Morning Buns Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk sugar and orange zest in a small bowl.
• Carefully transfer 1 sheet of dough (keeping dough in 1 piece) to a flat work surface. Using your fingers, pinch perforated seams together. Cover with half of sugar mixture. Place second sheet of dough over, pinch perforated seams together, and cover with remaining sugar mixture.
• Tightly roll dough away from you to create a long tube. Slice crosswise into 8 even rounds. Transfer rounds, cut side up, to muffin tin.
• Bake buns until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Transfer immediately to a wire rack and let cool.

Steps:

• Remove 1 1/2 cups butter from refrigerator and let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature. Stir 1 1/2 cups cold butter and 2 tablespoons flour together in a bowl with an electric mixer on slow speed until flour is just incorporated. Turn butter mixture out onto aluminum foil and shape into a 6-inch square. Wrap with aluminum foil and refrigerate.
• Dissolve yeast and 3 tablespoons white sugar in warm water in a bowl. Let stand until yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
• Stir 3 cups flour, milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and yeast mixture together in a bowl. Add remaining 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup at a time, stirring to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Place dough in a bowl, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Remove dough and butter-flour square from refrigerator. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 10x10-inch square. Place unwrapped butter square on the diagonal in the center of the dough square. Fold dough corners to overlap in the center of the butter square. Pinch dough edges together to seal.
• Roll folded dough into an 8x18-inch rectangle. Fold dough into thirds from long ends to the center, as if folding a letter. Roll and repeat the fold thirds folding process. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Repeat the rolling, folding, and refrigerating process twice, and finish by refrigerating the dough for 4 hours or up to overnight.
• Stir 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, and 3 tablespoons together in a bowl.
• Brush 24 muffin cups with melted butter and sprinkle each cup with ground cinnamon, turning to coat sides of muffin cups.
• Roll dough into an 10x36-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture, reserving 1/2 cup. Starting at the wide end, roll up the dough and pinch edge to seal. Cut roll into 24 pieces. Place pieces in prepared muffin pans; let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bun comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Roll the top of each bun in reserved 1/2 cup cinnamon-sugar mixture and set on a wire rack to cool.

Steps:

• Butter 20 cups of 2 standard muffin tins; dust with granulated sugar, tapping out excess. In a bowl, combine both sugars, zest, cinnamon, and salt.
• Divide chilled dough in half. Roll out one half (keep other half refrigerated) on a lightly floured surface into a 12-by-7-inch rectangle. Spread half of butter over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Sprinkle with half of cinnamon mixture (it will seem like a lot), patting to adhere. Starting on a long side, roll dough into a cylinder. Pinch edges to seal; trim ends. Cut into 10 disks. Place, cut-side down, in prepared tin. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Drape with buttered plastic wrap; let rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until golden brown, about 13 minutes. Brush tops with butter; toss rolls in granulated sugar. Let cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.

Steps:

• Toast the pistachios: Arrange an oven rack in the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter the pistachios on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, shaking once, until they're golden brown and nutty smelling, 6 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely. Very finely chop the pistachios or crush them beneath a heavy pot, and set aside.
• Make the filling: In a small bowl, combine the sugar, lemon zest, cardamom and salt, and mix with your fingertips, rubbing in the lemon zest until the mixture is fragrant and well combined. Set aside 1/4 cup of the mixture for sprinkling over the baked buns, then combine the remaining sugar mixture with the chopped pistachios and set aside.
• Combine 1/2 cup butter and the honey in a small saucepan, and warm over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted and the mixture is combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Prepare the pans: Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom and sides of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with the remaining tablespoon of room temperature butter, then set the pan aside.
• Roll out the dough: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and uncover. Scrape the dough from the bowl and place on the work surface. Use the heel of your hand to knock out the gas and deflate the risen dough, which will be quite firm. Dust underneath and on top of the dough with a bit of flour, then roll it out into a rectangle measuring about 22 inches long, 12 inches wide, and a scant 1/4 inch thick, dusting with more flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Try to work quickly to prevent the dough from warming, which will make it harder to slice the buns.
• Fill and form the buns: Dust off any excess flour, then brush the entire surface of the dough with all but 3 tablespoons of the honey butter mixture. (Reserve the remaining honey butter mixture for brushing over the baked buns.) Sprinkle the pistachio mixture evenly across the surface, pressing it gently into the dough so it adheres. Starting at one of the longer sides, roll the dough into a tight log. If the dough seems very soft, slide the log onto a baking sheet and chill until firm enough to slice, 10 to 15 minutes. Use a serrated knife to slice off the ends of the log, then cut it crosswise into three even sections. Cut each section into five even pieces, so you have 15 total. Arrange each piece cut side up in the prepared baking dish, forming a 3-by-5 grid.
• Proof the buns: Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the buns are all touching, very puffed, and about doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, arrange an oven rack in the center position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake the buns: Uncover the pan and transfer the buns to the oven. Bake, rotating the pan 180 degrees after 15 minutes, until the buns are golden brown all over, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately brush with the reserved honey butter. Sprinkle the reserved sugar mixture evenly over top, then let the buns cool completely in the pan.
• Serve: Use a small serrated knife to cut between the buns and all around the pan, then lift them out one at a time.

Steps:

• Dough:
• Whisk yeast, 1 cup warm milk, and 1 tsp. honey in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment to combine, then let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add egg whites, 2 cups bread flour, and remaining 1/4 cup honey and beat with paddle on medium-high speed until mixture is very light and thick, about 3 minutes. Remove paddle, scrape mixture back into bottom of bowl, and sprinkle whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups bread flour over top (do not stir). Place bowl in a warm spot and let sit uncovered until mixture is bubbling up around flour, 30-40 minutes.
• Add salt, orange zest (if using), vanilla extract, 5 egg yolks, and remaining 1/4 cup cold milk to mixture and mix with dough hook on low speed until a shaggy dough forms. Increase speed to medium and work dough until it is smooth, soft, and elastic and climbing up the hook, 8-10 minutes (it will clear the sides of the bowl but still stick slightly to the bottom; if after 5 minutes the dough is still very sticky, add bread flour a tablespoonful at a time until dough is just tacky). Reduce mixer speed to medium-low and add butter pieces one at a time, letting dough absorb butter completely before adding the next piece. This part takes a while, so be patient. Dough should be very smooth and slightly tacky and have a soft, buoyant texture. Cover and chill at least 8 hours and up to 16 hours.
• Filling and assembly:
• Cook brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, 1/4 cup honey, and 8 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, just until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool.
• Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half, place 1 piece back into bowl, cover, and chill while you work. Roll out remaining piece of dough on a sheet of lightly floured parchment paper to roughly a 16x12" rectangle. Spread half of brown sugar mixture over dough. Starting at side closest to you (make sure it's a long side) and using the parchment paper to help you, roll dough into a tight log. If dough gets too warm or sticky to work with, slide (with parchment) onto a baking sheet and chill until firm, then proceed. Place log, seam side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Chill until firm, 20-30 minutes.
• Repeat process with second half of dough and remaining brown sugar mixture. Spray cups of two 12-cup muffin pans with nonstick spray. Place a rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.
• Trim chilled dough logs about 1/2" from ends and cut each on a slight diagonal into 12 equal pieces. Place, cut side up, in prepared muffin pan and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature until puffed and expanded to edges of muffin cups (dough will spring back when poked but hold a slight indentation), 25-35 minutes.
• Bake buns, rotating pans once left to right and front to back, until golden brown all over, 20-25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining 4 Tbsp. butter and remaining 1/4 cup honey in a small saucepan over low, stirring a bit, until smooth. Remove from heat.
• Pull buns out of oven and brush tops with butter mixture; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Transfer buns to a wire rack (if sugar cools in pan, it will harden and buns will stick); let cool.