Sticky Buns

Boy, were these goooood. They took about 4 hours from start to finish. Traditionally, sticky buns contain pecans, but I used walnuts because that's what we had in the freezer. The brioche dough is from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and the "goo" (caramel sauce) is from this recipe. I actually prefer this dough recipe over Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll recipe (I know-I was surprised!).

A note on how to rise the brioche dough: rise it in the oven to reduce rising time! I preheat my oven for about 1 minute until it is about 100-105 degrees. Then I place the dough (covered with a towel) on the middle rack and quickly close the oven door.

Makes 12 sticky buns

For the Brioche:

3/4 cup lukewarm water
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (1 packet)
2 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
3 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast, salt,eggs, honey, and melted butter with the water in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the flour until all of the flour is incorporated. Cover and allow to rise for 2-3 hours (see note above on rising dough in the oven). This dough is very wet and will not look like a traditional dough- don't worry! It all turns out good in the end :) Also, for better handling of the dough, I placed the bowl of dough in the fridge for the last half of the rising time. Otherwise, the dough would have been an absolute pain to roll out. You can leave the dough in the fridge for a few days if need be.

For the "goo" (caramel sauce):

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup heavy cream (I used skim milk- worked just great!)
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts, chopped

Melt butter in saucepan. Whisk in sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in the other ingredients. Pour into a 13 x 9 pan. Let cool for at least 30 minutes. Before placing rolls on the "goo," sprinkle on the chopped nuts.

For the filling of the Sticky Buns:

1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
2 tablespoons melted butter

Stir together.

To assemble the Sticky Buns:

On a heavily (seriously) floured surface, roll out dough until it is roughly the size of a sheet pan. Sprinkle on the filling and spread it to the sides of the dough. It may look like there's not enough filling, but be still, and know that the goo will make up for it.

Tightly roll up the dough and with a pastry scrapper, and cut into 12 evenly sized pieces. Place rolls on top of the goo and lightly cover with plastic wrap and rise for 1-2 hours in the oven (see note above picture).

Remove the plastic wrap and with the rolls still in the oven, preheat to 350 degrees and immediately set the timer for 35 minutes. You may need to place a piece of aluminum foil over the sticky buns if they become too browned. Let cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack (I used a trivet). Serve sticky buns by flipping over the bun so the caramel (goo) and nut side is facing up.

No Knead French Bread

This bread is amazing. It looks like I could have gotten it from a fancy bakery.  It's the easiest bread I've ever made and the yummiest by far. If you don't have a pizza stone, you can use a cast iron skillet or enameled dutch oven . Also, on the second rise, it took about 1 hour and 30 minutes until it got to the size I wanted. Do yourself and favor and make this bread- it's heavenly.

3 cups of lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, mix the water, yeast, and salt. Set aside for a few minutes. Add all of the flour at once and stir with a wooden spoon. You don't need to knead this, and it's not going to come together into a ball. Once the flour is incorporated, you're done. Cover mixing bowl with a dish towel and set aside for a few hours (I let it rise for 3 hours).

With floured hands, grab grapefruit sizes of dough (mine were more orange sized). The dough will be very sticky. Gently pull the sides of the dough toward the bottom, rotating the dough, until you get a roundish shape with a smooth surface. Do this with the remaining dough.

Set dough balls on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or cutting board. Let rest for at least 40 minutes (I let it rise for 1 hr. 30 minutes), covered with a dish towel.

Twenty minutes before you are ready to bake, put a cast iron skillet or pizza stone in the middle rack of your oven, and put a broiler pan or cookie sheet in the bottom rack. Preheat over to 450 degrees. Dust flour on top of dough  and slash the top with a sharp knife, about 1/4 inch deep.

After 20 minutes of preheating, slide 2 (more or less depending on side of stone/skillet) onto the stone and quickly pour 1 cup (or a bit more) of very hot water (I heated mine in the microwave) onto the cookie sheet/broiler pan. Quickly shut the oven door to keep the steam inside.

Depending on size, bake for 30 to 40 minutes until you get a nice brown crust (mine took about 15 minutes). Remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Have any questions about this recipe? email me at me@amandaabby.com

Pumpkin Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Cream Cheese Icing

Okay, these cinnamon rolls took from 1 pm to 6 pm to make. But... they are extremely delicious and the icing is the perfect addition to these fall-ish cinnamon rolls. I doubled the recipe- I made 24 (big) cinnamon rolls. It's times like these I wish I still lived near my family. The five of us just can't eat 4.8 cinnamon rolls each. I am sure my grandmas and grandpas and my aunt and uncle and their family would've loved these. So, instead I'll share this recipe with you...

I adapted the dough recipe a bit from Closet Cooking (http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/)    and the icing recipe and caramel recipe is from me.



Pumpkin Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Cream Cheese Icing

(makes 12 rolls)

1 batch pumpkin sweet yeast dough (see below)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature) I used salted
1/2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 batch caramel cream cheese frosting (see below)

 Directions:
1. Punch down the dough and knead for 30 seconds.
2. Cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.
3. Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a 24" by 12" rectangle.
4. Spread the butter over othe dough leaving 1 inch on each side free.
5. Mix the sugar and spices and sprinkle it onto the dough.

6. Roll the dough into a log, pinch to seal and cut it into 12 even slices.
7. Arrange the buns in a greased sheet pan and  cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
8. Bake in a 375F preheated oven until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Mine only took about 12 minutes
9. Top the buns with the frosting and drizzle with the leftover caramel sauce. 

Pumpkin Sweet Yeast Dough

(makes 1 batch)

1/4 cup water (warm)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1/4 cup butter (melted and cooled)
1/4 cup sour cream (room temperature)
1 cup pumpkin puree (room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

extra all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. Mix the water, yeast and sugar into a large bowl and let it sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, eggs, butter, sour cream, pumpkin puree, spices, salt and 2 cups of the mixed flour and mix for 2 minutes at medium or 200 strokes by hand.
3. Stir in enough of the remaining mixed flour to make a soft dough.
4. Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until smooth, about 5 minutes. (The dough should feel soft and buttery and not sticky.)
5. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

 Caramel Cream Cheese Icing

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened*


• 1/4 cup butter, softened


• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla


• 1/2 cup powdered sugar


• 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup caramel sauce (recipe follows)

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy and blended.


2. Add the vanilla, powdered sugar and mix. Add caramel sauce and stir.

*A fast way to softened cream cheese is to submerge the block of cream cheese (with silver wrapping) in a bowl filled with hot water. Let sit for a minute or two. Works like a charm.

Caramel Sauce

• 1/2 cup brown sugar


• 2 tablespoons water


• 1 1/2 teaspoons corn syrup


• 1 to 2 tablespoons flour


• 1/4 cup heavy cream


• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. On medium heat, whisk together brown sugar, water, and corn syrup.


2. When the mixture comes to a boil, pour in heavy cream and vanilla. Stir. Add flour and whisk until thick (normal caramel sauce consistency). Cool to room temperature

 

Stop what you're doing and make these pretzels. I'm not kidding. I've made quite a few things in my 17-year-old life, and this is one of the best (besides my grandma's eclairs). It's one of those recipes that just turns out amazing. All the effort (this recipe is easy, though, so not much effort) is so worth it. There were no regrets when we all tasted these. I couldn't decide if I like the cinnamon/sugar or kosher salt. Both are just good. I don't know how else to describe these. And don't be afraid of boiling the pretzels. For some reason, that scared me when I read the recipe- "what? can't I just thrown them in the oven?" No. Trust me. These are divine.

Soft Pretzels

makes 8 - Alton Brown

• 1 1/2 cups warm tap water (110- to 115 degrees F)


• 1 T sugar


• 2 tsp kosher salt


• 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)


• 22 ounces all-purpose flour (I used 4 cups)


• 2 ounces melted butter


• 10 cups water


• 2/3 cup baking soda


• cooking spray (PAM)

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then spray with PAM or the like. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, sprinkle with kosher salt (or sugar/cinnamon- just make sure to cover the pretzels half way through cooking time with foil so the sugar doesn't burn). Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.