Bakery Style Sweet Buns & A Holiday Game
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My friends, what you see pictured above are two things: a yeasted bakery-style sweet bun and a tray of mystery baked goods. The first item is one of the many delightful things I made in my kitchen this past weekend thanks to my newest baking book, A Passion for Baking, by Marcy Goldman. The buns were slightly sweet with hints of vanilla, and a slew of these babies were enjoyed with breakfast every morning from Friday to Sunday. Whether on their own, lightly toasted, or adorned with the likes of amber hued honey, blackberry preserves or pumpkin butter, everyone who sampled them loved their subtle sweetness and soft texture. There is one bun left, and tomorrow morning my husband and I are going to see who gets to it first. Or maybe we’ll share? That would be the romantic thing to do wouldn’t it? 
The second item in the photo is, as I said, a mystery, but also part of a Baking and Books holiday game. If you take a look at the left hand sidebar you’ll see a section marked “Upcoming Giveaways” - all the books listed in this section are going to be given away on this site sometime between now and January first. In order to win a book you’ll need to answer a question, one of which will be posted in each entry that is giving a book away. (You can see what I mean here and here.) I won’t indicate which posts are giving books away as I have in the past by putting “Free Book” in the post title - you’ll just have to keep on visiting me to see which entries are also offering to send a cookbook to you. 
Are you ready to play? For this first round the mystery item is key, because in order to enter the raffle you need to answer this question:What kind of baked goods are shown in the background of this photo? You don’t have to answer correctly to win the book, you just have to make a guess. Only comments that guess what’s on the baking tray will be entered into the raffle. Sometime between today and November 30th I’ll randomly pick a winner and post their name along with a scrumptious photo of those mystery treats and the accompanying recipe. Yay!
Have fun and keep an eye on that sidebar in case more books are added…. Happy Holidays!
Yeasted Bakery-Style Sweet Buns
Recipe reprinted with permission from A Passion for Baking, by Marcy Goldman.
Ingredients: Makes 12 buns
For the Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (100 degrees F to 110 degrees F)
- 2 tablespoons rapid-rise yeast (I used active dry yeast, but at the supermarket you can usually find envelopes of “rapid rise” yeast too. You can learn about the differences between the two here, but I just substituted active-dry without modifying the instructions, especially since the recipe proofs the yeast for a short period of time.)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 to 7 cups bread flour (I ended up using all purpose flour. I was all out of bread flour, can you believe it?)
- 2 eggs + a pinch of sugar (for egg wash)
For the Butter Crumb Topping:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixer bowl, hand-whisk water and yeast together and let stand 2 to 3 minutes to dissolve yeast. Briskly whisk in vanilla, sugar, eggs, softened butter, and salt and blend well. Add 3 to 4 cups bread flour and mix. Then knead with dough hook on lowest speed of mixer 6 to 8 minutes, adding more bread flour as necessary to form a soft, bouncy dough. (If you don’t have a stand mixer simply add flour until the dough is too stiff to stir by hand, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. Your dough is ready when it’s smooth, soft and bounces back when you press your thumb into it.)
Remove dough hook and spray dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover entire mixer and bowl with a large clear plastic bag (I used saran wrap to very loosely cover the bowl). Let dough rise 30 to 60 minutes or until almost doubled.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate. Cut dough into 12 equal portions. Shape each into a small round roll or bun. Place about 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Whisk 2 eggs and a pinch of sugar together in a small bowl. Brush each bun well with egg wash.
Preheat ove to 350 degrees F.
For butter crumb topping, in a small bowl, rub ingredients together to form a crumbly mixture. Distribute carefully on top of each bun. Cover buns loosely with plastic wrap and let rise about 30 to 45 minutes or until quite puffy and almost doubled.
Bake for 28 to 35 minutes or until browned all over.
Other Posts You Might Like:- Chocolate-Cranberry Sweet Buns
- Cinnamon Pan Dulce (Mexican Morning Buns)
- Holiday Gift Guide
- Sweet Madeleines & A Honey-Vanilla Latte
- Sweet Corn Coffeecake with Strawberries & Blackberries
113 Responses to “Bakery Style Sweet Buns & A Holiday Game”
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The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride By Daniel James Brown
It's not often that a history book will compel me to set all my novels aside, but "The Indifferent Stars Above" certainly did. Within the first few pages I was spellbound. I had to know how Sarah, a young woman newly married to her childhood sweetheart, would end up on top of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the dead of winter, starving and forced to do unspeakable things in order to survive.
"The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride" tells the story of the Donner Party from the perspective of newlyweds Sarah Graves and Jay Fosdick. In April of 1846 the couple joined Sarah's family as they journeyed west from Illinois to the promised land of California. (Read the rest of this review...)
i’m going to guess big, tall, buttery, flaky biscuits… mmm…
Cinnamon rolls?
I think that there are some kind of bar cookies on the baking sheet or maybe coffee cake.
Wow! That looks delicious!
As for what’s on the baking sheet…I guess it could be biscuits, or maybe even those old-fashioned twisted pretzels.
I would guess sweet sandwiches made from the buns. Looks fantastic!
Lemon bars. Cause everyone needs lemon bars.
Granola bars!
Yay! I’m glad your rolls turned out so well Ben!
CInnamon Buns!!!
Raspberry Coconut Slice?
Could it be . . . cinnamon rolls?
I’m going to guess it’s one big square pizza with a muffin or cupcake on the pan to confuse us.
Regardless of the pan in the background, the bun looks delicious.
These are very tasty. I’m eating one right now, lightly toasted w/ pineapple cream cheese.
I think they are some kind of cookies.
i immediatly thought macaroons. love your picture!
More of the buns!
Cupcakes
Are they turnovers?
I think your photo of a sweet bun looks absolutely delicious
This will make a wonderful addition to any meal. With the Holiday season upon us, I think this is one item that will be very welcome by family and friends.
Hi Ari,
Secondly, the photo is fabulous.
Okay, first of all I just couldn’t resist being the 100th comment.
What’s on the baking sheet? Well, how about some of your wonderful scones.
I’m guessing that you have more buns on the mystery tray. They have the same color at least lol
Raisin Buns?
I’m going to guess biscotti because they look long, flat and pointy.
Macaroni and cheese cookies!
I saw some in the raw food section of a store near me, and am really curious what they taste like. Maybe if I make it through the semester alive I’ll treat myself!
And the sweet buns look so delicious!
The thing I hate about visiting your blog is that there is another cookbook to add to my “want” list every visit!! I’m gonna guess scones, although I don’t think I’m right!!
Also thinking biscotti, probably because I’ve got them on the brain right now behind chocolate truffles.
If you like this book, you should absolutely try Tate’s cookbook (if you haven’t already). It is my absolute favorite–and has all of the recipes that EVERYONE loves–from the best chocolate chip cookies, to an amazing apple pie.
I’m thinking foccacia.
I’ve been a bit behind in my blog-reading, so now I’m catching up, and here I stumble upon this post a day late for the raffle! But oh my do those buns look good!!!! I just might have to make them for breakfast this week….
Ari - I love your site and I come here often, I was wondering if you would like to participate in my culinary meme. You can find the details on my site:
TableBread
It’s completely voluntary of course but I think you will enjoy it!
~Lewis
coconut macaroons
Cinnamon Rolls?
Oh my…that bun is making me want one right this instant! Beautiful photo!