Behold this beautiful mashup made in breakfast heaven. While I agree that the fad of food mashups has often gone too far, this particular mashup went perfectly to the limit and only pushed the boundaries of how much holiday can we pack into one bun. Admittedly, I'm one of those weirdos that love Turducken and the frankenpie/cakes and ramen burgers.
This buttery soft dough is entwined with spiced pumpkin pie and topped with crunchy, gooey caramel. They are best straight from the oven but are delightful at room temperature if somehow, there are leftovers beyond breakfast. These are my staple Thanksgiving morning breakfast treats as they are so easy to throw together the dough the night before and roll up the morning of. Do yourself a holiday favor and make these ladies your Thanksgiving tradition as well.
Bowl #1
1/4 cup [60 grams] lukewarm water
1 package [7 grams] dry active yeast
Bowl #2
1/2 cup [70 grams] all-purpose flour
1/4 cup [50 grams] granulated sugar
2 tablespoons [12 grams] dry milk powder
2 teaspoons [8 grams] salt
Bowl #3
1/4 cup [55 grams] buttermilk, room temperature
2 whole eggs
Bowl #4
2 cups [290 grams] bread flour
Small plate
6 tablespoons [88 grams] butter, room temperature
On the sidelines:
Pumpkin pie filling, recipe as follows
Sticky bun topping, recipe as follows
1
In the first bowl, whisk together the yeast and water. Let sit for a few minutes until the yeast is dissolved.
2
Whisk together the ingredients in the second bowl and add them into the yeast water. Using a dough hook on a standing mixer, mix for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can whisk by hand for a few minutes.
3
Add the buttermilk and eggs from the third bowl into the first bowl and continue to mix for a few minutes.
4
Add in the bread flour from the fourth bowl and knead for a few more minutes. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic.
5
Add in the softened butter from the fifth bowl, one pat at a time. Ensure that the butter has been fully incorporated before adding more. Once it is completely added, knead for a few more seconds.
6
Lightly grease a large bowl. Scrape the dough into a ball and place in the oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for a few hours. Punch down, cover with plastic wrap and park it in the fridge overnight.
8
The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9-inch cake pans. Set aside.
9
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to roughly 16x20 inches. Spread the pumpkin pie mixture all over the top of the dough.
10
Starting with the long side of the dough, begin to tightly roll up the dough into a tight log. Take your time at this step because the better we do our job in this step, the better they will bake later. Once you have rolled the entire dough into a log, pinch the seams to seal the log.
11
Cut the log into roughly sixteen, one inch pieces. I like to cut the log in half, then cut the shorter pieces in half again, and once more, cut the smaller pieces in half- this leaves me with sixteen pieces, all roughly the same size.
12
Prepare the sticky bun topping and divide the topping between the two cake pans. Place half of the buns, cut side up, into one pan and the other half into the other pan. Cover and let rise for an hour.
13
Once risen, bake until the rolls are set and golden brown- roughly 35 minutes. Let cool for one minute.
14
After a minute or two, place a plate on top of the pan and invert them to unmold the sticky buns. Don't wait to do this step or else the precious sticky bun topping with stick to the pan! It really is sticky.
Pumpkin Pie Filling
Bowl #1
1 can [15 ounces] [425 grams] pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie mix
1/2 teaspoon orange or clementine zest
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1
Whisk everything together.
Sticky Bun Topping
Bowl #1
1 cup [210 grams] light brown sugar
1 stick [113 grams] butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans
1
Stir everything together.
