Perfect Pillsbury Cinnamon Buns

K and I recently hosted a festive winter-y brunch filled with delicious quiches, glowing fruits, spicy sausages, and these yeasty cinnamon buns. You know your brunch has gone well when your guests stick around deep into the afternoon, playing Nilsson records and chasing the sun from one end of the apartment to the other. I hadn't made sticky buns in quite a while, but thanks to Lauren at veganyumyum, I pushed my fears aside and spent my Saturday night happily flinging flour around the kitchen. I combined a few recipes with what I learned at marie's to make these buns, which were quite a success if I can say so myself! One of my friends even said they tasted just like Pillsbury!

4 tsp. active dry yeast
2 tsp. sugar
1 cup warm water

Dough
1 cup soymilk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup earth balance
2 tsp. salt
6 cups all purpose flour

Filling
1/2 cup earth balance (melted)
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 Tbs. cinnamon

Mix together the yeast, sugar and warm water and set aside until frothy. Next, heat the soymilk, sugar, and earth balance in a medium-sized saucepan until margarine is melted. Once the ingredients are combined, add the warm ingredients to the  yeast mixture. Make sure that the ingredients in the saucepan are lukewarm. Stir together the flour and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and knead for about ten minutes.

Place in an oiled bowl covered in a plastic bag and let sit in a warm spot in your apartment for two hours.

Once the dough has risen, punch down and flatten out into a large rectangular shape. Brush with melted margarine and sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Roll the dough up length-wise into a large log. Next, cut the log into 10-12  pieces. Pour the remaining margarine into a casserole dish and sprinkle the margarine with sugar. Place the buns in the dish and let rise for another hour, covered. If you are going to bake them the next day, cover and place in the oven overnight.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Once cool, frost with a mixture of vanilla soymilk and confectioners sugar.

Here's to lazy brunches and holiday buns!
Enjoy,
NRG