Cardamom Buns

Leave it to me to take a perfectly good recipe - and mess it up.  🤦🏻‍♀️  If you've ever picked up a copy of Cook's Illustrated or Cooks Country - you know that before they publish a recipe - they make it at least 50 times.  They do all the research.  They make it - they make it again, make adjustments, and then make 20 more times until it's absolutely perfect.  I put a lot of trust in the recipes that they produce because I know they're tested extensively.   

What they don't factor into their recipe creation however, is my incompetency.  🤪 In my defense, the day that I made these Cardamom Buns - was the day before Thanksgiving and I was simultaneously making dinner rolls, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, asparagus, standing rib roast, roasted sweet potatoes and these delicious looking buns.  🥐

These breakfast sweet rolls had my attention from the moment that I saw the mouth watering photos on the pages of my favorite cooking magazine.  The use of unique spices and the uncharacteristic twisting and braiding, caught my eye.  I mean - I would start to question my sanity if I DIDN'T look twice that these cardamom buns. 🤣

​So here's my version of the Cardamom Buns that were featured in last months edition of Cook's Country.  For the record - I'm blaming my ineptitude on distraction. 😬 Honestly, I'm not sure that I could have reproduced the Cardamom Buns that were pictured even if I had been focusing all of my attention on them - but I'm sticking to my distraction theory.  

I am going to go ahead and write the recipe - as it should be.  As you read through my directions - it will be fairly obvious where I got off track.  😬 Basically, I mixed up all of the filling and forgot to add it to the dough.  Soooo, in classic Amy style, instead of wasting the filling or starting over, I slathered the filling on top of the rolls before I baked them. Turns out - they were delicious this way.   Do you think Cook's Country would send ME their recipes before they get published, so that I can run them through the Amy test? 

Cardamom Buns
Dough
3 cups flour
3/4 cup bread flour
6 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, ground
​3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk, warm
8 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg 

Filling
12 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
​2 Tablespoons white sugar

In bowl of standing mixer, combine flours, sugar, yeast, cardamom and salt.  

Combine milk and butter. 

Add wet ingredients to mixer while kneading with dough hook.  

Add egg yolk.  Knead until smooth and elastic.  (about 20 minutes)

Transfer dough to a greased 9x13" baking dish.  Flatten with hands. 

Cover with plastic wrap and  let rise 1 hour.  Refrigerate 2-24 hours.  

Mash butter, brown sugar and cardamom for filling. 

Turn out chilled dough onto counter. Short end nearest you.  

Dust dough with flour and roll into a 12x16" rectangle.  

Spread the filling onto the dough evenly.

Fold the top third of the dough down over itself. 

Fold the bottom third up.

Rotate the dough 90 degrees.  Reroll to 12x16 again.  

Line a long side of dough up with the counter.  Trim short sides straight with a bench scraper. 

Cut dough into 16 strips - from short side.

Pick up one strip at a time, stretching it to 16 inches. 

Twist the ends in opposite directions.  

Hold the strip between your thumb and 3 fingers.  

Wrap the strip around fingers, without untwisting.  

Tuck end in center. ​ Pinch the bottom of the bun to seal.  

Arrange 8 buns on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.  

Cover and let rise 1 hour.  If you're me - slather on filling now.  

Beat together egg white with 1 Tablespoon water.  

Lightly brush buns with egg wash and sprinkle with white sugar. 

Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes.  

I've made these rolls exactly one time and they were unintentionally "different" from the original recipe.  I can't speak for what the publisher intended them to look or taste like, but I can assure you that my version of Cardamom Buns was pretty darn tasty.  I may (or may not) have indulged in a few too many of these sweet treats on Thanksgiving morning.  Nothing like stuffing my belly before 9 am on Thanksgiving Day.  😂

​Ciao!

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