Spelt Cinnamon Buns

These turned out absolute delicious 🤩

This recipe is inspired by Trines Matblogg, Elin (krem.no), and Ida Gran-Jansen, with a few tweaks of our own. It works best if you have a stand mixer that can knead the dough for a good while.

Important about spelt flour: Testing shows that FODMAP levels in spelt flour can vary a great deal. At least 20g of spelt flour seems to be well tolerated by most people - which works out to about half a bun if you make a batch of 24. Still, many people find they tolerate much larger amounts of spelt flour well, which is why we still include spelt recipes in the app.

We recommend being a little careful with spelt flour during the strict elimination phase. If you notice ongoing symptoms, reduce your intake to see if your symptoms improve.

Read more in our article about spelt here: Updated assessment of Spelt Flour

Dough:

• 920g white spelt flour, plus a little extra for rolling
• 500ml lactose-free milk (rice milk or almond milk work too). Use cold milk, as the friction from long kneading warms up the dough. Warm milk risks overheating the dough and killing the yeast.
• 25g fresh yeast
• 150g caster sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• 150g butter, softened at room temperature and diced

Filling:

• 125g butter, softened at room temperature
• 6 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon

To finish:

• 1 egg, beaten (optional. you can also use a splash of milk)
• Pearl sugar or nib sugar (optional)

Method:

1. Combine all dough ingredients except the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead until the dough comes together and is smooth and elastic. This took about 5 minutes for me.

2. Add the butter a little by little and knead again until the dough is smooth and soft. It might look a bit wet at first, but don't worry, it will come together. This took about 15 minutes on my mixer.

3. Cover the dough and leave to rise in a warm spot for 1 to 1.5 hours.

4. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle. I find it easiest to divide the dough in half and do this in two batches.

5. Mix the filling ingredients together and spread evenly over the dough.

6. Roll into cinnamon rolls and cut into roughly 24 equal. (or fold the dough in half over itself, slice into strips, and twist if you fancy a slightly prettier look).

7. Leave to prove for about 45 minutes.

8. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle over some pearl sugar, if using.

9. Bake at 225°C (205°C fan) for 10–12 minutes. Keep a close eye on them towards the end so they don't catch or burn! Cool on a wire rack.

If you like, you can also mix up a quick icing with icing sugar and a tiny splash of water to drizzle over before serving.