morning bun

Traditional morning buns are basically croissant dough rolled in cinnamon orange sugar and baked in a muffin tin. I use a pumpkin pie spice blend in place of the cinnamon and simplified the croissant dough by using a food processor. You can, of course, use a store-bought pumpkin pie spice blend or use my homemade pumpkin spice blend recipe to make your own. And, because canned pumpkin makes the dough difficult to work with, I use an ingenious substitute, carrot juice! You can get carrot juice at health food stores and specialty stores like Trader Joe’s. Just look for 100% carrot juice. Don’t use blends that have orange or other juices in them, as they have too much sugar and will mess with the chemistry of the dough. No one will know you used carrot juice in the morning buns, but they’ll come out a golden orange color when you bite into them!

Pumpkin Spice Morning Buns

carrot juice, divided

active yeast (14 g or 2 packages)

all-purpose flour (490 g)

white granulated sugar (50 g)

brown sugar

salt

pumpkin pie spice blend

unsalted butter, refrigerator cold (285 g or 2 1/2 sticks)

unsalted butter (57 g or 1/2 stick)

white granulated sugar, divided (75 g)

light brown sugar (55 g)

orange (from

white sugar (150 g)

1. Make the dough first by pouring 1/2 cup of the carrot juice in a small pot and heating it on high for 10 to 15 seconds until the chill of the carrot juice has been taken off and it is at roughly room temperature or a slightly warmer (don’t bring it to a boil). Sprinkle the yeast over the warm juice.&nbsp;

Stir the yeast into the juice to dissolve. Set aside for about 5 minutes or until it starts to bubble.

While the yeast proofs, place the flour, both sugars, salt and pumpkin pie spice blend into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the dry ingredients are uniform in color.&nbsp;

Cut up 1/4 cup (57 g or 1/2 stick) of butter into 1/2-inch chunks and add to the food processor bowl. Pulse in 1-second increments until the butter is mostly broken up into pebble size bits (it’s ok if a few pieces are bigger).

&nbsp;Cut the remaining butter into 1/2-inch chunks and add to the bowl. Pulse twice in 1-second increments. The butter will still be chunky; that’s ok.

Once the yeast is bubbly add the remaining carrot juice to the pot and stir together (if the liquid isn’t bubbly, dump it and start over with fresh yeast and new carrot juice). Pour the yeasty juice into the food processor bowl, then pulse an additional 3 times in 1-second increments. Again the butter will still be chunky.&nbsp;

A dough won’t form yet, so don’t worry. Empty the entire content on a clean surface and remove the processor blade carefully.

Gather all the ingredients together with your hand and start to fold, massage and knead it together until a ball forms. You should only have to do this a few times.&nbsp;

Push the dough into a rough rectangle and then sprinkle some flour under the dough and on top of it. Roll the dough out to a 12 x 15 rectangle so the long side is facing you (it should be “landscape” orientation).&nbsp;

Fold the top 1/3 of the dough down.

Then fold the bottom 1/3 of the dough up over that fold, creating a long and skinny 4 x 15 inch rectangle.

From the short end, roll the dough up as if you were forming a giant cinnamon bun.&nbsp;

You’ll end up with a tall skinny roll with the spiral facing you.&nbsp;

Flatten the roll down from the top with the palm of your hand until the dough is roughly 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. Place in a gallon zip-top plastic bag and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour. Move the bag with the dough in it to the refrigerator and let chill for at least 1 hour or up to overnight

To assemble, brush about 1/2 of the melted butter in the cups of a standard 12 muffin tin. Generously dust the inside of the muffin cups with sugar, about 1 teaspoon per cup, using about 2 tablespoons of sugar total. Place the tin on a rimmed baking sheet.&nbsp;

Combine the remaining sugar, brown sugar, orange zest, pumpkin pie spice blend and salt in a bowl with a fork.

Once the dough has chilled, take it out of the bag and place it on a clean floured surface. Roll the dough out into a 15 x 21 inch rectangle, with the long side is facing you (again it should be “landscape” orientation). Try to make the corners as “square” as possible.&nbsp;

Fold the left edge of the dough 1/3 of the way toward the center.

Then fold the right edge over the first fold.

You're forming a 7 x 15 inch rectangle with three layers.&nbsp;Turn 90 degrees and roll out until you have an 8 x 18 inch rectangle.

Brush the top of the dough with the reserve melted butter.

Sprinkle the filling over the dough evenly.&nbsp;

Tightly roll the dough up from the bottom edge form a long and skinny 18-inch long roll.&nbsp;

Slice the dough into 1 1/2-inch pieces.

Place each bun into the prepared muffin tin swirl side up. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour at room temperature.

About 15 minutes before the buns have finished rising, preheat the oven to 375ºF. Once the buns have risen (they won’t have risen much, just about 1 1/2 times and look a little more puffy), remove the plastic wrap and bake in the oven until they are golden brown on top, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Once the buns are out of the oven, immediately remove them from the pan with two forks to a wire cooling rack. Don’t touch them with your fingers (they’ll be really hot!) but don’t wait for them to cool, as the sugar will harden and it will be impossible to remove them. Let cool on the rack for a minute or two and then finish them by pour 1/2 cup of granulated sugar into a large heatproof bowl and adding a bun to the sugar. Roll it around the sugar to coat it and then move it back to the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining buns, adding more sugar if needed. Serve immediately.

Croissant dough baked as a muffin with a cinnamon swirl, rolled in cinnamon sugar. Crisp, flaky pastry with a buttery and fluffy interior. The perfect way to start your morning!

Cinnamon Cruffins

Bread flour (3 3/4 cup)

White sugar (1/4 cup)

Salt (1 1/2 tsp)

Water (1/2 cup 2 tsp)

Whole milk (1/2 cup)

Unsalted butter (I), softened (1/4 cup)

Instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

Unsalted butter (II), softened (1 cup 2 tbsp)

White sugar (1 cup)

tbsp Ground cinnamon

Unsalted butter, melted (1 1/2 tbs)

Combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix to combine

Add water and milk to the flour mix on low until the dough comes together into a rough ball

Add the butter, increase speed to medium-high and continue to mix for 10 minutes

The dough should be smoother and more elastic, but not completely smooth

Remove dough, grease bowl and cover with cling wrap 

Place in the fridge to proof overnight, or a minimum of 6 hours

Dough

Fold a large sheet of baking paper into a 20 x 15cm rectangle 

Add the butter to the centre of the baking paper and fold up the rectangle to enclose the butter

Using a rolling pin roll the butter into the shape of the baking paper, making sure to get into the corners as well

Place the butter in the fridge to set for 30-45 minutes. The butter should be chilled and firm, but not rock solid

Butter Block

Add sugar and cinnamon to a bowl, whisk to combine

Cinnamon Sugar

Remove your dough from the fridge and roll out into a rectangle that will enclose your butter block (see illustrated image above)

Fold the corners of the dough in and pinch the edges to fully enclose the butter in the dough

Flip the dough so the edges face the benchtop and roll the dough out into a 20 x 60cm rectangle

Flip the dough over again so the edges face up and perform a single fold by visually dividing the dough into thirds and folding the top and bottom third into the centre (see illustration above)

Cover in cling wrap and place in the fridge for 20 minutes

Remove from fridge and roll out into a 20 x 60cm rectangle

Perform a double fold by visually dividing the dough into fourths and folding the top and bottom forth towards the centre line, then fold in half (see illustration above)

Remove from fridge and roll into a 20 x 60 cm rectangle 

Cover in cling wrap and place in the fridge for 45 minutes

Remove from fridge and roll into a 25 x 40cm rectangle

Sprinkle with 1/3rd of the cinnamon sugar, pressing the sugar into the dough

Trim the edges, then cut the dough into ten 4cm strips

Place each swirl into a cavity and cover the tray loosely with cling wrap

Leave at room temperature to proof for 1-2 hours, until puffy and 1.5X in size (the layers will begin to separate)

Bake the cruffins for 18-20 minutes, until puffed and golden brown

Remove from oven and unmould (I use a fork to pull them out of the tray)

Assembly

I loooooove croissants 😍These sounds incredible with cinnamon. Thank you for your detailed explanation!

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Pumpkin Spice Morning Buns

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Top 2 morning bun recipes from across the web

The most viewed morning bun recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Pumpkin Spice Morning Buns

Cinnamon Cruffins

The most viewed morning bun recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine