Raisin Buns Recipes

Steps:

• In a wide saucepan, combine the 1 cup of milk, 1/4 cup butter, sugar and salt. Place over medium heat and stir until butter is melted. Transfer to large mixing bowl to cool.
• When the mixture is barely warm to the touch, stir in dissolved yeast and beaten egg. Add 2 cups of the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
• Gradually blend in additional flour until the dough becomes too difficult to stir. Turn out onto floured surface and knead in as much of the remaining flour as necessary to form a cohesive dough.
• Continue kneading in flour until the dough is soft yet no longer sticks to the work surface. Transfer to a greased bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Set aside to rise until double in bulk.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter and set aside. Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Punch dough down and turn out onto floured surface. Roll into a 12x18 inch rectangle. Trim the edges to square off the rectangle. Lift the dough to loosen it from the work surface. Brush the melted butter over the surface of the dough.
• Sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon. Scatter raisins over the sugar.
• Starting on the long side, roll the dough up. Pinch the edges together to seal the seam.
• Using a serrated knife, cut the roll into 18 1-inch pieces. Place, cut side down, in the prepared baking dish. Cover and set aside to rise.
• When double in bulk, bake in a pre-heated 375* oven for 20 to 25 min, or until nicely browned.
• Place on a rack to cool for 20 minutes.
• Combine the confectioner's sugar and cold milk in a small bowl and blend until smooth. Brush over the surface of warm rolls with a pastry brush.

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: Put milk in a mixing bowl and stir in yeast and sugar. Leave until mixture begins to bubble, about 10 minutes.
• Whisk in salt, beaten egg and melted butter, then stir in flour until a rough dough forms. Knead dough until smooth, soft and satiny, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Butter a standard 12-muffin tin. Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to a rectangle approximately 12 by 8 inches.
• Prepare the filling: Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans and raisins. Sprinkle mixture evenly over rolled-out dough.
• As if rolling up a carpet, roll dough tightly into a 12-inch-long cylinder. Cut into 12 equal pieces, about 3 ounces each. Set dough pieces flat side down into buttered muffin tin and paint each lightly with egg wash. (At this point, unbaked rolls may be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated overnight, to be baked the next day if you'd like.)
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Loosely cover muffin tin with plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise. Let rolls rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Paint rolls lightly with egg wash, place tin on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, until tops of rolls are well browned. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
• Carefully invert hot muffin tin over a baking sheet. Use a fork if necessary to help remove rolls from tin. (Be careful: The hot caramelized sugar on rolls will cause a bad burn if dripped on skin.) If desired, make topping by combining sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle rolls with the topping while still warm. Let rolls cool bottom side up on baking sheet.