TWD- Almond Sticky Buns (the most-time-consuming recipe ever)

Ok, this every other week for TWD has messed me up! I keep getting confused on which week we're off and which week we're on! But since I've missed the last couple recipes, I made sure to check when this one was due! This week was Brioche Pecan Sticky Buns. According to Wikipedia, Brioche is "a highly enriched French sweet roll, whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb. It is "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and eggs"^[1] It has a dark, golden, and flaky crust, frequently accentuated by an egg wash applied after proofing." I've had Brioche bread, but not in the form of sticky buns. The bread is light and eggy, slightly sweet.
This recipe starts with making a batch of brioche. Yeast, milk, egg, flour and salt are left to rest for 30 minutes until the top cracks:

After the mixture has rested (one of many rests it will receive), you add sugar and more flour and beat it for 15 minutes:

Add lots of butter and beat it some more. After it's beaten, it needs to rise for a couple hours. Then deflated and refrigerated for a few more hours. Then you take it out and roll it out, dot it with butter, fold it up, roll it again, fold it up again, and then guess what? That's right , it needs to rest again (in the fridge). After that little vacation, you roll it out yet again, sprinkle in some cinnamon/sugar and nuts (I used almonds instead of pecans), roll it up in a log, wrap it and... what? Another rest? This time in the freezer. 
In the meantime, you smash up some butter in a pan, sprinkle it with lots of brown sugar. Remove the log from the freezer and cut it thick slices (I only made half of the brioche dough into rolls and froze the other half).

And what would this step be without another rest? The rolls need to rise for a couple hours:

Then bake at 350 degrees F for what the recipe says 30-40 minutes (mine took less than 20):

Once gorgeous and out of the oven, you immediately invert the pan onto a plate so all that yummy butter and sugar you put on the bottom of your pan is now a gooey and sugary topping.

What? That's right. These are for reals. Although they were major time-consuming, they were raved about by everyone, even my two year old who said, "Mom, can you make these again? They are so, so, so yum." He said that phrase twice. In a row. How can I not make them again for that? With the other half of the brioche dough in the freezer, I guess I'm halfway there!

The recipe will be here-  Lynn of Eat Drink Man Woman Dogs Cat and Nicole of Cookies on Friday

Dinner Rolls

Did I mention I'm loving this cookbook my mom gave me? Every recipe I've made from it has been a hit. These dinner rolls were no exception. My friend and I started doing a dinner swap once a week and I decided to make a batch of these to go with this soup. The book says these are the world's best, and I think they are definitely in the running. I used Trader Joe's 100% White Whole Wheat flour instead on all-purpose and it was a great, healthy substitution. My husband, who tries not to eat too much bread, ate like 4 of these. They'll definitely be on our Thanksgiving table!

Get the recipe (and others!) here.

Cinnamon Rolls

This has been my favorite cinnamon roll recipe for years. I don't make them often because to have them for breakfast, you have to make them the night before and finish them in the morning. Or, eat them at 11am. :)

This particular recipe is for a bread machine. Since I don't have one, I just adapted it for a stand mixer. It's very straightforward, and the results are amazing!!

Clone of a Cinnabon adapted from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

2 eggs, room temperature 1/3 cup butter, melted 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup white sugar

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling  1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

Frosting 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

	In the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle yeast over warm milk. Let stand 5 minutes. Add eggs, butter, salt and sugar. Mix. Add flour, a cup at a time and knead until the dough is slightly tacky. Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, dry place until doubled in size.
	After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
	Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
	Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Cinnamon Rolls

Twice a year, our family spends a weekend watching the General Conference of our church. The conference consists of two 2-hour sessions on Saturday and Sunday mornings and afternoons. Therefore, it is imperative that we have yummy breakfast treats- usually cinnamon rolls. This year, I tried a different recipe than I normally do, simply because it came in the church newspaper. 

This recipe is large- I recommend halving it unless you're feeding 20 people, or want to give a bunch away. It's pretty yummy, but not as yummy as my usual, which I have yet to post. :)

Cinnamon Rolls

adapted from  "Family Dinner Cookbook," by Debbie G. Harman

2 packages yeast

½ cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup butter

2 cups milk

4 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

7-8 cups flour

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ cup brown sugar

Dissolve yeast and the 1 tablespoon sugar in water. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in buttermilk and eggs. Mix together in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, salt and 4 cups flour and beat with mixer until smooth. Stir in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Turn onto floured surface and knead 7 to 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl and let rest 15 minutes. Divide dough in half. Roll dough to ½-inch thickness. Sprinkle water over dough. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll dough jelly roll style. Cut ½-inch thick slices.

Place on greased baking pan. Let rise until double. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until edges just start to turn golden. Remove from oven and spread butter cream frosting on rolls immediately.

Butter cream frosting

¼ cup butter

¼ cup milk

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat butter until creamy. Add whipping cream, vanilla and enough powdered sugar to make a creamy frosting.