How to Make Sticky Braided Cinnamon Knots!

December 14, 2020. Cold grey day. Sticky Braided Cinnamon Knots.

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I love the smell of spices baking in the oven, especially with butter. Like the tray of cinnamon rolls I made here, or the cardamom knots in this recipe. The smell of baking bread is simply wonderful.

The weather has been a bit gloomy and cold these past few days. I have been taking a break from the kitchen after the Thanksgiving feast. Today, I felt motivated to make something different from my usual holiday 16 point cinnamon star bread.

One of the members of my baking groups on FB shared a cool picture of these knots and I was intrigued. With a bit of online searching, I found Richard Bertinet’s recipe and made these from scratch. The buns are lovely – sticky, loaded with cinnamon, and very sweet. If I were to make this again, I would probably scale back the filling since it was too much for my personal liking. But overall, the texture is just spot on!

The recipe has 3 steps. First – create the dough and filling, second – shape the knots, third – brush sweet glaze onto the baked buns fresh from the oven. That creates a beautiful sheen and makes the buns sticky.

The trickiest part is braiding and shaping the knots. I’ll share pictures of how I did that, but it’s not as difficult as it looks. If you have ever braided anything, you should be good to go.

So, let’s get baking!

Ingredients for Sticky Braided Cinnamon Knots

For Dough:
¾ cup (200g) Full Fat Milk
2 Eggs, room temperature
4¾ cups (600g) Bread Flour/high protein flour
4½ tsp. (13g) Active Dry Yeast
¼ cup (50g) Fine Granulated Sugar
2 tsp, Salt
14 Tbsp. (200g) Unsalted Butter

For Filling:
10½ Tbsp. (150g) Unsalted Butter
1¼ cup (250g) Soft Brown Sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon

Egg Wash:
1 Egg, lightly beaten with 2 Tbsp of Milk

Sugar Glaze:
½ cup (100g) Fine Granulated Sugar
½ cup (100g) Water

You need a 12 hole muffin pan to make this.

Making the Dough

Let’s start by gathering all the ingredients. Put the milk and eggs into the bowl of a food mixer, then add the flour. Add yeast to one side of the bowl, then add the salt and sugar to the other side. Finally, add the butter to the mixture.

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Mix the ingredients on slow speed for 4 minutes. After that, increase to medium speed and mix for a another 10 minutes until the dough is formed. At this stage, the dough should comes away cleanly from the side of the bowl.

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Next, shape the dough into a ball and place into a clean bowl that has been lightly dusted with flour. Then, cover the dough and and let it rest for about an hour, or until it becomes puffy and doubled in size.

Preparing the Filling

When waiting for dough to proof, let’s prepare the cinnamon filling. Add butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar together until it is thoroughly combined. Stir in the teaspoons of ground cinnamon and mix well.

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Braiding

When the dough is ready, prepare by lightly sprinkling flour on the work surface. Then, roll out the dough into a rectangle roughly the size of an A3 (11″-¾” x 16½” or 2297mm x 420mm) sheet of paper. (Note: I simply rolled it out to the size of my pastry mat.)

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Carefully spread out the filling over the surface of the rolled out dough.

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When done, fold the rectangle over in half lengthways to enclose the filling. Then, lightly score and then slice into 12 strips as evenly as possible. Next, cut twice down the length of each strip to make three strands.

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Braid the three strands together. Repeat to make 12 individual braids. Then, take each braid and roll it up along its length to create a knot.

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Next, spray the muffin pan with non stick cooking oil. Then, place the knots into the tray. Cover with plastic cling wrap and let it proof and rest for approximately an hour.

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Baking and Glazing

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). When the knots are ready, brush with the milk egg glaze. Then, pop the whole tray into the oven. Turn the heat down to 350°F/180°C and bake for 18-20 minutes until the knots are golden brown on top.

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When the cinnamon buns are baking, make the simple sugar glaze. Put the sugar and water in a pan and bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer until you have a light syrup. Brush the baked knots with the syrup while hot. Cool the knots on wire racks before serving.

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Notes on Sticky Braided Cinnamon Knots

1. If you do not have bread flour, make you own by simply adding 1 teaspoon of vital wheat gluten to 1 cup of all purpose flour, whisk to combine well.
2. Place the prepared muffin pan on top of a cookie baking sheet before baking. This will catch any spills when the knots are baking.
3. If you wish, you can garnish the baked cooled knots with icing powder sugar.
4. Uneaten bread can be stored in air tight container for a day or two. For longer periods, freeze.

Since I have been using so much cinnamon in my baking, I was curious to see if it has any health benefits. Found this short article, which was educational => https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-benefits-of-cinnamon

More Flavorful Ideas:

See how I made this Scottish inspired lighter fruit cake from scratch => How to Make A Holiday Dundee Cake

I love this vegetarian colorful and flavorful rice dish from Bon Appetit magazine. It’s festive and perfect for the holiday table! =>How to Make Festive Buttery Bejeweled Rice

Do you love saffron? Check out how I made this luxurious saffron chicken rice => How to Make Luxurious Saffron Chicken Rice (Arroz Con Pollo)!

In the mood to make something more challenging? Check out these yummy Apple Danishes => How to Make Delectable Apple Danish Pastry!