Tomorrow is the first day of April, April Fool’s Day, and it seems only fitting that Mother Nature is about to play a big trick on us here in New England. After the winter we’ve had, it has finally felt a tiny bit like spring. Bright, sunny, and with the thermometer slowly creeping upwards I actually got out to the park yesterday with my son, and it was glorious. But now they are calling for a Nor’easter tomorrow. You’ve heard of our famous Nor’easters, yes? Wind, rain, snow. The joke’s on us! Mother Nature just wanted to see us put away our gloves and hats before she decided to dump on us again. She wanted to seduce us with a tiny taste of spring before blasting us with one last (oh lordy, please let it be the last!) round of snow.
Nevertheless, time marches on and in advance of Easter, my kids and I had some fun in the kitchen. I saw this idea in the April issue of Disney Family Fun, a magazine that neither my husband nor I recall ever signing up for. It just started coming to us, so it must have come free with some other subscription. It’s not exactly the sort of magazine we would seek out, but I always flip through it a bit before tossing it in the recycling bin, and these cute cinnamon buns caught my eye. Much like monkey bread, you take sweet dough and make little balls rolled in cinnamon sugar. But in this instance, you arrange them carefully in muffin tins, so that they come out looking like little flowers, with a center ball surrounded by five petals.
Or at least, that’s the idea. The ones in the magazine all look lovely and uniform. But you try letting a 6 year old and a 4 year old have their way with balls of dough, some melted butter and some cinnamon sugar and see what yours end up looking like! I couldn’t quite get the kids to understand how to fit the first five balls of dough at the bottom and then make a hole to fit in the sixth ball in the center. In most cases, the center ball was just plopped on top of the others. But we had a lot of fun and made an unholy mess in the kitchen. I made the dough ahead of time but then let the kids go to town on dipping the balls in butter and sugar, and then drizzling in glaze and sprinkles afterwards. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and I have to say, it was worth all the clean-up afterwards.
Easter Bubble Buns
Dough:
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3 tbsp butter, melted
2/3 cup sour cream
3 tbsp sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for kneading
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
Coating:
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
sprinkles (optional)
Place water in bowl of stand mixer and sprinkle yeast over. Let stand until bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in butter, sour cream, sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat in 2 cups of flour, the salt and baking soda until incorporated. Add remaining flour and continue to mix until a smooth, soft dough forms.
Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface, reserving mixing bowl. Knead dough until smooth, about 3 minutes, adding in more flour if dough is sticky. Do not exceed 2 additional tablespoons of flour.
Place dough back in mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
In a small bowl, mix cinnamon and sugar for coating. Place melted butter in a small, shallow dish.
Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan, and then flour the cups and tap out excess flour.
Punch down dough to deflate. Form into a long cylinder and then divide into 12 equal portions. Divide each portion into 6 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
For each bun, coat six balls with melted butter and then roll them in cinnamon sugar. Arrange five balls in the bottom of a prepared muffin cup. Using your fingertip, make a small well in the center and press in the sixth ball.
Repeat with remaining dough and muffin cups. Cover buns loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until puffy and have doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F. Bake buns until golden, 20-22 minutes. Let cool in pan 5 to 10 minutes and then tilt pan and gentil tap on a work surface to release buns. If needed, use a knife to help release them.
Place buns on a wire rack over a cookie sheet (line with waxed or parchment paper for easy clean up). In a small bowl, mix glaze ingredients and stir until smooth. Drizzle each bun with glaze and sprinkles, if using.
I think they look great like this! Sounds delicious and fun to make :).
These look so good, and kids would have so much fun making these. I love the name, Bubble Buns.
Everyone can have their own mini-monkey bread – how cute! Great project for keeping the kids busy while you check to see if the Easter Bunny is ready.
What an brilliant idea. I can just imagine the scene in your kitchen rolling these dough balls! Great fun. Have to get my girls doing that over the hols soon. Fingers crossed that the snow was an early joke!
Stunning photos as always, Carolyn (love the bunny 😉
This is perfect! My children will eat anything that has the word bubble in it. Bubble tea, bubble pizza, bubble salad. We even have a Grandma Bubble. We are definitely trying this one!
Might just have to make this for my BFF's Easter baskets! Looks wonderful!
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I've seen my niece in the kitchen so I can only imagine the mess you had on your hands. Itty bitty takes no interest in what I'm doing in the kitchen until it's time to eat. These are so cute! I would love to receive that magazine just to flip through for ideas.
OMG so cute!!! Totally love this idea and it looks like a lot of fun 🙂
yum! it's like monkey bread meets muffins. I'm not a kid (nor do I have any of my own) but I'm making these!
Forget the kids, I want one of these! They look super yummy!!!
Carolyn those are so beautiful and sound really tasty! I think my kids would enjoy them very much…will try this soon!
These are adorable. Can't wait to try them!
What a fun idea! They look perfect for an Easter treat!
This is a really cute idea. I've passed it on to my daughters. This is my first visit to your blog and I've spent some time browsing through your earlier entries. I really like the food and recipes you feature here. I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Cute! My kid would love these. Anything with sprinkles…
Oh, how sweet! I have everything on hand to make these, too. Sounds like a fun Saturday afternoon project.
I think they turned out perfect.
So much fun to make them and of course, eating them. I have to look for some Spring-y sprinkles and make them. Can't wait.
Thanks Carolyn
ohmigosh! these look amazing 🙂 i'm bookmarking this one for consumption ASAP.
Love this recipe! So cute, and simple. I think my little man would love to help make these!
These are precious! Just what you need to put some cheer into a stormy day. Fun idea…so bright and festive.
oh wow! how cute is that?!?! I love it! I am really digging that coating…sounds ammmmazing.
I want them all for me!!
Oh I know, can I call in with a Nor'easter and not go to work tomorrow? The Northeast is ready for spring! On happy notes, these muffins look so good! Love the pull-apart dough 🙂
These are absolutely adorable!
I love these! I don't have any kids (yet) but I act like a kid all the time, so these get me excited! Especially the sprinkles 🙂
These look so cute and sound very yummy!
Very cute!
These look so cute! I love the name and that they have rainbow sprinkles 🙂
These look so good! I love the sprinkles too 🙂 I think your kids did a wonderful job.
These buns are just a.do.ra.ble! I must try them with Carla. I'm sure she will have a lot of fun!
Good luck with the snow! My family is in New England and they are more than ready for it to end! These look like an awesome project to try out with my mini sous chef! Thanks for the idea!
delicious and cinnamon wonderful
reminds me of cinnamon buns must have been aromatic
CAROLYN – how awesome are these?!?! I love this recipe! So yummy looking.
Oh, I passed your blog info. to a friend of mine. She was needing help with some gluten free recipes. I know she will love many of the ideas you have on here! :o)
oh yum!!! looks perfect! love the barley stew too!
These are SO cute, I absolutely love them! I have to make these for myself. 🙂 Thanks so much for the recipe, it looks like fun.
Love these Carolyn! Look so delicious and I have to make this with the kiddos:)
Levi looked at this screen and said, "mommy, will you please make those". His wish is my command. These look fun and yummy!
My son is going to LOVE making these!
Carolyn I love these bubble buns. I will have to bookmark to make them with my kids for Easter. I know they will have a blast helping!
Sorry to hear about your crappy weather, but you could always fly in for a visit, it is supposed to be sunny and upper 90's today ;o)
Too cute and what a great Easter idea!
Laura
Oh my goodness, these look just delightful!
Sending sunshine from Florida your way. It has been quite the winter, and it does not seem to want to end in the north east.
Your bubble buns are delightful. Awesome.
Velva
These bubble buns are such a great idea! Love the tiny nonpareils on the top 🙂 Sweet girl.
What a great recipe and how amazing do these bubble buns look! Definitely going to give this a try! Thanks for sharing. I am a new follower!
xo
These are so adorable!
I love how crazy delicious these look. They might not be uniform but your kids will have memories to last a lifetime. I love that.
These are adorable! I think they look even better because the kids put the balls of dough where they wanted to – full of fun.
These are absolutely adorable!
I even like saying the name… Bubble Buns. Bubble Buns. Bubble Buns.
Thanks so much for this recipe – I can't wait to give it a shot!
Wow, I love this idea, how cute. I'm going to make these soon, thank you!
Very fun buns! Love the sprinkles.
Oh my goodness – anything with sprinkles on top gets my vote! These looks amazing. They remind me of monkey bread, but I like how they are in muffin form, so they are already portioned out into serving sizes. Genius!
Snow last week, 80º and chance of tornadoes tonight…wow.
Love your darling bubble buns! My kids wouldn't want to help make them, just help eat them!
I made something similar to this when my kids were little, but it was all in one big pan, I really like the smaller servings you have here!
This is a great idea! I don't have any kids, but I want to try it anyway!
These bubble buns are simply adorable! I've got to get the kids on these soon, I'm sure they'll enjoy making and decorating them. And yes, I'll enjoy eating them afterwards!
Found ya on M&T Spotlight. Your recipes look soooo delicious! And my name is Carolyn, also. You got a new follower! Please check out my blog and follow if you get a chance. Thnx!
http://www.cookinformycaptain.blogspot.com
Yup, these are perfect. I love the recipes that have kid fingerprints all over them (even when you can't literally see them). They look fun; they feel fun; and I bet they taste delicious.
love these! esp since if i make monkey bread i eat way too much of it 🙂
What a cute idea! I love finding fun new ideas:-) AND I love love recipes where kids can help in the kitchen. Maybe getting that magazine was a sign the kids want to cook with you more in the kitchen, LOL;-)
Take care,
Terra
These are so cute. They're like monkey bread, but with sprinkles. Genius.
Those look absolutely delicious! My kids would absolutely love those.
What a great recipe for kids and parents alike! The rainbow sprinkles make this tasty treat a load of fun. We agree with Terra, the best family recipes are the ones where kids can get involved. Thank you for sharing this!