Sunday, February 24, 2013

Week 8 of 52: Pistachio Sticky Buns

As I checked out the "National xx Day" list around this weekend, I learned it was National Sticky Bun Day (Feb 21) and National Pistachio Day (Feb 26).

Every year, I wait, anxiously, for the Iowa State Fair to begin. In case you have never heard of the Iowa State Fair, it is on the list of 1000 Places to See Before You Die (http://www.iowastatefair.org/about-us/history/).

I love the fair, everything about it. I love the food, the animals, the big tractors, even the cowboy hat and boot wearing people. I spent one fair working in the blue Information Booths every day of the fair (10 straight days)! I can tell you where most things are on the fairgrounds, and I plan out which days I can take off work when the schedule comes out so as not to miss opportunities like the hog calling contest, the big sheep competition, and the draft horses. But above all, I can tell you where the best vegetarian corn dogs are, the best hand-squeezed lemonade can be found, and those grilled turkey legs the size of your head from the Turkey Federation! And of course, I know where the best sticky buns are located.

Next to the mandate of starting a fair day with a sticky bun, I also love baklava. All those layers of honey-soaked, pistachio-rich phylo. That got me to thinking, why not a baklava-inspired sticky bun?

After searching the web for various recipes, I decided to modify one from Oprah (she knows desserts!). This is my interpretation.

Adapted from www.oprah.com/food/Gooey-Cinnamon-Sticky-Buns/

Pistachio Sticky Buns

These are made in muffin tins to make it easier to serve. And they are made at night and baked the next morning. You can skip the overnight, but you need to add 1-2 hours of additional raising time. And you can make in a 9x13" pan instead.

Prepping
Grease two 12-cup muffin tins.

Goop
3/4 c brown sugar
4 T butter, unsalted
4 T honey
1 T cinnamon, ground
1 c almond slivers, coarsely chopped
1/2 c pistachios, coarsely chopped

Melt all but nuts in a saucepan on low. Pour into the prepared tins. Distribute the nuts evenly among the cups. Set aside.

Dough
Yeast
1/4 c warm water, not hot
1 pkt active dry yeast
1 t sugar

1/3 c sugar
3/4 c milk (I use light vanilla soy milk)
4 T butter, unsalted, room temperature
3 egg yolks, large (use the whites for an omelet!)
1 T orange zest, finely grated (invest in a microplane if you don't have one, they are fantastic!)
1 1/4 t salt, kosher
4 c flour (may need an additional 1/4 c, plus more for dusting)

Combine yeast ingredients in your stand mixer bowl and let set until it gets bubbly (5 minutes). Once ready, add sugar, milk, butter, eggs, zest, and salt. Mix on low speed. Once together, add 3 cups of flour and again mix on low until starting to come together. Change to dough hook. Add another 1 cup of flour and get dough to form a ball that is shiny and only slightly sticky. If too sticky, add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. This should go for 3-5 minutes on medium.

Raising 1
Grease a glass bowl. Turn out dough and form into a ball. Place in bowl and turn to coat ball with the butter from the bowl. Cover with a clean dish towel and place in a warm place to let rise. I put mine on the couch under my down blanket. Rise for about 1 hour until doubled in size.

Once dough has risen, punch it down and turn it out onto a floured board. Let sit for 20 minutes.

Filing
1/2 c brown sugar, light, tightly packed
1 T cinnamon, ground
2 t cloves, ground
3 T butter, cold, cut into 12 pieces
1 1/2 c shelled, roasted pistachios, coarsely chopped
1/2 c slivered almonds, coarsely chopped

Mix all filing ingredients together. Pinch butter chunks so as to create a crumbly texture.

Creating
Roll out dough to 1/4" thick, 12" x 18". Brush with 4 T melted butter. Cover evenly with filing. Roll (starting from the longer side) into a cylinder with cut side down. Using a pastry scraper, cut into 24 equal pieces.

Panning
Place one piece, flat side down, into each cup of the prepared pans.

Raising 2
Cover with plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator over night. If you want to bake the same day, cover with the clean dish towel again and place in a warm place to rise. This will take another 1 hour to double in size.

Baking
In the morning, pull out tins and uncover. Let come up to room temperature while preheating the oven to 375F.

Bake for 30-35'.

Cool only slightly before turning out of tins and devouring!

2 comments:

  1. These were amazing, I could have eaten all of them.

    ReplyDelete
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