If you love cinnamon buns, but are trying to be a BIT healthier, these whole wheat buns will fit the bill. Also, if you’re trying to find a breakfast treat for a diabetic in the family read on!
The recipe I used is Dark and Dangerous Cinnamon Buns from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, pages 262-264. Their recipe calls for only whole wheat flour, no white flour and no gluten. I thought adding gluten to a completely whole grain recipe was important in allowing the dough to rise, but apparently it’s not as important as I thought because it rose beautifully.
Original Recipe My Changes
Dough
5 Tbl honey 5 Tbl Blue Agave
liquids Added more water + 2 tsp of orange juice
because my dough was too dry
Filling
1 cup brown sugar ½ cup brown sugar (for first filling)
¼ cup chopped chocolate (for second filling)
¼ cup chopped walnuts (for second filling)
To make these wonderful buns less sugar intense, I
- changed half of the cinnamon filling to the chocolate-walnut filling above with no sugar added, and
- omitted the white icing on the baked chocolate-walnut buns.
After rolling and patting the dough into a 12×16 inch rectangle, I spread the cinnamon filling over one half and the chocolate-walnut filling over the other half of the rectangle. The rest of the shaping process was the same as given by KAF.
So, you can see how easy it is to make heavenly breakfast buns for all members of your family with a minimum of fuss. Both kinds of buns were wonderful fresh and warm from the oven last night and at room temperature this morning.
Oh, by the way, I found blue agaveat Trader Joe’s and at Casco.
Enjoy!