Pillowy homemade brioche dough is rolled up with earl grey tea, vanilla bean, honey, lemon, and white chocolate to create these London fog-inspired sweet buns. They’re baked to golden, soft and gooey perfection and topped off with an earl grey glaze. Think: The best cinnamon roll ever meets a London fog latte, and they make a sweet bun exploding with flavor and gooey filling.One bite of a London fog bun and you’ll never settle for basic cinnamon rolls again. These mind-blowing buns start with the only brioche bun/cinnamon roll recipe you will ever need, but instead of the classic butter-cinnamon-brown sugar filling, they are rolled up with the most magical goo of earl grey tea, vanilla bean paste, sugar, honey, lemon zest, and butter, plus a sprinkle of white chocolate chips. After baking to golden, soft, sticky, chewy, pull-apart, gooey perfection, they are topped off with a beautiful earl grey and vanilla glaze.

Tea people and non-tea people alike will swoon over these magical flavors. The complexity of the tea is balanced with the warmth of vanilla bean, brightness of honey and lemon, and richness of white chocolate to create a sophisticated, sweet, and comforting bite of heaven. They are glorious for Mother’s Day brunch, Easter brunch, or any lazy weekend that would benefit from a special treat.

The Brioche Dough

This brioche dough is my go-to for cinnamon rolls, sweet buns, and all their relatives, and I’m certain it will be your new favorite, too. It is simple to throw together, takes just minutes to knead with an electric mixer, is easy to handle, can be made the night before, and comes out ultra soft and pillowy every single time. Understandably, the idea of making any dough from scratch can seem daunting at first. But do this just once, and you’ll wonder why brioche buns haven’t always been on your regular meal rotation. The dough is shockingly low-stress and extremely satisfying to make–no special skills required.

A few things that make this recipe stand out:

It uses bread flour instead of all-purpose flour. Because of the higher protein content, bread flour allows more gluten to develop, meaning more structure (read: fluffiness) in your rise and more irresistible chew in your baked rolls.
The full recipe makes enough dough for 9 hearty rolls, but it can easily be adapted for a smaller batch of 6 rolls (2/3 the recipe).
Kneading just takes 8 minutes and is a breeze with the dough hook attachment of a stand mixer or electric hand mixer.
You have a super convenient overnight option (first rise and assembly the night before, quick second rise and bake in the morning) or same-day method to choose from.
The dough is so versatile! Your filling options are endless, and the London fog flavor is perhaps the best.

The London Fog Filling

The delectable London fog filling is what makes these buns extra special. A “London fog” is a latte made with earl grey tea, vanilla, and milk. When translating this concept to a sweet roll, I wanted strong earl grey flavor, prominent vanilla bean, and a sweet-creamy element. I also wanted to incorporate lemon and honey–two of black tea’s besties–to enhance and brighten the flavors. Thus, we have:

Crushed earl grey tea – Grind loose-leaf tea to form a powder, or take it directly from a tea bag.
Vanilla bean paste – Although more expensive than vanilla extract and sometimes harder to find, vanilla bean paste is the key to an unmistakable, rich vanilla flavor in the finished buns. You can actually see and taste the beautiful speckles of vanilla bean in the filling. (Vanilla extract certainly won’t hurt the flavor, it is just easily masked.)
Lemon zest – Adds a zing of brightness.
Honey – Complements the earl grey while contributing to the mouthwatering gooeyness of the center.
Sugar – Use white sugar instead of brown to pair with the other delicate flavors.
Unsalted butter – Soften and mix with the other filling ingredients to form the goo.
White chocolate chips – An extra indulgent touch, the white chocolate partially melts when the rolls bake, adding an element of creamy richness to each bite.

Assembly

After the dough finishes its first rise in a greased bowl, you’ll roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to form a large horizontal rectangle. Spread the gooey filling all over, leaving a small border around the edges, then sprinkle with white chocolate chips. (For reference, the photo above is zoomed in on the right third of the rectangle. It should extend horizontally and measure about 14 x 9 inches for the full batch.)

To roll and cut the dough, you have a couple options:

My preferred option: Use a pizza cutter wheel to cut the rectangle into 9 vertical strips, each about 1.5 inches wide. Working with one strip at a time, roll the dough away from you to form a pinwheel. Pros: (1) Compared to rolling up an entire log, it’s much easier for me to roll small strips tightly and evenly. (2) If you want to do more than one type of filling in the same batch (which I often do to keep things interesting), you can clearly see the boundaries of each flavor while partitioning the rolls. (3) You avoid the issue of pinching down the ends of the rolls when cutting the entire rolled-up log with a knife (see option 2 below). Cons: (1) You need a pizza cutter wheel. (2) It can be messier if some of the filling spills out while you roll.
The more common method is to roll the entire rectangle into a log. Starting at one end, progressively tuck the edge closest to you under, and roll the dough away from you to form a 14-inch log. Then, you can use a serrated knife to cut the rolls into 9 equal pieces, or wrap unscented dental floss around each piece and tighten to cut the rolls. Pro: Less filling can fall out while you’re rolling the dough. Cons: (1) It’s more difficult to achieve a tight, even roll along the entire length of the log. (2) If you use a knife to cut the rolls, you risk pinching down the dough at the ends.

At this point, you can refrigerate the rolls in the prepared baking dish overnight, or move on to the second rise if making them the same day.

The second rise is completed just before baking and takes about 45 minutes from room temperature (or 1.5 – 2 hours total after removing them from the fridge). When they look super puffy (like in the photo above), they are ready to bake.

The buns bake to golden, aromatic perfection in just 20-25 minutes at 350.

The London Fog Glaze

This quick and simple glaze is made by steeping earl grey tea in hot cream, then whisking the cream with powdered sugar and vanilla. Very little effort for a very big impact. It is glossy and delicate, adds just a kiss of sweet indulgence, and enhances the fragrant London fog flavor.

Prep the glaze while the buns are in the oven, then drizzle it on the hot buns right after they finish baking.

Finally, let’s take a minute to appreciate this warm, sweet, luscious goo that coats each layer of soft, pillowy brioche and accumulates at the bottom of the baking dish. It’s like a magical earl grey honey white chocolate sauce. Yep, magical.

For the very best experience, enjoy the buns hot from the oven. However, if you do end up with leftovers, see the instructions at the end of the recipe for reheating them with steam to restore their fresh-from-the-oven, moist and soft texture.