Morning buns are what happens when buttery, flaky Danish dough gets treated like a cinnamon roll and then rolled in spiced sugar after baking. With an orange-scented, spiced brown sugar filling, they’re baked in a sugar-and-butter coated jumbo muffin tin, allowing for maximum crispy-toasty edges and deep caramelized flavor. Once out of the oven, they get rolled in more orange-spiced sugar.
The magic is in the contrasts: shatteringly crisp and sugary on the outside, tender and buttery, rich and a little gooey inside, with layer after layer pulling apart as you eat. The orange zest brightens all that butter, cinnamon, and caramelized sugar, lending the whole treat a virtuous air. They are unapologetically rich, deeply browned, bountiful, and best served warm.
If you’ve never made morning buns before, they are definitely worth your time. Make the Danish dough ahead of time, roll, fill, and shape when you’re ready, and prepare for your kitchen to smell unreasonably good. Eat one warm with coffee and know you’re enjoying a champagne treat on a beer budget! Stick with me. I’ll show you how.
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Morning Buns, at a Glance
✅Skill Level: Confident Beginner to Intermediate
✅Skills: Rolling, Cutting, and Filling Laminated Dough
✅Type: Bountiful Danish Breakfast Pastry
✅Number of Ingredients: 8
✅Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
✅Rise Time: 75 minutes, give or take
✅Cook Time: 40 minutes
✅Yield: 6 Large Pastries
Jump Straight to the Recipe
Why You’ll Love My Morning Buns Recipe
These morning buns have everything a sexy breakfast pastry should have:
- Swirl upon swirl of caramelized, almost butterscotchy filling.
- Tons of layers that are crackling on the outside and tender on the inside.
- A sparkly, spiced coating of sugar all over the outside.
- The contrast of crispy, browned pastry with gooey, rich layers in (almost) every bite.
Morning buns originated at The Ovens of Brittany in Madison, Wisconsin, in the early 1970s, where laminated croissant dough was rolled up with brown sugar and cinnamon and baked in muffin tins.
My version gives a nod to those Wisconsin originals while borrowing the brilliant addition of orange zest from Tartine Bakery’s famous San Francisco morning buns.
The orange doesn’t make them taste especially citrusy; it brightens all that butter, spice, and caramelized sugar and keeps these gloriously rich pastries coming back for another bite.
Ingredients and Ingredient Notes/Substitutions
If there is one thing you take away from this post, it’s this: morning buns look fancy, but they are not hard to make. I promise.
Check out this relatively short list of ingredients. I mean, if you have already made the dough, the actual filling and shaping is super easy, and the payoff–visually, texturally, and taste-urally–is insane.
- Danish dough: The dough that will hold all the goodness. Use my master Danish dough recipe.
- Granulated Sugar: Both to coat the baking tin and as part of the spiced sugar you’ll toss the finished buns in. So, its job is both to sweeten the outsides of the buns and add sparkle.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Used in the filling for the buns, dark brown sugar brings sweetness along with depth of flavor from molasses. It also mixes with the butter in the filling to create a sticky butterscotch on the bottoms of the buns. These days, dark brown sugar can look a bit anemic, especially with national brands. Use either a store brand dark brown sugar or add a teaspoon or two of molasses to your brown sugar if it seems a little pale and sad.
- Butter: Rubbed into the cavities of your jumbo muffin tin to give the granulated sugar something to stick to, you’ll also use it to brush the Danish dough before sprinkling on the filling. Butter adds richness, carries all the glorious flavor of the spices and orange zest, and assists in browning.
- Fine salt: Added to both the granulated sugar “toss” and to the filling, just a little bit of salt helps to bring out the flavor of the spices. It also balances the sweetness, allowing you to eat more.
- Ground cinnamon: The predominant flavoring for the buns, used in both the filling and the sugar toss. Cinnamon brings warmth and coziness to everything.
- Pumpkin spice: Used as an accent to bring a bit of added dimension to the cinnamon. You can use apple pie spice or any preferred baking spice.
- Orange zest: Used in the filling and the toss to infuse the sugars with orange oil. The rolls don’t necessarily read as orangey, but it blends beautifully with the other spices and gives that deep cozy flavor a bit of a sunshiny lift. Please don’t leave it out.
How to Make Caramelized Orange Cinnamon Morning Buns
Again, I want to reassure you that You Can Make These Morning Buns!
Here’s the basic procedure, and then I’ll show you exactly what to do and what to look for along the way.
- Roll out the Danish dough into a large rectangle and trim the edges so they are even.
- Brush with melted butter and evenly sprinkle on the dark brown sugar filling.
- Roll up.
- Cut into 6 2″ buns.
- Put each bun in one of the cavities of the jumbo muffin pan.
- Let rise.
- Bake.
- Toss in more glorious orange-cinnamon sugar.
- Devour. Repeat.
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You’re going to make two sugar mixtures, one for the filling and one for the toss. They’re almost identical except for the type of sugar you use.
- In one medium bowl, mix sugar, salt, and orange zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar. This helps to release the orange oil from the zest and intensify the orange flavor. The sugar will look like damp sand when you’re done. Don’t skip the sugar massage!
- Blend in the spices. You can do it by hand or use a whisk. Photos 1 & 2 are of the brown sugar filling mixture.
- This is a shot of the granulated sugar toss with the orange zest in it. You can see how the sugar has taken on a pale orange color and looks a bit wet.
- Add those spices!
- Now you have two spiced sugar mixtures.
- Here’s the secret: strain out the zest from the granulated sugar mixture. The zest has already given us all its flavor during the massage, and it’s not going to look pretty on the outsides of the morning buns, so use a strainer, thank it for its service, and get rid of it. NOTE: You do NOT have to strain the dark brown sugar mixture. The zest will pretty much melt right into the filling and we’re not going to see it anyway.
- Use about a teaspoon of soft butter per muffin tin cavity and rub it all around. Add a small handful of granulated sugar to each cavity. No need to measure.
- Pick up the tin and rotate it around to make sure the sugar coats the bottom and at least mostly up the sides of the cavities. Gently knock out any excess sugar.
- Roll out and trim the sides of the Danish, and brush it with melted butter. No need to get crazy with the butter–you just need a couple of tablespoons to lightly cover the surface of the dough.
- Evenly sprinkle on the dark brown spiced sugar mixture edge to edge and top to bottom. No real need to leave margins since the cavities in the muffin tin will keep the buns nice and tidy.
- Roll up evenly, trying to make sure that the log of proto-morning buns is the same thickness. You may need to squeeze it gently in the middle to make it as even as you can. Slice into 6 2″ /5 cm buns.
- Place each bun into a cavity, cover, and let rise for about 1:15 until they have expanded to fill the bottom of each cavity and look a bit soft and relaxed.
- This is what the buns look like when rolled. Note how thin the dough is, about 1/8″ / 3 mm. If you’d like a bit more “breadiness,” roll the dough to about 16″ x 12″ / 40 cm.
- After the rise, you can see how the bases have expanded to fill the cavities and the rolls look a bit puffy and relaxed. With fewer swirls, the rise may appear a bit more dramatic. Either way, all is well.
- After baking, you’re looking for a lovely, burnished caramel color. This took about 40 minutes in my oven. If you’d like them a little less dark, you can pull them at an internal temperature of 195-200°F / 91-93° C.
- Here they are, all tossed in the spiced granulated sugar. Gorgeous crackly outsides with tons of flavor from Maillard reactions as the dough browns and the sugars caramelize. And you can’t see it, but the centers are gooey, soft perfection. Oh wait, here:
Storing and Reheating Morning Buns
Store completely cooled leftover morning buns (ha!) in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to three days.
Honestly, I ate the last half of one six days after baking, and it was still excellent, but for best texture, store them for up to three days.
For longer storage, you can freeze these guys in a zip-top freezer bag for a good couple of months. Let them thaw on the counter until room temperature.
Whether serving leftovers from room temperature or ones you have frozen, they are best served warm so the butter in the dough and the filling can both melt for a soft interior. I reheat mine in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes at 350° F / 177° C. Keep an eye on them!
If you absolutely can’t wait that long, you can warm them in the microwave for about 10 seconds per bun, but you will lose a bit of the crispy contrasting texture of the outsides of the buns.
Morning Bun Q & A
Yes, you can. Rather than slicing the log into 6 2″ / 5 cm pieces, slice into 12 1″ / 2.5 cm pieces. Prepare the pan the same way, rubbing with softened butter and coating with granulated sugar. They will most likely bake in about 25-ish minutes, but I’ve not tested that. Go by exterior color and internal temperature to check for doneness.
Yes, you can. Once you shape and place the buns in the prepared tin, cover the whole shebang with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, let them sit at room temperature for about an hour, or until they look a bit puffy and relaxed. Then bake and enjoy.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask questions in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Caramelized Orange Cinnamon Morning Buns
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 150 grams dark brown sugar 5.3 ounces or 3/4 cup, packed
- pinch salt For more even distribution, fine salt works better here.
- 8 grams cinnamon 1 Tbsp
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice or similar warm baking spice or spice blend
- 3 grams orange zest zest of about 1/2 large orange
- 2 Tbsp melted butter 30 grams or about 1 ounce
For the Sugar Toss
- 150 grams granulated sugar 5.3 oz or 3/4 cup
- pinch salt Fine salt works best.
- 8 grams cinnamon 1 Tbsp
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice or your favorite baking spice
- 3 grams orange zest zest of about 1/2 large orange
To Shape and Bake
- 1 recipe Danish dough recipe here
- 4 Tbsp flour For dusting the counter, use bread flour, cake flour, or all-purpose. Any will work.
- 1 Tbsp softened butter for buttering the tin
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar for coating the tins
Instructions
Mise en Place
- Remove your Danish pastry from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before shaping so it is at a good working consistency.
- Rub about 1/2 teaspoon of softened butter into each muffin cavity. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of sugar in the bottom of each cavity, and then rotate and tilt the pan to coat the bottoms and mostly up the sides of each cavity. Gently tap the excess sugar out and set the pan aside.
For the Filling and Sugar Toss
- In each of two medium bowls, add the sugar (granulated in one, dark brown in the other), the salt, and orange zest.
- Rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar looks and feels like slightly damp sand. This helps to release all the flavor of the orange zest into the sugars. NOTE: The color and consistency is easier to see in the granulated sugar, so just make sure the dark brown sugar mixture feels damp and smells beautifully orangey.
- Add the cinnamon and pumpkin spice, and mix with your hands or whisk well.
- Set the dark brown sugar mixture aside for later. Strain the bits of zest from the granulated sugar mixture only and then return the sugar to the bowl. Set that aside for later as well.
To Shape and Bake
- Lightly dust your clean working surface with flour and spread it out well. Dust the top of your Danish dough, and roll it out into a long rectangle 18-20" / 45-50 cm long and 13" / 32 cm wide and about 1/8" / 2-3mm thick.
- Use a pizza cutter to trim the edges, leaving you with a final size of about 19" x 12" / 48 cm x 30 cm.
- Brush the two tablespoons of melted butter evenly over the surface of the dough, going from edge to edge and top to bottom.
- Sprinkle on the brown sugar mixture. It will be slightly generous. Go ahead and use all of it. Again, go edge to edge and top to bottom. Press the sugar mixture down a bit so it adheres to the butter.
- Starting at the short side nearest to you, roll the dough up fairly snugly. Try to keep the tension even as you go. When finished rolling, place the roll seam-side down.
- Using a sharp knife or a 4" pizza wheel, slice the buns into 6 even slices about 2" / 5 cm apiece.
- Place each cut bun into the center of each buttered-and-sugared muffin cavity and cover with plastic wrap.
- Let rest at warm room temperature for about 1:15 until the bottoms of the rolls fill the bottoms of the cavities and they look slightly puffed and relaxed.
- While the buns are resting, set a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 350° F / 177° C.
- Once nice and puffy, bake for about 40 minutes, rotating the pan 180° after 20 minutes. The buns should fill the cavities and may well rise over the tops. They should be deeply golden brown and almost burnished in color. Look for an internal temperature of between 195-200° F / 91-93° C. If you don't want them quite as browned as mine, feel free to loosely tent the pan with foil once you are happy with the color.
- Let the buns rest in the pan for just a minute or two. Use a small offset spatula to remove each bun, one at a time, and toss each thoroughly in the strained granulated spiced sugar mixture. Set aside on a cooling rack and continue until you have sugared all the morning buns. Allow to cool to warm before eating. Or let cool to room temperature and reheat to serve.
- Store well-covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Heat them up for a few minutes in the toaster oven (preferred to maintain crispy exterior) or for a few seconds in the microwave.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
- Danish dough: You’ll need one batch of my laminated Danish pastry dough. Make it at least a day ahead, and let it temper until the butter and dough are equally workable before rolling.
- Regular muffin tin: For 12 smaller buns, cut the dough into twelve 1″ / 2.5 cm slices. Prepare the pan the same way. Start checking for doneness around 25 minutes, using color and internal temperature as your guides. I haven’t tested this size.
- Make ahead: Shape the buns, place them in the prepared tin, cover, and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, let them sit at room temperature until puffy and relaxed before baking.
- Don’t leave them in the pan: Remove the buns after just a minute or two and toss them in the spiced sugar while they’re still hot. The caramelized sugar will harden as they cool, making them much harder to remove.
Nutrition
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