Today I'm testing out Claire Saffitz's recipe for Walnut Maple Buns from her Dessert Person cookbook. In the recipe write-up, Claire says that she's not a fan of overly-sweet breakfast buns; so as you'd expect, these buns have well-balanced sweetness and don't result in a sugar crash -- even after eating two! These buns are a hybrid of a sticky bun and a cinnamon roll, so it's the best of both worlds. The bread itself is a sweet yeasted dough that's light, tender, and pulls apart beautifully. The buns are rolled like a cinnamon roll, but the filling is quite scant and flavor-forward rather than a pile over overly sweet ingredients. The filling is made with a little brown sugar and a generous amount of warm cardamom and fresh orange zest. Cardamom is a prominent flavor in this recipe, so if you're not a fan, just swap it with cinnamon. The aroma of these sticky buns is amazing! Very floral and warm. The buns are topped with a classic sticky bun style topping of toasted nuts in a sticky-sweet glaze. The main flavor in the glaze is maple syrup -- complemented by brown sugar and vanilla with a bit of butter for richness and thickness. The texture of this topping is crispy, gooey, sticky, and chewy -- it's all the best brunch textures combined! These sticky buns / cinnamon rolls are baked upside down; so that sticky sweet nutty glaze is on the bottom of the pan. This was, by far, the hardest part of the recipe: getting the breakfast buns out of the pan with the topping attached and in-tact. Even if things go wrong, you're still in for a delicious, albeit less pretty, end result. Next time I make this, I'll grease my pan with a little butter and line with parchment (and more butter!) to help give an easier removal from the pan. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!
- Claire Saffitz, Dessert Person: https://amzn.to/2KtALqK
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Recipe:
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