Susurrous Health: Happy Easter! - Spring Berry Cinnamon Buns!

I hope everyone has had as wonderful of an Easter as I have. My weekend was spent visiting with family and eating.. isn't that what most holidays are.

I had planned on racing in the Good Friday Races in Burlington, but my week just ended up being too busy and we weren't able to go.  I will be racing next Saturday in Marden - 5k for Team Wellington!

Today - being Easter Sunday was much more relaxed than Friday and Saturday. We ended up staying put.... of course the Easter Bunny made a visit to our house over night so the girls had an Easter egg hunt.  Mid-morning Dan and the girls set out in one direction on a trail loop close by our house for a run and the girls on their bikes. I set off from the opposite end of the trail running toward them. They ran/biked for about 1 &1/2 km while I ran about 6 km to meet them. Then we headed to the car together. It was a great way for all of us to exercise together and I was still able to get a decent run in.

I also attempted to make a healthier version of my cinnamon buns. I have been substituting stevia in some of my recipes.  While it is a great natural sugar free substitute, I find the sweetness too sweet or just strange to my taste buds. I'll still keep trying, but maybe the best option would be to ween myself off sugar all together. The other substitutions I made to this recipe was to switch up half the white flour for whole spelt flour and get rid of brown sugar butter mixture all together adding berries for sweetness.

How was it? Not bad - I think maple syrup - even just a smidgy bit would add a rich sweetness that would make a big difference... maybe I'll try it tomorrow morning.

Spring Berry Cinnamon Buns

by Denise Boyd Dunlop

Prep Time: 2 1/2 hours

Cook Time: 30-35 minutes

Keywords: bake bread breakfast dessert vegetarian

Ingredients (12-16 buns)

For the dough

1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 olive oil
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoons yeast (quick rise or for a bread machine)

For the Filling

1 cup berries (I used chopped strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)
2 tablespoons water + 2 tablespoons for mixing with corn starch
2 teaspoons corn starch
sweetener to taste
2 tablespoons margarine or softened butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the toppings

1/4 cup cream cheese softened
sweetener to taste (I used stevia)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Instructions

For the dough

Layer the ingredients in your bread machine in the order given above. Set to dough cycle.

For the filling

Place the berries in a sauce pan, add the first amount of water. Bring to a gentle boil. In a separate bowl, dissolve the corn starch into the second amount of water. Wisk into the berry mixture stirring continually until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and add sweetener to taste.

For the topping

Mix lemon zest, vanilla and sweetener into cream cheese. Store in refrigerator until the buns are ready.

Putting it together

When the dough is finished in the bread machine, roll out on a floured counter top forming a 18x14 in rectangle. Spread butter or margarine on the rectangle. Leave a 1 in boarder around the rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with cinnamon. Spoon the berry sauce over the dough, spreading a thin layer, you will have sauce left over. Beginning at the long side, roll the dough tightly. Pinch the seam to seal. Cover and let rise for 1/2 hour.

Grease of a large 14x18 in pan. Using a serrated knife, cut the rolled up dough into 15-20 pieces and place cut side up in pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degree for about 30 minutes. The buns will sound hollow when tapped. Let stand in the pan for 5 minutes then invert onto a serving platter.

Once the cinnamon buns are cool to the touch, spread cream cheese on top just prior to serving. Alternately, you can serve with extra filling.