Just Baking

I know I should be eating a balance of carbs and protein for breakfast to carry me through to lunch. I know that a piece of fruit and a hard-boiled egg or some yogurt would be better for me than a quick sugar-and-simple-carbs hit. Well, go ahead and sue me: I love breakfast sweet breads. I’m a total sucker for any new cinnamon roll-sticky bun-sweet roll type recipe. 

I think the reason for this is that my mother almost never made them. She had little time for cooking, and cinnamon rolls are the sort of thing that take time. Not a lot of hands-on time, but hang around the house and wait for things to happen time. My mother didn’t have that kind of time.

So when I saw the recipe for Pecan-Honey Buns in this month’s Food + Wine magazine, I couldn’t resist. I told my oldest son I’d have a special treat for him for breakfast, and set to it. I mixed up the dough on a Sunday evening and put it in the refrigerator to rise overnight. Monday morning before everyone got up (but not much before–someone tell me when these kids are going to start sleeping past 6 a.m.?!?) I rolled out the dough, filled it, sliced it, and set it to rise again. I baked them off, and by the time the nanny arrived, I was pulling hot Pecan-Honey Buns out of the oven for my kids (oh, and me; did I mention me?). This was possible because of my weird schedule (I go in to work fairly late, so I’m home with my kids for two hours every morning), but it could just as easily be accomplished on the weekend, say from Saturday to Sunday.  Letting the dough rise in the refrigerator like this changes the hang-around-and-wait time to coincide with the time when you’re asleep–so handy.

About the only adjustment i might make to this recipe is to make more of the topping that gets spread in the bottom of the pan. Since it’s a 4:1/2:1/2 ratio of butter to honey to brown sugar, it would be easy to increase the butter to 6 tablespoons and the honey and brown sugar to 3/4 of a cup each (more sugar for breakfast? Yes, please!).  I scattered chopped pecans on only half of the pan because I knew the Picky Pack wouldn’t want them. 

These turned out pillowy soft, with a tiny hint of spice from the cinnamon. The dough itself is sweetened with honey and sugar, which gives it multidimensional sweetness not achieved with sugar alone. The actual working time is only about half an hour, with that being divided into two fifteen-minute blocks to mix up the dough, and then to fill, roll, and slice the buns. The rest of the time is just rising and baking time. For a half an hour of actual work, these are a huge payoff. These would be perfect if you have houseguests; mix up the dough after they go to bed, set it to rise while you sleep, then get up a little before they do to finish them off. Make some coffee and enjoy a quiet weekend morning.

Pecan-Honey Buns

from Food + Wine magazine, August 2008

FOR THE DOUGH 

• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup milk, warmed
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons honey, preferably orange blossom or clover (full disclosure: I used plain old honey; local, but no special flavor)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

 FOR THE TOPPING

• 1/2 cup honey, preferably orange blossom or clover
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for brushing
• 1 1/2 cups pecans (6 ounces), coarsely chopped

FOR THE FILLING

• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Make the dough: in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine yeast with a pinch of the sugar and the milk and let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Add the rest of the sugar, the 4 tablespoons melted butter, the egg yolks, honey, and vanilla, and mix until combined. Add the flour and the salt. Change to the dough hook and knead at medium speed until the dough forms a smooth ball, about 4 minutes.

Brush a large bowl with butter, add the dough, and brush the top with butter. Cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about an hour. (Alternatively, you can cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight, 8 or more hours).

Make the topping: butter a 9″ x 13″ glass baking dish. In a medium saucepan over moderate heat, melt the honey with the brown sugar and butter until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Pour the hot honey mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly over the bottom. Scatter the pecans over the honey mixture.

Make the filling: In a bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon together.  On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to a 12″ by 18″ rectangle.  Spread the 6 tablespoons of softened butter over the dough, leaving a 1″ border all around.  Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar. Starting on the long side, roll up the dough into a log, and turn it seam-side down. Cut into twelve 1 1/2″ slices.  Arrange slices, cut-side up, in the baking dish. Cover and let stand in a warm place until the buns double in bulk, about an hour. (All the slices won’t touch in the pan, and frankly, mine didn’t touch each other even after the rise; they turned out fine, though.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the buns for 35 minutes, or until golden brown (this actually only took about 30 minutes in my oven). Remove and let stand 5 minutes. Invert onto a baking sheet and let cool slightly. Serve warm.

Pictures by The Modern Apron