Pecan Sticky Buns

I was recently asked if I post everything that I bake.  I totally don't.   I don't if it didn't turn out well, and I don't if I didn't like it.  I'm pretty hard on new recipes and myself, so if something didn't turn out the way I had expected I usually declare "this is absolute crap!". To which my husband usually rolls his eyes and tells me it's fine.  But I don't want to pass a recipe on to you if I don't think it's awesome.  I want you to think it's awesome too.  This post is one exception.

I had high hopes for these sticky buns, but I guess I'm pretty particular when it comes to breakfast pastries and I don't think everyone shares my peculiarities.  This is Joanne Chang's recipe from Flour, and while tasty it isn't my cup of tea.  The dough is glorious.  It's her brioche dough which I made into plain old brioche and Nutella buns, both of which were spectacular.  The problem, in my humble opinion, lies in the goo.  This is the syrup that is the sticky part of the recipe.  I found it soupy, over-poweringly sweet, and made the buns quite soggy, thus hiding the gorgeous dough they're made of.

So there you have it.  These sticky buns are famous, so obviously it's a matter of taste and my issue.

Pecan Sticky Buns
from Joanne Chang via Food Network

Goo:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks; 170 grams, 6 ounces) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups (345 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup (110 grams) honey
1/3 cup (80 grams) heavy cream
1/3 cup (80 grams) water
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Basic Brioche Dough, recipe follows
1/4 cup (55 grams) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (100 grams) pecan halves, toasted and chopped

First, make the goo. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar and cook, stirring, to combine (it may look separated, that's ok). Remove from the heat and whisk in the honey, cream, water, and salt. Strain to remove any undissolved lumps of brown sugar. Let cool for about 30 minutes, or until cooled to room temperature. You should have about 3 cups. (The mixture can be made up to 2 weeks in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)

Divide the dough in half. Use half for this recipe and reserve the other half for another use.

On a floured work surface, roll out the brioche into rectangle about 12 by 16 inches and 1/4-inch thick. It will have the consistency of cold, damp Play-Doh and should be fairly easy to roll. Position the rectangle so a short side is facing you.

In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and half of the pecans. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the entire surface of the dough. Starting from the short side farthest from you and working your way down, roll up the rectangle like a jelly roll. Try to roll tightly, so you have a nice round spiral. Trim off about 1/4- inch from each end of the roll to make them even.

Use a bench scraper or a chef's knife to cut the roll into 8 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2-inches wide. (At this point, the unbaked buns can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 week. When ready to bake, thaw them, still wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, then proceed as directed.)

Pour the goo into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, covering the bottom evenly. Sprinkle the remaining pecans evenly over the surface. Arrange the buns, evenly spaced, in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm spot to proof until the dough is puffy, pillowy, and soft and the buns are touching-almost tripled in size, about 2 hours.

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350 degrees F.

Bake until golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the dish on a wire rack for 20 to 30 minutes. One at a time, invert the buns onto a serving platter, and spoon any extra goo and pecans from the bottom of the dish over the top.

The buns are best served warm or within 4 hours of baking. They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, and then warmed in a 325 degree F oven for 10 to 12 minutes before serving.

Brioche Dough:

2 1/2 cups (350 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
2 1/4 cups (340 grams) bread flour

1 1/2 packages (3 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast or 1-ounce (28 grams) fresh cake yeast

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (82 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold water
6 eggs

1 3/8 cups (2 3/4 sticks; 310 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 10 to 12 pieces

Using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and 5 of the eggs. Beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until all the ingredients are combined. Stop the mixer, as needed, to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all the flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Once the dough has come together, beat on low speed for another 3 to 4 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and seem quite dry.

With the mixer on low speed, add the butter, 1 piece at a time, mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. Continue mixing on low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. It is important for all the butter to be thoroughly mixed into the dough. If necessary, stop the mixer occasionally and break up the dough with your hands to help mix in the butter.

Once the butter is completely incorporated, turn up the speed to medium and beat until the dough becomes sticky, soft, and somewhat shiny, another 15 minutes. It will take some time to come together. It will look shaggy and questionable at the start and then eventually it will turn smooth and silky. Turn the speed to medium-high and beat for about 1 minute. You should hear the dough make a slap-slap-slap sound as it hits the sides of the bowl. Test the dough by pulling at it; it should stretch a bit and have a little give. If it seems wet and loose and more like a batter than a dough, add a few tablespoons of flour and mix until it comes together. If it breaks off into pieces when you pull at it, continue to mix on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until it develops more strength and stretches when you grab it. It is ready when you can gather it all together and pick it up in 1 piece.

Put the dough in a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof (that is, grow and develop flavor) in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight At this point you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

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Yeasty Waffles

I love my waffle and pancake recipe so I usually don't get all excited about recipes that I come across, but this one for yeasted waffles from Food and Wine's June edition was one I had to try.  There isn't a lot of sugar in it which is nice for a change, it gets it's mild sweetness from the yeast.

What I really loved about this recipe though is that you prepare it the night before and it's all ready to go the next morning.  Brilliant!  I adore waffles on the weekend but sometimes I just want to sit with my coffee and relax rather than make a big breakfast.  It was so nice to plug in the waffle iron and have a steamy hot fluffy waffle on my plate a few minutes later.  Love this and will definitely make again!

Yeasty Waffles
from Jeff Potter via Food and Wine

1 3/4 cups whole milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more melted butter for the waffle iron
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast (from 2 envelopes)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons agave nectar or honey
1 teaspoon salt

Syrup, fresh fruit and softened butter, for serving 

In a large bowl, combine the milk, 1/2 cup melted butter, flour, yeast, eggs, agave and salt and whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand until the batter is very puffy, about 2 hours at room temperature (or refrigerate overnight).

Preheat the oven to 250°. Preheat a waffle iron and brush it with melted butter. Gently stir the batter to deflate it. For each batch, fill the waffle iron about two-thirds full (the batter will spread and rise); brush the waffle iron with melted butter as needed.
Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. Transfer the waffles immediately from the iron to plates, or keep them warm in the oven. Serve the waffles with syrup, fresh fruit and softened butter.

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Brioche

Mmmm, I love me some brioche.  It might just be my favorite breakfast pastry, fresh out of the oven, still a little warm.  No need for butter or preserves, although those go nicely as well.  A few weeks ago I tried the recipe for brioche dough from Baking with Julia and it was delightful.  I have mentioned this before, but I love that book, the instructions are so thorough, I had never made brioche before and the step by step instructions were brilliant.

I wanted to try Flour's sticky bun recipe which uses Joanne Chang's brioche recipe.  The sticky buns (more on those later) only use a 1/2 recipe so I used the rest to make some basic brioche.  They were super tasty, all buttery and rich.  I also made Nutella buns which were pure heaven.  Don't let the lengthy instrucitosn intimidate you, the stand mixer is doing all the work.  You just need to listen for that "slap slap" sound and follow the recipe. 

As for getting the the brioche dough into the tins with the little ball on top, I used the technique from Sarabeth Levine's book.  She does a great job of explaining how to get the brioche to bake up just right and even provides pictures. 

 

Brioche Dough 
from Flour

2 1/2 cups (350 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
2 1/4 cups (340 grams) bread flour
1 1/2 packages (3 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast or 1-ounce (28 grams) fresh cake yeast
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (82 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold water
6 eggs

1 3/8 cups (2 3/4 sticks; 310 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 10 to 12 pieces 

Using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and 5 of the eggs. Beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until all the ingredients are combined. Stop the mixer, as needed, to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all the flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Once the dough has come together, beat on low speed for another 3 to 4 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and seem quite dry.


With the mixer on low speed, add the butter, 1 piece at a time, mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. Continue mixing on low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. It is important for all the butter to be thoroughly mixed into the dough. If necessary, stop the mixer occasionally and break up the dough with your hands to help mix in the butter.


Once the butter is completely incorporated, turn up the speed to medium and beat until the dough becomes sticky, soft, and somewhat shiny, another 15 minutes. It will take some time to come together. It will look shaggy and questionable at the start and then eventually it will turn smooth and silky. Turn the speed to medium-high and beat for about 1 minute. You should hear the dough make a slap-slap-slap sound as it hits the sides of the bowl. Test the dough by pulling at it; it should stretch a bit and have a little give. If it seems wet and loose and more like a batter than a dough, add a few tablespoons of flour and mix until it comes together. If it breaks off into pieces when you pull at it, continue to mix on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until it develops more strength and stretches when you grab it. It is ready when you can gather it all together and pick it up in 1 piece.

Put the dough in a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof (that is, grow and develop flavor) in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight.

At this point you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to 1 week or use it!

Butter twelve 3 1/2-inch-wide brioche tins. Carefully turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, but do not punch it down—its texture should remind you of a feather-filled pillow. 

Cut the dough into 12 equal portions. (If you have a kitchen scale, each portion will weigh 2 ounces.)

One at a time, shape each portion into a ball on the work surface, taking care not to break the exterior of the dough. To do this, cup both hands around the dough. Carefully turn the dough in your cupped hands to gently shape it into a ball—overhandling will soften the butter too much. Place the dough on its side, with the rough underside facing one side. Lightly dust the side of your hand with flour. Place the side of your hand about 1 inch from the smooth end of the dough. Using the upper part of your hand, including the last finger, move your hand back and forth to cut into the dough, forming a small ball that is attached to the larger portion by a thin strand.

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Cheese Danish Pastries

Weekend breakfast is my favourite meal.  It's totally acceptable to have dessert for breakfast, and at our house we almost always have something sweet.  So a few weeks ago I thought I would give Nigella's Danish Processor Pastry Dough recipe a try.  You make with a few whizzes in a food processor, easy peasy right?

While making the dough is indeed quite simple, the rolling out is seriously tedious.  Roll into a (ridiculously) large rectangle.  Fold.  Repeat.  Ad nauseum.  Sigh.  I love how this is described as "joyfully easy", I would hate to see the old school way of doing this!  Anyways, I followed her instructions to the letter and my Danishes came out perfect.  I used her cheese danish recipe and the pastry was nice and flaky with a slightly sweet filling.  Will definitely make this again.

Processor Danish Pastry
from Nigella Lawson


1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups white bread flour
1 package ( 1/4 oz.) rapid-rise yeast or 1 tbsp fresh yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into thin slices

Pour the water and milk into a measuring cup and add the egg, beating with a fork to mix. Put to one side for a moment. Get out a large bowl, then put the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in the procesor, and give one quick whizz just to mix. Add the cold slices of butter and process briefly so that the butter is cut up a little, though you still want visible chunks. Empty the contents of the food processor into the large bowl and quickly add the contents of the cup. Use your hands or a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients together, but don’t overdo it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, put in the refigerator, and leave overnight or up to 4 days.
To turn it into pastry, take it out of the refrigerator, let it get to room temperature, and roll it out to a 20-inch (50 cm) square.  Fold the dough square into thirds, like a business letter, turning it afterward so that the closed fold is on your left, like the spine of a book.  Roll out again to a 20-inch square, repeating the steps above three more times.

There are several recipes that use a half batch of the dough, so cut it in half, wrap both pieces in plastic, and put each in the refridgerator for 30 minutes (you can keep them for up to 4 days) or put half into the freezer for later use.

Cheese Danish
from Nigella Lawson

For the filling:
1 cup ricotta cheese
6 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 large egg, beaten
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the egg glaze:
1 large egg, beaten with
2 tbsp milk

For the clear glaze:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

For the sugar glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1-2 tbsp warm water

Combine the cheese, sugar, salt, lemon zest, egg, and butter to make the filling.  Roll out the pastry into a big rectangle and cut it in half.  Divide each half into thirds and place a tablespoon of filling on each piece of dough.  Fold the opposite corners up together and seal with a pinch.
Place on the baking sheet and brush with the egg glaze. Leave them to rise until they double in size, about 1 1/2 hours and feel like marshmallow.
Meanwhile, about 30 minutes before they're ready to be cooked, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).  Pinch corners back together if they have come apart, then put on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.
Remove to a wire rack and make the two remaining glazes. To make the clear glaze, heat the granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil then take off the heat. To make the sugar glaze, add the water to the confectioners’ sugar a little at a time to make a runny icing. Brush the pastries with the clear glaze first then zigzag the sugar glaze over them.

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Monkey Bubble Bread

I have never had monkey, or bubble bread before, but after making this recipe I foresee eating this many many times in the near future.  Monkey bread is kind of like sticky buns but in one big cake that you pull apart.  Each ball is coated in yummy sugary cinnamon deliciousness.

I used the recipe from Baked Explorations, and I don't know if all monkey bread is this good, but I doubt I'll ever find out since I'll never bother with another recipe.  My husband said he prefers cinnamon buns.  He's crazy.  My son was all excited about eating "monkey food" and is still asking for it several days later.

The recipe isn't at all hard, but it is rather time consuming.  You need to let the dough rise an hour, then form into balls, coat in butter, sugar, and cinnamon, assemble in a bundt pan, and then let it rise another hour before you can bake it.  Leftovers are great cold or you can warm them again in the oven.  It's quite a site to behold when you take it out of the bundt pan, with lovely syrup dripping down, I highly recommend this if you have guests over.

Monkey Bubble Bread
from Baked Explorations

Ingredients

For the Monkey Bubble Bread

1 1/4 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons instant yeast

4 cups all purpose flour

5 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating

1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Make the Monkey Bubble Bread

Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with non stick cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, warm your milk to slightly above room temperature, then remove it from the heat, add the yeast, and whisk to dissolve. ( Do not warm it beyond 110 degrees F or you will kill the yeast).

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, and salt until combined.

In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork and add it to the dry ingredients.  Mix on low speed until combined.

Keeping the mixer on low, slowly stream in the milk until combined.  Add the melted butter and mix until the dough comes together.  Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook attachment.  Continue to mix on medium speed until the dough becomes silky and tacky,but not sticky, 8-10 minutes.  The dough should mound together and easily come off the bottom of the mixing bowl.  ( If the dough is too wet, add some flour.  If it is too dry, add a tiny bit of water. )

Spray the bottom and sides of a large bowl with cooking spray.  Place the dough in the bowl and roll it around to make sure it is completely covered in oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let it rest in a warm area until the dough has doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Use your clean hands to push down and deflate the dough. Remove it from the bowl and pat it into a rough circle approximately 8 inches diameter.  Use a bench knife or serrated knife to cut dough into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces ( about 1/2 oz each )- alternatively, use your hands to pinch apart the dough.  Roll the pieces into balls ( they don't have to be perfectly round).  Place the balls on the sheet pan ( you will get about 60 pieces in all).  Cover the balls lightly with plastic wrap.

Make the Cinnamon Sugar Coating

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon.  Place the melted butter in a separate bowl.

Assemble the Bread

Remove the plastic wrap from the dough balls and dip one ball in the melted butter.  Let the excess butter drip back into the bowl, roll the ball in the brown sugar mixture, and place it in the Bundt pan.  Continue this process with each ball, until you have several layers, arranging them as if you are building a brick wall.

Wrap the Bundt pan tightly in plastic wrap.  Set it in a warm area of the house for about 1 hour, or until the dough balls have doubled in size and appear puffy.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Remove the plastic and bake the Bundt until the top layer is deep brown and the caramel coating begins to bubble around the edges, about 30 minutes.

Cool the bread for 5 minutes, then turn it out directly onto a platter and serve warm.  Should you have any leftovers ( this is rare), simply reheat them in a 300 degree oven until warm to the touch

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Vanilla Buttermilk Waffles

Sometimes you're just in the mood for waffles.  Lovely little squares for butter and syrup to collect in, mmm, waffles are such a nice way to start the day.  I typically make pancakes for weekend breakfasts, but we thought we would give the Clinton St. Baking Co. waffles a go.  It uses the base recipe for their pancakes (which are pure heaven) with a few additional ingredients.  I loved them,  they were crisp on the outside, cakey on the inside, with a lovely mild orange flavour.

The recipe was a little strange, calling itself buttermilk waffles but there was no buttermilk in the recipe (?).  I assumed this was a typo and used buttermilk instead of milk for the pancakes.  

Vanilla Buttermilk Waffles
from Clinton St. Baking Co.

Pancake batter (use batter recipe for Neil's Pancakes)
NOTE: I used buttermilk in place of milk for the pancake recipe
1 tablespoon clarified butter
1 tablespoon canola oil, plus more for waffle iron
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange extract

Make the pancake better, lightly fold in clarified butter, oil, vanilla, and orange extract.  Preheat waffle iron to 350 degrees F, according to manufacturers instructions.
Once waffle iron is ready, spray with nonstick oil.  Cook for 3 1/2 minutes or until waffle is golden brown with a  nice crust and crunchy texture.  Serve with whatever toppings you like!

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Norwegian Cinnamon Buns

Saturday morning is my favourite time of the whole week.  It's the first morning in five days that my husband isn't rushing to get out the door for work and my kids get to spend some quality time with him.  It's time for just the four of us to reconnect after a hectic week and just relax. 

It's also my free day.  Even though I cheat quite often, Saturday is my day to eat whatever I whenever I want.  If I feel like chocolate before breakfast, then that's what I have.  And so I usually make a calorie-laden brunch, typically pancakes or waffles.  But this week, I was in the mood for cinnamon buns.  Actually I was last week too but I killed the yeast and gave up.

This week they turned out just lovely.  I used Nigella's Norwegian cinnamon recipe, we had made her Schnecken (essentially German cinnamon buns) in the past and they turned out well so I though I would give these a go.  One note: I did need to add about an extra 1/4 cup flour to the dough since it turned out quite sticky.  I found another blogger who had made these and she had the same problem.

Norwegian Cinnamon Buns 
from Nigella Lawson

For the dough:
4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
scant 3 tablespoons (3 1/4-ounce packages) of rapid-rise yeast or 3 tablespoons fresh yeast
scant 1/2 cup butter
1 2/3 cups milk
2 eggs

For the filling:
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Roasting  pan approximately 13 x 10, lined with baking parchment bottom and sides

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Melt the butter and whisk it into milk and eggs, then stir it into the flour mixture. Mix to combine and then knead the dough either by hand or using the dough hook of a food mixer until its smooth and springy. (I actually had to add a good 1/4 cup extra flour at this point this the dough was way too sticky). Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic warp and leave it to rise for about 25 minutes.

Take one-third of the dough and roll it or stretch it to fit your tin; this will form the bottom of each bun when it has cooked. Roll out the rest of the dough on a lightly floured surface, aiming to get a rectangle of roughly 20x10 inches. Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and then spread the rectangle with the buttery cinnamon mixture. Try to get even coverage on the whole of the dough.

Roll it up from the longest side until you have a giant sausage. Cut the roll into 3/4-inch slices which should make about 20 rounds. Sit in rounds in lines of top of the dough in the tin, swirly cut-side up. Don’t worry if they don’t fit snugly together as they will swell and become puffy when they prove. Brush them with egg and let them rise again for about 15 minutes to let them get duly puffy.
Put in the hot oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, by which time the buns will have risen and will be golden brown in colour. Don’t worry it they catch in places. Remove them from the tin and leave to cool slightly on a rack-it’s easy just to pick up the whole sheet of parchment and transfer them like that-before letting people tear them off, to eat warm.

Makes 20

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