Morning Buns

SERVES Makes 12 buns

TIME 2 hours, plus 4 hours chilling and 20 minutes rising

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. 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.

INGREDIENTS

subheading: DOUGH:

3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 ¼ teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast

¾ teaspoon salt

24 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices and chilled

1 cup sour cream, chilled

¼ cup orange juice, chilled

3 tablespoons ice water

1 large egg yolk

subheading: FILLING:

½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar

½ cup packed (3½ ounces) light brown sugar

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

note: BEFORE YOU BEGIN

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.

INSTRUCTIONS

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.

Directions at cookscountry.com

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