:
Step 1 - Dough
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm milk
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup salted butter soft
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon of Clairee’s Chai ground up
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed.
- Olive oil for greasing
Mix warm milk and instant dry yeast. Now add eggs, ground Chai, salt and sugar and mix some more. Add softened butter and mix. Finally, add the flour and mix until you have a tacky mix of dough.
Grab a bowl and grease bowl with some Olive Oil so that your mixture doesn't stick. Cover with plastic wrap. Now place it in a warm place to rise/proof. This can be done faster by turning on the oven in advance to its lowest temperature (we did 170) then turning it off right before we placed the mixture in the oven to proof. Took only 30 minutes to double in size with this method.
You can also leave the mixture on a counter if your home is warm and it may take a bit longer.
While the mixture rises we will move to Step 2 & Step 3 to make for when the dough is ready.
Step 2 - Filling
- 3 tablespoons Clairee’s Chai
- 3/4 cup salted butter melted
- 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
Melt your butter first. Then mix butter, ground Chai and brown sugar until you have a pasty glaze. Cover and set aside.
Step 3 - Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons strongly brewed chai tea
Mix all three ingredients. Should be a sticky liquid mixture. Set aside.
Step 4 - Shaping Dough
Flour your surface for your dough. Remove dough from the bowl and place onto a floured counter. Have extra flour nearby. Begin folding the mixture a few times adding a tablespoon of flour here and there until the mixture has moved from sticky to elastic. Once it is elastic you can flour your rolling pin and begin to flatten the dough into a rectangle shape.
Step - Filling and Forming
Grab the filling you set aside from earlier and a spatula. Spread the filling onto your flattened dough. You will want it to be to edges with the exception of where you will start and end your dough rolling. So edge to edge on the sides. Front and back you can leave a small amount without filling. You do not need your filling to be thick. So you may have to work the filling a bit to spread.
Once you have completely applied the filling, you can start your roll. Starting with the side nearest you gently lift the dough and begin to roll it. Continue to roll until you have incorporated all of the dough. You will be left with a long tube that you can now slice into individual rolls.
Grease a 3 quart pan and begin placing your cinnamon buns into the pan. Place them in flat so you can see the swirls.
Cover with plastic wrap and set them aside in a warm place to rise for another 30 minutes or until they double in size.
Step 5 - Cream & Bake
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Take the 1/2 cup of heavy cream and pour it over the cinnamon buns and let it soak in. Now place them into the preheated oven at 350f for 27- 30 minutes. Pull them from the oven and now add the icing. This can be done while the cinnamon buns are still hot.
What exactly is Chai?
Chai is an India inspired tea, it is a creamy flavor explosion in a cup that is purely delicious.
Made with our Black Magnolia tea, the flavor explosion comes from the added cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and black peppercorns.
Although a very common tea in India, Chai is most loved for its seasonal feel in the US. It can be enjoyed with or without milk, but to get the best creamy flavor, milk (or a milk substitute*) is recommended.
Black Magnolia, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and black peppercorns.
To learn more about Chai visit our blog post on What Is Chai?
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