
A five star recipe. These were deemed by my family the best thing I have ever baked. I had heard so many things about the legendary morning buns from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco — and was curious to taste these illustrious cinnamon buns for myself.

Let me start off by saying these are not your average cinnamon rolls. What’s the difference between a morning bun and a cinnamon roll? Morning buns are made with my perfect croissant dough that’s buttery, flaky, and shatters when you bite it, rather than a chewy, denser, more bread-like dough. They are sprinkled with cinnamon, sugar, and orange zest, and peel apart in delicate, fluffy layers.

I baked these for my dad’s Father’s Day Brunch, and my entire family raved about them. My dad’s old favorite were my cinnamon sugar croissants, and these are basically the same thing rolled to a new, crazy, cinnamon bun level.
What’s the best thing you’ve ever baked?
With love,
Erica
Ingredients
1 batch croissant dough (my simple recipe here)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
Finely grated zest of 2 medium oranges
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
pinch salt
Adapted from La Tartine Gourmande
These are so beautiful and I can tell they are delicious!
Here is the best thing I have ever baked: http://hovkonditorn.blogspot.sg/2012/03/butter-croissant.html
Thank you so much! I am going to check out your blog! Homemade croissants are hard to beat!
Beautiful! The flaky swirls are memorizing, and I bet they smell great too. If I weren't so intimidated by making my own croissants, I'd probably bake them all the time, just to taste their buttery goodness!
Thank you so much! Don't be intimidated — although time consuming, the process takes nothing more than a little bit of elbow grease :). And just the smell of these buns baking in the oven is worth the effort!
They look so yummy!
Thank you!
Came to your blog via Tastespotting today and this recipe for morning buns looks delicious! Am a little afraid to venture into making croissant dough, maybe I will have the courage to one day 😉
Thank you! Don't fear, although I admit they are time consuming, once you get the process it isn't tricky at all– and the heavenly smell of homemade croissants is completely worth the wait and bit of effort!
These are just beautiful! I am in love with the rustic look of them and would love to try making them. At your age, I wouldn't have dared even make scrambled eggs in the kitchen! I am so impressed!!
Thank you so much!
These morning buns look beautiful, Erica! The pastry looks so flaky and delicious! I can totally see why this is your family's favorite.
Thank you Erika! I am glad you found your way to the new Cannella Vita! Shoot me an email sometime again at cannellavita.blogspot.com, I would love to get a conversation going!
whoops! I meant at cannellavita[at]gmail.com
These are SO beautiful!
Thank you!
Beautiful pictures and these look seriously incredible! Do you mind me asking what lens you use? I'm looking to buy a new one to get better close ups. Very cute blog by the way.
Thank you so much! I have a Canon Rebel with an EFS 14-55mm
these are so beautiful!
Thank you!
Thanks for your reply and visiting my blog =). I only hope someday my photos can be as clear as yours, love them!
Thank you so much Jaclyn, I would love it if you shot me an email sometime so we could share recipes!
These look beautiful! I'm so excited to try it out.
This looks delicious and your pictures are amazing. Would love for you to share your photos with us at foodepix.com.
Thank you so much! I will definitely submit some photos!
Erica only one word for your morning buns .. WOW!
Thank you!
very beautiful.. very flaky.. Bookmarking this
Sowmya
http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in
Thank you! This has been my favorite pasty ever!
Beautiful. I can almost smell it. Please email one ASAP. 🙂
I would if I could! They are very easy to make ahead and freeze after the second rising time — so you could make a bunch, and then just pop however many you want into the oven when you need them 🙂
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Thanks a ton!
Hi! Your recipe looks fantastic, but I would like to see also the one for the pastry. Unfortunately, the link is broken. Can you help me with this as I would like very much to try it. Thank you!
Yes! I have fixed the link!
I just found your site and very much want to try these, too, but the dough link seems once again to be broken. Can you repost it, please? Thanks!
Greetings, Erica. Wow, I am so impressed! I saw this on Pinterest, and pinned it, and then came to your blog to see the recipe. I cannot believe you are in high school — You should have your own baking show on The Food Network! You do beautiful baking, taking beautiful shots. You really have the world in front of you, the best of luck to you because you deserve it, good for you! I hope to one day try this recipe, and it's also so nice you made it for your Dad for Father's Day! I wish you lived near me, I'd fix you up with my son. 😉 Well, take care, I hope to visit again soon.
Best,
Gloria
This comment really made my day! It would be totally unbelievable to bake on the Food Network! You should really try these morning buns out, these would be perfect for a special holiday breakfast! Take care, and thank you for visiting!
Erica
luv it
Hi Erica,
I've been reading and re-reading this amazing looking recipe for weeks, and I think I'm ready to actually make these fabulous rolls: Day 1 today, Day 2 tomorrow, Day 3 Christmas morning! I just have a couple questions before I start–once I've rolled the dough out to a 12 x 20 rectangle, which end do I start rolling from? In other words, will I end up with a short (12"), fat roll or a thinner, longer (20") roll? Does the recipe really only make 6 rolls? I think I could eat 6 all by myself ;-).
Your site really is beautiful–beautiful writing, beautiful photography, beautiful food!
Much thanks,
Deb
Awesome! I am making these for my Christmas morning as well (I usually don't have the time to make such festive things!). Roll it from the long side — This recipe makes about 12 rolls! (So one muffin tin full of them!).
Thanks for the quick reply! I posted the link to this page on my friend's blog: elevenclockmom.com–hope you don't mind. She and I used to share morning rolls that looked just like this at La Boulange in San Francisco. They serve them with soup-bowl-sized lattes, divine.
Merry Christmas!
Deb
I don't mind at all! Thanks for sharing the recipe! I could really use a soup-bowl-sized latte right now!
Hey love this recipe idea!! QUICK QUESTION: do i need to place the buns in the fridge for 8 hours if im using store-bought puff pastry sheets?
Hey this looks like such a great recipe!!
QUICK QUESTION: I'm using store-bought puff pastry sheets- do i still need to leave the buns in the fridge for 8 hours?
I am not sure as I have never used store bought puff pastry — I would let them rest in there for at least 1 hour.
Hey Cannella – Just saw this on Pinterest and I would love to make them, however, I'm unable to click on the link to your croissant recipe. Tried on two different computers now. They look divine!!!!
Oh no! Thank you so much — if you search croissants in my recipe index then you can find my croissant recipe "step by step" — links can sometimes get a bit jumbled on here.
Hi Cannella,
Two questions for you:
When you place the rolls into the muffin tin, are you standing them on their sides, or are you laying them in with the cut edges down?
Also, with the dough recipe, we are to complete all the steps right up until the rolling into the last rectangle and cutting into the triangles, right? Instead, roll to the dimensions of the buns, and sugar & roll them, etc?
PS: I already have the first dough on the plate in the fridge, so will be doing the buttering, rolling, and sugaring tomorrow, so if at all possible, please reply soon. Thanks!
I cannot wait to see how your buns turned out! I answered both of your questions on my Facebook page!
My buns are in the refrigerator, shaped and ready to bake in the morning. Do you use an egg wash for these, as you do for traditional croissants?
Can't wait! Tell me how they turn out! Yes, you can use an egg wash on these (it will give them a nice glossy finish), although you don't have to.
Hi. Was son excited to try these, but unfortunately your link to your dough recipe does not work. Can you tell me where I can visit to get this. Thank you.
Yes! I will fix that link right now!
Made these for Christmas and they were a huge a showstopper. We gilded the lilly a bit with a drizzle of vanilla glaze, and they were incredible. They are every bit worth the workout for all of that rolling!
I am so glad! That vanilla glaze sounds awesome! 🙂
Hi erica , am making croissant and morning buns right now .have made my dough last nigh and kept it in the fridge now am doing the roll,fold, freezing but if am not mistaken you have once mentioned in butter croissant recipe that we cover and leave the dough again in the fridge over the night after roll&fold process ,and on your step by step recipe you have mentioned to roll and form our croissants after roll&fold process and keep them ready in the fridge over the night ..!
so now for my morning buns which one should i follow , because you have mentioned we should roll the buns the night before so are the buns taking 3 days to make as well as the croissants?
:))) am sorry if am confusing you as well as myself , I'm now sleep writing since its 5.00 am here in mideast and i have been busy with baking all night :)))
Dear Sara,
Yes, the buns should take three days, it helps them rise over night in the fridge, if you're in a huge rush, you could let them rise at room temp for about 2 hours, and then bake them.
I hope this answered your question! Happy baking!
Erica
I've tried regular yeast dough and then blitz pastry for my morning buns, but I think I'm going to have to commit fully to the project of perfecting them and making croissant dough for the first time. Thanks for this post!
Thank you! Let me know how they turn out!
Hi, Erica, it is my dream to bake pastries like this. I will definitely give this recipe a try. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome! Please let me know how they turn out! 🙂
Hi I want to try these but it seems like a4day process…day1,2,3 then shape and bake the next day…Is that correct?
Yes, it is a four day process, but mostly downtime, and also they are so worth it and you will feel so accomplished when you're done! 🙂
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Hi! So excited to make these!! They look beyond delicious. I need a little bit of clarity though on when I stop following the croissants recipe. I assume I do all of the steps under day 1 and day 2, and then on day 3 do I go through step 3 or through step 4? Or through all of the steps on day 3 as well?? Thanks in advance!
Hi! So excited to make these!! They look beyond delicious. I need a little bit of clarity though on when I stop following the croissants recipe. I assume I do all of the steps under day 1 and day 2, and then on day 3 do I go through step 3 or through step 4? Or through all of the steps on day 3 as well?? Thanks in advance!