Light and fluffy sticky cinnamon knots, all covered in a brown sugar glaze. A perfect sweet treat for cinnamon lovers!
- Uses a quick and easy dough, that bakes up light and fluffy.
- The dough is brushed with butter and rolled in lots of cinnamon sugar before being tied into an easy knot.
- After baking, the pan is inverted so the brown sugar syrup drips over the top and makes the cinnamon knots “sticky”.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Quick-Rise Yeast – Yeast can be confusing and particularly quick-rise yeast, which varies in name and brand from country to country. Here in Canada, Quick-Rise Yeast is typically available from Fleischmann’s® and is clearly labelled “Quick-Rise”. This type of quick-rise yeast allows for replacing the typical first-rise period with a short 10-minute rest.
Do note that there is also Fleischmann’s yeast labelled “Rapid-Rise” that is different. This Rapid Rise Yeast is very similar to regular Instant Yeast and uses two rises (but they are typically shorter rises). You will need to adjust the rising times if using this type of yeast.
Finally, you can use regular Instant Yeast (such as SAF) or Active Dry Yeast, however, you will need to do a full first rise, until the dough doubles in size, instead of the 10-minute rest indicated in the recipe. I have added details for all the different types of yeast in the Recipe Card.
Step-by-Step Photos
- Divide brown sugar, butter and cinnamon mixture between 8 muffin cups.
- Add 2 teaspoons of water to each muffin cup.
- Stir the mixture together and set aside.
- Mix the dough together. The dough will be sticky, but should wrap the dough hook and clean the bowl in spots. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Remove dough to a lightly floured work surface.
- Divide the dough into 8 even pieces and form into a ball.
- Roll each dough piece into an 8-inch rope, then brush with butter.
- Roll rope in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
- Tie into a knot.
- Place knots in muffin cups on top of the brown sugar mixture.
- Once all the knots are done, cover the pan with a tea towel and leave to rise for about 45 minutes before baking.
- After baking, invert the pan onto the baking sheet and roll knots in the syrup to coat.
Recipe Tips
- When baking with yeast, it is sometimes necessary to add a bit more or less flour than specified. Adjust as necessary until the dough looks as described in the recipe.
- Be sure to bake the muffin tin on top of a baking sheet, just in case you have some bubble-overs. You can also then use the same baking sheet at the end of baking to remove the baked knots.
- Use tongs to roll the baked knots in the syrup to coat well. Be careful, the sugar syrup is hot!
Making Ahead, Storing and Freezing
These cinnamon knots keep well at room temperature for about 48 hours. For longer storage, freeze for up to 2 months.
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Get the Recipe: Sticky Cinnamon Knots
Soft, buttery and cinnamon knots, all finished with a brown sugar glaze. Bakes all together in muffin tins!
Ingredients
For the muffin pan:
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter, cold and cut into 4 pieces
For the dough:
- 2 1/2 – 3 cups all purpose flour, spooned and levelled, plus more as needed
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons Quick-Rise Yeast, *see Note 1 below for yeast explanations, options and adjustments.
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water, about 105F.
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1 large egg
For rolling knots:
- 1 Tablespoon butter, melted
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Have ready a 12-cup muffin tin (or two 6-cup muffin tins). You'll only use 8 of the cups for a single recipe.
- For the muffin pan: In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Add the butter pieces and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the brown sugar mixture, breaking up the butter as you go, until you have an even mixture with pea-sized pieces of butter.
- Divide the brown sugar mixture evenly between each of 8 muffin cups (about 1 1/2 Tbsp per muffin cup). Add 2 teaspoons of water to each cup with the brown sugar mixture. Stir to moisten. Set aside.
- For the dough: Combine 2 1/2 cups of the all purpose flour, the white sugar, salt and quick-rise yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the kneading hook. In a small saucepan or in the microwave, heat the water, milk and 2 Tbsp. butter until just warm to the touch (about 105F). Stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients, then add egg and mix in until well combined, scraping down the bowl as needed to combine the flour.
- Start adding more flour, in small increments, mixing in well before adding more. Continue adding flour until you have a moist dough that wraps around the hook and cleans the bowl of the mixer. Dough will look a bit sticky at this point. Remove dough to a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Form into a ball, cover with a clean tea towel and let rest 10 minutes. (**or rise until doubled if using Active Dry or regular Instant yeast).
- Divide the dough into 8 even pieces (mine here were about 85g each). *I like to weigh the whole piece of dough, then divide by the number of rolls, to get the weight for each. I then weigh out the individual pieces, so they are all the same size.
- Melt the butter for brushing and have ready with a brush. Mix together the cinnamon sugar for rolling and have ready as well.
- Form each piece of dough into a ball. Working with one dough ball, use the palms of your hands and your work surface to roll/stretch the dough into an 8-inch long rope. Brush the rope with melted butter, then roll into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Tie into a knot. Place the knot into a muffin cup with the brown sugar mixture. Repeat until you have used all the dough pieces.
- When all the knots are in the muffin pan, cover with a clean tea towel and rise until puffy, about 40-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F (regular bake setting/not fan-assisted).
- Place muffin tins on top of a baking sheet (to catch any bubble-overs). Bake at 350F for about 28-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the knots to stand in the pan for about 2 minutes. Place the baking sheet you used under the muffin tin and place it on a cooling rack. Take the muffin tin and invert/flip the knots out onto the baking pans, letting the syrup in the pan drip over knots (careful, it's hot!). Use tongs to roll the knots in the syrup on the baking sheet, then transfer the knots to another cooling rack to cool. You can brush any extra syrup on the buns as well, if you like.
- Allow to cool, then store in an air-tight container for a couple of days at room temperature or freeze up to 2 months, for longer storage.
Notes
Quick-Rise Yeast – Yeast can be confusing and particularly quick-rise yeast, which varies in name and brand from country to county. Here in Canada, Quick-Rise Yeast is typically available from Fleischmann’s® and is clearly labelled “Quick-Rise”. This type of quick-rise yeast allows for replacing the typical first rise period with a short 10-minute rest instead.
Note that there is also Fleischmann’s yeast labelled “Rapid-Rise” that is different. This Rapid Rise Yeast is very similar to regular Instant Yeast and uses two rises (but they are typically shorter rises). You will need to adjust the rising times if using this type of yeast.
Finally, you can use regular Instant Yeast (such as SAF) or Active Dry Yeast, however, you will need to do a full first rise, until the dough doubles in size, instead of the 10-minute rest indicated in the recipe. For Active Dry Yeast, you will need to proof the yeast in the warm water before adding to the dough. Don’t add Active Dry yeast directly to the flour mixture.
Be sure to read the information above this recipe card, for more tips, as well as step-by-step photos that you might find useful.
Serving: 1knot, Calories: 476kcal, Carbohydrates: 81g, Protein: 11g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 50mg, Sodium: 387mg, Potassium: 161mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 14g, Vitamin A: 357IU, Vitamin C: 0.05mg, Calcium: 46mg, Iron: 4mg
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Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
