brioche honey pecan sticky buns
For those of you wondering, the answer is no, I do not have a cookbook crush on Dorie Greenspan. Very much.
Yes, I told a falsehood just then. I really like her baking book. I like like her baking book.
As much as I read cookbooks (I read the entire cookbook section in my parent’s local library last summer, and I read the entire cookbook section at BYU-Idaho that was published after 1980. And I currently haunt the very lame BYU cookbook section now) I rarely buy cookbooks. Mostly this is because, you really only usually take one or two recipes from a cookbook and use them. I don’t think I would do that with this one. She has vast cookie, muffin, and cake recipes, and even has an entire chapter dedicated to apple things. Sigh…ahem. Anyway.
This week, my husband and I embarked on Dorie’s Pecan Honey Sticky Buns from her baking book.
It was a lot of work without a mixer, but the result was SO very worth it. Believe me.
Brioche Honey Pecan Sticky Buns
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
For glaze:
1/2c butter, quartered
1c brown sugar (always packed)
1/4c honey
1-1 1/2c pecans (I bought a 4oz package, which was about 1c)
For filling:
3 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/4c sugar
3 Tbsp brown sugar (packed)
1 Tbsp cinnamon
For buns:
1/2 recipe brioche dough (recipe below)
Directions:
Make the glaze: Bring butter, brown sugar, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Pour the glaze into a greased (or sprayed) 13″ x 9″ glass pan, evening it out with a spatula. Sprinkle with pecans.
Make the filling: combine sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon well.
Roll brioche dough out on a floured surface to a 16″x16″ square. Spread with room temperature butter. Sprinkle with sugar filling mixture leaving one inch plain on the end farthest from you. Roll up as tightly as possible, starting with the end closest to you. Seal the edge. Slice into 12 rolls. Layer on top of glaze in glass pan. Press down lightly. Cover with wax paper and let rise till double.
Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes (I’ve only gone till 27 minutes).
Within 3 minutes, turn rolls out onto a greased platter or baking sheet lined with foil. I found this was easiest by covering the top of the glass pan with the foil side of the baking sheet, then flipping it over.
Serve warm.
Golden Brioche
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: My Home to Yours
Ingredients:
2 packets dry yeast
1/3c warm milk
1/3c warm water
1/3c sugar
3 3/4c flour
2 tsp salt
3 eggs, room temperature
3 sticks (12oz) butter, slightly softened
Directions:
Combine yeast, water, milk, and 1 Tbsp sugar. Allow yeast mixture to foam. Add flour and salt. Cover. Combine just to moisten, then stir 1-3 minutes until very dry and stringy. Add eggs and remaining sugar and beat 3 minutes or until dough forms a ball. Add butter in 2″ pieces till almost incorporated. Beat 10-14 minutes or till dough pulls away from the sides.
Cover and let rise till double. Punch down and cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator and slap down every 30 minutes or till dough stops rising (about 2 hours). Allow dough to chill overnight.
Divide dough in two. Roll into a 16″ square on a floured surfact and proceed with sticky bun directions.
**This recipe makes enough for two batches of sticky buns. Dorie pointed out that you can roll the second half of the dough out, and fill it, then roll it up into a log, wrap it airtight, then freeze it for up to 2 months. To use the frozen log, let it thaw in the fridge overnight, then slice and proceed with sticky bun directions. I did this, and I used the second half when I needed to bring treats to Michael’s work party. It worked great!