These aren’t your traditional cinnamon buns! These Earl Grey Cinnamon Buns have a brown butter cinnamon filling and are topped with earl grey cream cheese, blueberry compote, and flaky salt. These buns are so tender, pillowy and the earl grey and blueberry flavours complement the flavours so well! That little bit of flaky salt on the top gives you a perfect sweet and salty bite – trust me you won’t regret it!

How to Make Earl Grey Cinnamon Buns

These Earl Grey Cinnamon Buns may seem complicated and time-consuming, but they only require a few more steps than traditional cinnamon buns. The majority of the time is spent waiting for the dough to rise. Break down the process into four components and it will be a lot easier. I promise you it is worth the effort and it comes together easily!

• Earl Grey Buns
• Brown Butter Cinnamon Filling
• Blueberry Compote
• Earl Grey Cream Cheese Frosting

Earl Grey Buns

The longest component of this recipe is making the buns. These earl grey buns are a yeast dough that needs to be kneaded for 6 minutes and rest for 1.5 to 2 hours to create soft and pillowy buns. The easiest way to do this by making it in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can knead the dough by hand – you’ll get a good workout in :). If kneading by hand, you will need to knead for 2-3 more minutes to get a soft and supple dough.

Start the dough by preparing your wet ingredients. Melt the butter with the milk and let it cool slightly, before adding an egg and the sugar. In your stand mixer bowl, add the bread flour, yeast, salt, earl grey tea leaves, and vanilla extract or paste. Combine until all the flour is mixed in. The dough will be pretty soft. As you continue to knead the dough, the dough will become less sticky. Try not to add more flour unless it is so sticky it will not knead! If kneading by hand, knead on a clean surface dusted with some bread flour and make sure you dust your hands generously with flour as well. After kneading for 6 minutes with the stand mixer or around 8 minutes by hand, the dough should be soft and easy to form into a ball. The dough should not stick to dry hands! Place the dough in a well-greased bowl and cover to rise for 1.5 – 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Brown Butter Cinnamon Filling

Take the classic cinnamon bun filling and make it better by browning the butter. Browning your butter will make the cinnamon buns nutty and super fragrant. I highly recommend doing this step, but you can skip this step and just use regular softened butter. Once the butter is browned, cool it in the fridge so that it solidifies but is still soft and spreadable. In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar with cinnamon and a pinch of salt and set aside.

I tried browning the butter in the bun and frosting but I honestly don’t think it makes a huge difference. If you have time, you can do this, but it’s really not worth the extra effort. It’s hard to brown the butter in one step and divide it into different portions. The milk solids will sink to the bottom and as the water evaporates, the measurements are not what you started with. This means you will have to brown butter 3 separate times, and that’s way too much work. As the amount of butter you use in the buns and frosting is pretty small, it doesn’t add too much in terms of flavour, and the earl grey flavour should stand out the most.

Blueberry Compote

Blueberry seems like such a random flavour to add to these earl grey cinnamon buns but hear me out. The blueberry compote adds a nice freshness to the buns and cuts down the heaviness. It really brightens up the entire dish and complements the earl grey SO well! I was actually inspired by my friend Ethaney @tenderherbs on Instagram; she made an earl grey blueberry brown sugar roll with blackberry and vanilla glaze. I saw these and thought earl grey and blueberry sounds amazing so I gave it a try and wow – I was sleeping on such an amazing combination. If you are looking for daily food inspiration, follow Ethaney! She is so lovely 🙂

The blueberry compote comes together super easily and you do not need cornstarch to thicken it up. It comes out a little bit thin but thickens up as it cools. In a small pot, add blueberries, sugar, water, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and reduce to medium-low, stirring often until the blueberries have burst and then transfer to a bowl. The mixture will be liquidy, but as it cools it will thicken slightly but should still be runny enough to spoon easily. I add around 1 tsp to each earl grey cinnamon bun, but you can use as much or as little compote as you like.

Earl Grey Cream Cheese Frosting

The last component of these Earl Grey Cinnamon Buns is the earl grey cream cheese frosting. The frosting is super easy to make and so delicious. Cream softened butter with softened cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, earl grey tea leaves, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Add a splash of warm milk to thin it out a bit. If you like your frosting thinner, add more milk. Adjust to your consistency.

Baking the Earl Grey Cinnamon Buns

Once your dough has doubled in size, you will need to roll it out on a well-floured surface to an approximately 9×13 inch rectangle. When rolling your dough, I like to roll out the top edge a bit thinner, as this will become the bottom seam of your cinnamon buns. This will prevent the seam from puffing up when baking and uncoiling the rolls. Spread your slightly solidified brown butter, and sprinkle your cinnamon-sugar mixture. I don’t use completely melted brown butter because I find it leaks more when it bakes.

After sprinkling the sugar, roll from the bottom up, rolling the short end. Make sure you roll the bun tightly, so you get a nice tight cinnamon bun that will not fall apart. As the middle is often thicker and the sides are thinner, I stretch out the middle of the roll slightly and cut 1/2 inch off each end. Cut your buns into your desired thickness, I usually recommend 1-1.5 inches. Place in a buttered pan, cover and let the buns rise again until doubled in size, around 30-40 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375° Fahrenheit and brush melted butter on the top of your Earl Grey Cinnamon Buns before baking for 16-18 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown on top. Make your earl grey compote and frosting while the buns bake. Once the buns have cooled for around 15 minutes, top with earl grey frosting and then add blueberry compote and swirl the top. Optional but highly recommended topping with flaky salt. It adds such an amazing sweet but salty bite. Serve while slightly warm. Your house will smell incredible, but these Earl Grey Cinnamon Buns will taste even more amazing!

Which Earl Grey Do I Use?

Choosing which earl grey to use is super important. The problem with earl grey tea is that some of them taste like soap. Some of them have good flavour but you need a lot of tea bags to get that flavour. I tried most of the ones at the grocery store and I have finally found one that I always stick to.

Stash Double Bergamot Earl Grey – It’s affordable, and easily accessible too! I found this tea bag at most of my grocery stores and if not, I can order it off amazon. I really like this tea because it smells fragrant, has good flavour, and most of the time I only need 1 tea bag per recipe. Also, the tea leaves are pretty fine so it’s perfect for adding directly into a recipe without steeping or grinding. In these earl grey cinnamon buns, I add them directly to the dough and the frosting. This recipe uses around half a tea bag and it gives a perfect earl grey flavour that’s not overpowering.

Looking for other Earl Grey Desserts? Check out my Earl Grey Cupcakes or Earl Grey Macarons

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