Morning Buns

Thumb_sfs_morningbuns-010_275790

(from Bethany’s recipe box)

Makes 12 buns
You’ll need the juice and zest of one orange for this recipe. If the dough becomes too soft to work with at any point, refrigerate it until it’s firm enough to easily handle.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Instead of using complicated croissant dough for our Morning Buns, we switched to a quick puff pastry recipe. When we tried to incorporate the butter into our dough with a rolling pin, we wound up creating a mess. To streamline the process, we sealed quarter-inch butter slices in a zipper-lock bag with the dry ingredients before rolling everything right in the bag. We produced multiple layers in one step by rolling unfilled dough into a rectangle, then into a cylinder, and gently patting it flat. Better still: Cooling the butter required just one short rest in the freezer.

A packet of yeast and a little sugar added to the dry ingredients gave the cooked dough the yeasty flavor of a croissant. A blend of half brown and half white sugar added a subtle molasses flavor to the filling. Adding orange zest to the filling and orange juice to the dough provided a bright citrus aroma and flavor.

Source: From Cook's Country December/January 2011 (http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2013/07/secrets-to-morning-buns/)

Categories: Eggs and Breakfast

Ingredients

  • DOUGH
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant or rapid-rise yeast
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 24 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices and chilled
  • 1 cup sour cream, chilled
  • 1/4 cup orange juice (see note), chilled
  • 3 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • FILLING
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  1. MAKE DOUGH Combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in large zipper-lock bag. Add butter to bag, seal, and shake to coat. Press air out of bag and reseal. Roll over bag several times with rolling pin, shaking bag after each roll, until butter is pressed into large flakes. Transfer mixture to large bowl and stir in sour cream, orange juice, water, and egg yolk until combined.

  2. ROLL DOUGH Turn dough onto floured surface and knead briefly to form smooth, cohesive ball. Roll dough into 20 by 12-inch rectangle. Starting at short edge, roll dough into tight cylinder. Pat cylinder flat to 12 by 4-inch rectangle and transfer to parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes.

  3. FILL AND SHAPE Line 12-cup muffin tin with foil liners and grease liners with cooking spray. Combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, orange zest, cinnamon, and vanilla in medium bowl. Remove dough from freezer and place on lightly floured surface. Roll dough into 20 by 12-inch rectangle and sprinkle evenly with filling, leaving ½-inch border around edges. Starting at long edge, roll dough into tight cylinder and pinch lightly to seal seam. Trim ½ inch dough from each end and discard. Cut cylinder into 12 pieces and transfer, cut side up, to prepared muffin cups. Cover loosely with plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

  4. LET RISE AND BAKE Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Remove buns from refrigerator and discard plastic. Place buns in turned-off oven until puffed and doubled in size, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove buns from oven and heat oven to 425 degrees. Bake until buns begin to rise, about 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until deep golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool buns in tin 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and discard liners. Serve warm.

  5. MAKE AHEAD: Transfer filled muffin tin to freezer until buns are firm, about 30 minutes. Transfer buns (with liners) to zipper-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month. To finish, return buns to muffin tin and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Proceed with step 4.

  6. HOW TO MAKE FAUX PUFF PASTRY Homemade morning buns may not be easy—but they certainly can be easier. Our version is well within reach of the home baker. Traditionally, the buns are made with croissant dough, which requires a lot of skill and a lot of time. We developed an easier technique to get the same signature flaky layers. 1. Toss slices of butter with flour in a zipper-lock bag and shake until the butter is coated with the flour. 2. Flatten the butter into long flakes by pressing the air out of the bag, sealing it, and rolling over it a few times with a rolling pin. 3. After you’ve dumped the butter-flour mixture into a bowl, stir in the sour cream, orange juice, water, and an egg yolk. 4. Knead the mixture briefly on a floured surface, form it into a ball, and roll the dough into a rectangle. 5. Starting at a short end of the rectangle, roll up the dough into a tight cylinder. 6. Flatten the cylinder gently, freeze for 15 minutes, and then again roll the chilled dough into a rectangle and fill.

  7. USE FOIL LINERS – BAKER’S BEST FRIEND Foil liners prevent our Morning Buns from sticking to the tin. Equally important is removing the buns from both the tin and the liners five minutes after they come out of the oven—otherwise they’ll be greasy.

  8. ASSEMBLING MORNING BUNS 1. Sprinkle the dough rectangle with the filling. Starting at a long edge, roll the filled dough back into a cylinder. 2. To form buns of equal size, divide the cylinder into quarters, then cut each quarter into thirds to make a total of 12 buns. 3. Place the buns in lined, lightly greased muffin tins. Chill to firm up the butter (which will result in flakier buns). Let the buns rise, then bake them.

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