Morning Buns - Overnight #BreadBakers

'Tis the season for company!  Of course I like having good food and treats to share with company, especially in December, but I often run out of time.  So the Bread bakers theme of an Overnight Breakfast Bread is particularly appropriate and helpful this month!  (Thank you Stacy of Food Lust People Love for hosting!)  I was originally planning on doing an overnight coffeecake or muffin, but just the day before I was going to bake, I discovered this recipe for Morning Buns in a Cooks Country cookbook I had checked out from the library that was ideal.  Not only do you prep it the night before, but you can also freeze it up to a month in advance and bake off just as much as you need!  These rich little buns are an indulgent treat to serve to guests.  Made of a rough puff style pastry and rolled like a cinnamon roll, they have a simple sweet filling combining brown and white sugars, cinnamon, vanilla, and a hint of orange zest which gives them a certain je ne sais quoi.  Hubby asked if it was peach or something when he tried one, then got the orange after I told him.  With such appealing flavor, these are a new favorite.

For texture, they remind me very much of kouign amann, only ridiculously easier to make!  I got much better lamination and flakiness on these buns than on both of the times I tried making the kouign amann.  There is also a little hint of sticky bun caramelization on the bottoms.  I think with the freezing option, these would also work for sharing when traveling short-medium distances.  We have family within 3-4 hours and 4-5 hours and often take coolers with us for gatherings.  With a few ice packs to keep the buns cold, if not frozen, I think they could go straight into the fridge for the next morning.  I had the dough all made, filled, and rolled in around an hour the night I made them.  The next day, 20-30 minutes to rise in a cold oven turned proofing box, then an hour to heat the oven and bake.  No getting up at O dark thirty to make cinnamon rolls.

Look at those layers!

Already have orders from family for the next get together!  Highly recommend these tasty little buns.

Morning Buns

makes 12

from Cook's Country TV Show cookbook

Dough:

3 cups (15 oz) all purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

2¼ tsp instant yeast

¾ tsp salt

24 tbsp (1½ cups or 3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ¼-in slices and chilled

1 cup sour cream, cold

¼ cup orange juice, cold

3 tbsp ice water

1 large egg yolk

Filling:

½ cup (3.5 oz) granulated sugar

½ cup (3.5 oz) brown sugar, packed

1 tbsp fresh orange zest, finely grated or microplaned

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large (gallon size) zip top bag.  Add butter to bag and seal.  Shake bag to coat butter.  Press the air out of the bag and seal.  Carefully roll over the bag a number of times with a rolling pin to flatten the butter into large flakes.  Shake the bag between rolling.  Transfer flour mixture to a large bowl.  Combine sour cream, juice, water and yolk in a 2-cup glass measure and mix to combine.  Stir into flour mixture until combined.

Turn the shaggy dough onto a floured counter and knead briefly to form a cohesive ball.  Roll the dough out into a 20x12-in rectangle.  Starting at a short edge, roll the dough up into a tight cylinder.  Flatten the roll by patting into a 12x4-in slab.  Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap.  Freeze for 15 minutes.

Line a muffin tin with 12 paper or foil liners and spray them with a little cooking spray.  For the filling, combine the sugars, orange zest, cinnamon and vanilla in a bowl with a fork.  Remove dough from freezer and place on lightly floured counter.  Roll into a 20x12-in rectangle and spread filling over top to within ½-in of the edges.  Starting at a long edge, roll the dough into a tight cylinder.  Pinch the edges together to seal the seam.  Trim ½-in dough from each end.  (I took these ends and made a little butterfly roll in a ramekin with a little sugar and cinnamon so as not to waste them.  And for snacking.  Quality control, you know?)   Cut dough into 12 equal pieces and transfer, cut side up, into prepared tin.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a least 4 hours or up to 1 day.  (At this point is when you would go straight to the freezer instead of chilling, then transfer to a zip bag after they are frozen, and store up to one month.  Defrost overnight in the fridge and bake next morning as follows.)

Adjust the oven rack to the middle and place a pan with 3 cups of boiling water on the bottom of the oven.  Remove plastic and place buns in the oven.  Do not turn on the oven yet.  Close oven door and let the buns proof for 20-30 minutes until puffed and double in size.  Remove buns and water pan from oven.  Now heat oven to 425ºF.  Bake until buns start to rise, about 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 325ºF.  

Bake for another 40-50 minutes until deep golden brown, rotating pan halfway through.  Let buns cool in the tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer to the rack and discard the liners.  Serve warm.

Be sure to check out the other convenient make ahead options offered this month:

• Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Morning Buns from A Messy Kitchen  
• Overnight Apple Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Overnight Breakfast Rolls from Anybody Can Bake
• Overnight Sourdough Boule from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sausage Jalapeño Cheese Kolaches from Food Lust People Love

 #BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

 

Approximate nutrition for 1 bun:
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Okay: (Actually with the butter that bakes out and stays in the tin, it's more like 298 calories and 122 from fat.  Is that better? ☺)