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Brioche Cinnamon Knots photo of one roll torn open on plate to reveal the buttery texture

Brioche Cinnamon Knots

Brioche Cinnamon Knots. Think brioche meets cinnamon rolls in a new brunch classic. A buttery soft brioche dough rolled in cinnamon sugar, baked and topped with a sweet vanilla glaze.
Course Breackfast/Brunch
Cuisine French Inspired
Keyword breadrecipe, brioche, cinnamon rolls
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Proofing time 3 hours
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 12 large rolls
Calories 458 kcal
Author Barry C. Parsons

Ingredients

For the cinnamon knot dough

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 envelope of instant yeast
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 cup real butter slightly softened and near room temperature (NO SUBSTITUTES) Cut butter in about a dozen small pieces
  • 1/2 cup whole milk or for even richer brioche substitute undiluted evaporated milk
  • 4 eggs at room temperature
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar

  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 3 tsp cinnamon

Vanilla Glaze

  • 1 cup icing sugar powdered sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 to 2 tbsp milk

Instructions

To prepare the dough

  1. In a stand mixer add the flour, salt, yeast and sugar.
  2. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla extract and mix together just until the flour is incorporated, the dough will be quite tough and lumpy at this point, this is normal.
  3. Using the dough hook attachment for your mixer begin adding the pieces of butter as the dough turns in the bowl.
  4. Continue until all of the butter is incorporated into the dough. Continue until the dough is very smooth and elastic.
  5. Do not add additional flour. Cover and let rest and rise until double in volume.

To form the Brioche Cinnamon Knots

  1. Turn the dough out into a lightly floured breadboard and knead for about 5 minutes before forming the dough into 12 individual balls.
  2. Let the dough balls rest for a few minutes before hand rolling each one into about a 8-10 inch rope shape.
  3. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon to make cinnamon sugar.
  4. Roll the dough ropes in the cinnamon sugar and tie each one in a single knot.
  5. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and place 6 knots on each sheet.
  6. Allow the dough knots to rise for at least an hour or until they more than double in size.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
  8. When cooled down for 10-15 minutes you can drizzle them with vanilla glaze if you like.

To prepare the Vanilla Glaze

  1. Whisk all three ingredients together until smooth and drizzle over the cinnamon rolls.
  2. Add only a tbsp or so of milk at first and then just stir in a few drops at a time until the proper consistently is achieved; you won't want this glaze to be too thin.

Recipe Notes

These Brioche Cinnamon Knots can also be cold proofed overnight in the fridge and baked the next morning. This makes them much quicker and convenient to serve if you have guests arriving for brunch.

Once the knots are formed and placed on the cookie sheet, leave them to rise for about 20 minutes. I then slip the cookie sheet into a plastic bag and tie it to close. Keep as much air as you can in the bag so the plastic does not stick to the dough.

Next morning take them out of the fridge while the oven is reheating, then bake as instructed.

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.