Honeycakes (Game of Thrones)

The story behind this recipe is somewhat convoluted. It is based on a recipe posted on the C&C Cakery blog, who got it from Inn at the Crossroads, who, in turn, based their recipe on an early modern recipe they found for honeycakes, which they modified to be closer to a dish described in the Game of Thrones books.

The quote they were riffing on mentioned cakes that had been "soaked in honey". So they made these Elizabethan-era honeycakes and then cut little holes in the tops and poured a generous quantity of honey into the centre of each one.

I'm not sure how close this comes to the treats the author had been imagining. Based on the description, I was imagining more of a small quick bread/chemically leavened cake that then gets soaked in a (possibly mildly spiced) honey syrup. But, I guess they wanted to use an old timey recipe as the basis for their cakes. I think there was a sense that this would fit the vibe of the setting a bit better. And, as written, the recipe does make delightful little rolls! (Although I think they'd be even better with a little butter added to the dough.) And, to be fair, it looks like the folks at Inn at the Crossroads did post a recipe for "modern honeycakes" that does use a chemically leavened batter baked in muffin tins to produce something more similar to what I'd originally been envisioning. (Although I have yet to try that recipe.)

I think it could be interesting to experiment with different takes on this idea. For example, I might be inclined to try making the little yeasted buns again, but try steaming them rather than baking them. Or try adding some butter and extra anise to the dough. Or try poaching them in honey syrup either before or after baking. There are all sorts of possibilities!

Honeycakes

Slightly adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

• 480mL brown ale
• 6 Tbsp. honey, divided
• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 Tbsp. instant yeast)
• 800g all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 6 Tbsp. almond flour
• 1 Tbsp. anise seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter¹, softened (optional)
• extra honey

Directions

1. Combine the ale with 2 Tbsp. of the honey and gently warm to ~40°C (100°F).
2. Remove from heat and sprinkle in the yeast and let stand for 5 minutes. (If using instant yeast you may add the yeast directly to the dry ingredients instead. No need to bloom it in the ale first.)
3. Meanwhile, combine the flour, sugar, almond flour, anise, and salt and mix well. (If using instant yeast, add it along with the other dry ingredients.)
4. Pour the yeast mixture into a mixing bowl along with the almond extract and the remaining honey.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients a little at a time to form a soft dough.
6. Work in the butter (if using).
7. Cover and rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
8. Knock dough back and divide into 20-24 equal portions.
9. Round each portion and place on a greased baking sheet or in a greased 23x33cm (9x13") baking tin.
10. Cover and allow to rise for another hour or so.²
11. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
12. Uncover rolls and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15-20 minutes.
13. Cut a small hole in the top of each roll and carefully spoon in a generous quantity of honey. (The original recipe suggested ~1 Tbsp. per roll, but I went for a somewhat more modest 1 tsp..)

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¹ The original recipe did not call for any butter and I didn't use any this time, but I would like to try adding a bit of butter next time. The rolls were certainly plenty good as-is, but I think a bit of butter might make them even better. ^Back
2 I let my rolls rise for about an hour after shaping, but, in retrospect, I wish I'd given them another 15-20 minutes. They're perfectly good as-is, but they do seem a bit underproofed. The exact timing, of course, will depend on the temperature of your room. My house is a bit on the cool side right now, so the yeast were a bit sluggish. ^Back

I used to make Dutch crunch bread a fair bit as a teen. There was a recipe in the Pillsbury cookbook that we had at home. The Dutch crunch and monkey bread recipes in there along with a few others are what got me started with bread baking. So this recipe in Cook's Country looked pleasingly nostalgic.

I was tempted to make an pan loaf, just to stick even closer to my childhood experience. But, in the end, I figured it'd probably introduce fewer complications if I just made rolls like the recipe said. That way I wouldn't have to adjust the amount of topping or baking time or anything.

I found the inclusion of yeast in the rice flour topping interesting. I don't recall the Pillsbury version using yeast there; only the main dough was yeasted. Everything else was very familiar though. Although the topping did turn out somewhat runnier than I remember. That said, it seemed to be runnier than the recipe authors were expecting as well. I didn't need to brush it to spread it out, it just dripped and ran on its own. Possibly this was due to using brown, rather than white, rice flour. Given how runny it was, I think I'd probably reduce the water called for slightly next time. The original recipe called for "1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp." I'll try leaving out the 2 Tbsp. next time and see how it goes.

Dutch Crunch Rolls

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016

Ingredients

Dough

• 495g all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 1/4 tsp. instant (rapid-rise) yeast
• 1 1/4 c. warm water
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Topping

• 114g brown rice flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 1/4 tsp. instant (rapid-rise) yeast
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 Tbsp. oil

Directions

1. Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast for the dough.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the water and melted butter.
3. Gradually incorporate dry ingredients into wet, mixing from the centre outward.
4. Cover and let rest for ~5 minutes.
5. Turn out onto very lightly flour surface and knead for 5-10 minutes.
6. Cover and let rest for 5 more minutes.
7. Knead a for a few more minutes, until dough is smooth and stretchy.
8. Shape into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise for ~45 minutes.
9. Dough is ready to knock back when it does not return a wet fingerprint. (Press wet finger ~1cm into dough and see if it springs back/fills in.)
10. Knock dough back and knead a few strokes.
11. Divide into 8 equal portions.
12. Round each portion, cover, and rest for 5-10 minutes.
13. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
14. Working with one portion at a time, flip smooth-side-down and press flat. Then fold top edge down to middle and press. Fold bottom edge up to middle and press.¹ Now bring the new top and bottom edges up to meet in the middle and pinch together. Flip seam-side-down and place on prepared baking sheet.
15. Cover and let rise for ~20 minutes.
16. After 20 minutes of rising, prepare the topping by whisking all of the topping ingredients together in a bowl.
17. Cover the topping and let rise for ~20 minutes.
18. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
19. Spoon 2 Tbsp. of topping onto each bun. Use a pastry brush if necessary to spread the topping evenly over the bun.
20. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through baking.
21. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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¹ Top edge and bottom edge should meet in the middle, but not overlap. This is not a "letter fold". ^Back

I'm not sure why I was suddenly overcome with the desire to bake a batch of Parker House rolls, but... it happened.

This was my first time making them from scratch, although I do have some vague memories of making them with readymade Pillsbury dough as a kid.

They were easy enough to make. It's an enriched dough with a truly alarming amount of butter. The dough was very soft, but not at all sticky and it rose well producing light, buttery rolls. Sadly most of my rolls came unfolded, so I didn't end up with the characteristic Parker House shape. But they still tasted lovely regardless.

Parker House Rolls

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2020

Ingredients

• 550g all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp. instant (rapid-rise) yeast
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 1/4 c. whole (3.25%) milk, tepid
• 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, divided
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp. sugar

Directions

1. Combine flour, yeast, and salt and mix well.
2. In a large measuring cup, combine milk, 8 Tbsp. of the melted butter, egg, and sugar and mix well.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.
4. Gradually incorporate the flour, working from the centre outward.
5. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
6. Knead until smooth and elastic.
7. Return to bowl, cover, and let rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes.
8. Knock back and divide into 24 equal portions: first divide into two equal portions, then shape each portion into a log, and divide each log into 12 equal portions.
9. Cover dough pieces.
10. Working with one at a time, carefully round each one: stretch and pinch dough to the bottom to form a smooth, taut gluen sheet on top; then roll on the work surface, creating a bit of pressure and friction to get it nice and round and smooth everything out.
11. Set rounded dough lump aside, cover, and move on to next dough lump.
12. Let rounded dough lumps rest for 10-15 minutes.
13. Working with one ball at a time, press into a flat disc 6-7mm thick. Press the handle of a wooden spoon along the centre of the disc to form a trough/crease. Brush with melted butter. Then fold along the crease and press firmly. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover.
14. Once all the rolls have been shaped, make sure they're covered and allow to proof for 45-60 minutes.
15. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
16. Uncover rolls and brush tops with remaining melted butter.
17. If you have a spray bottle, spritz them with a little water just before putting them in the oven.
18. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-25 minutes.
19. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

I've never been a big fan of steamed buns. I always felt like buns really needed to be baked to be any good. Steaming them just seemed sad. But TF really likes steamed buns, so I figured I'd give this recipe a try. And it turns out that homemade steamed buns are actually really good! I loved these! I felt like they needed some sort of sauce since the filling didn't have much umph, but the buns themselves were really, really delicious.

Steamed Vegetable Buns

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

Filling

• 450g baby bok choy
• 8 fresh shiitake mushrooms¹
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 115g 五香豆腐干 (five-spice dried tofu)
• 1 tsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt²

Dough

• 3/4 c. warm water
• 1 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 tsp. oil, divided
• 280g all-purpose flour
• 20g cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda

Directions

Filling

1. Prepare an ice bath.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add half the bok choy. Cook for 10 seconds, then quickly transfer the bok choy to the ice bath. Repeat the blanching process with the remaining bok choy.
3. Once the bok choy has cooled completely, drain it, squeezing out as much water as possible.
4. Finely chop the bok choy. (A food processor is helpful for this. I don't have one, so I did it by hand.)
5. Finely chop the mushrooms.
6. Heat a wok over medium heat.
7. Drizzle the oil into the wok.
8. Add the chopped mushrooms to the wok and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
10. Finely chop the tofu and set it aside.
11. Return the the chopped bok choy and pour off any liquid that has accumulated. (This will prevent soggy buns!)
12. Add the mushrooms and tofu the the bok choy.
13. Add the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, white pepper, and salt and mix to combine.
14. Cover and chill while dough is being prepared.

Dough

1. Stir the yeast and sugar into the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Stir in 1 Tbsp. oil.
3. In a separte bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda and mix to combine.
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, working from the centre outward.
6. Once the flour has been mostly incorporated, turn the dough out onto your work surface and begin kneading.
7. Knead for at least 10 minutes. The dough should be very smooth and supple. If it is lumpy, uneven, or tears, keep going!
8. Shape into a ball and place in a bowl.
9. Brush the top of the dough ball with the remaining 1 tsp. of oil. Cover and let at room temperature for ~1 hour.

Assembly

1. Once fully risen, turn out and knead for a few minutes to deflate and remove gas pockets.
2. Divide dough into 30g portions³.
3. Round each piece of dough and cover with plastic wrap to stop it from drying out.
4. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it out into a flat disc ~8cm in diameter, thinner on the edges and thicker in the middle.
5. Place a spoonful of filling in the centre of the disc.
6. Holding the bun in the palm of one hand, being pleating the edges. Once you've worked all the way around, keep the last pleat pinched and work your way around again. Twist and close until the bun is almost completely closed. There should still be a small open hole at the top, but it should be mostly closed and neatly pleated.
7. Place each bun on a square of parchmentpaper (5-6cm squares work well).
8. Place place the buns (on their parchment squares) into a steamer. Be careful not to crowd them.
9. Cover and let rise for ~20 minutes.
10. Make sure there is sufficient water in the bottom of your steamer and bring to a boil over high heat.
11. Once water is boiling, reduce heat to medium. Steam for 10 minutes.
12. Turn off heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Do not remove lid during this time!
13. Remove cooked buns from steamer and get the next batch ready to go. Each batch much start with cold water.
14. Serve hot.
15. To reheat, microwave for one minute or steam for 6-8 minutes.

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¹ I didn't have any fresh shiitakes so I just rehydrated a few dried ones. My dried mushrooms were quite large, so I only used six. ^Back
2 I'd be tempted to leave out the salt and add in a teaspoon of dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, or hoisin sauce next time. The filling was good, but I feel like it really needed something to give it a bit more presence. Of course, adding one of those dark sauces would probably have a negative impact on the aesthetics. They blanched bok choy is lovely and vibrant in this version. But I think I'd be willing to sacrifice some aesthetic value in the pursuit of better flavour. Just something to keep in mind if you're after something very pretty. ^Back
3 The original recipe called for making 14 equal portions. This worked out to ~40g of dough per bun. I did this, but when I made a second batch the next day, I found 30g portions much easier to handle. So I would actually recommend making more smaller buns (18-19) vs. a smaller number of larger ones. ^Back

With eggs, honey, dairy, plenty of butter, and a measure of soft flour included in the dough, these rolls are incredibly tender and high rising. I did find them somewhat lacking in structural integrity. They were very tender, but also a bit crumbly. Of course, that could be because I overproofed them slightly. I was trying to give them a very full proof and overshot the mark slightly. Only by about 5 or 10 minutes by the look of it, but enough that they sank a bit in the oven and the gluten had broken down a bit. I'll be sure to get them in the oven promptly next time.

Extra Soft Dinner Rolls

From the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 c. warm water
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 750g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 150g soft (plain/pastry/standard) whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter

Directions

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside for ~10 minutes.
2. Dissolve the honey in the buttermilk and mix in the egg.
3. Combine the flours and salt and mix thoroughly.
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast mixture.
5. Mix a bit of the flour into the liquids in the centre to form a loose batter.
6. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the batter in the centre of the bowl.
7. Gradually mix flour into liquids working from the centre outward.
8. Once most of the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough and any remaining flour out onto the work surface and begin kneading.
9. Knead for at least 12 minutes, working in a bit more water or flour as needed. (Err toward a softer, looser dough.)
10. Begin working in the butter by smearing it on the work surface and kneading the dough on top of it until the butter has been incorporated.
11. Once all the butter has been worked in and the dough is thoroughly kneaded and very supple, shape it into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise.
12. Allow to rise until 1cm deep fingerprint (made with a wet finger) no longer fills in (1-2 hours).
13. Knock back, reshape into a ball, and return to covered bowl to rise again.
14. Allow to rise the same as before, until finger print is no longer returned. The second rise shouldn't take more than an hour.
15. Knock back dough and divide into four equal portions.
16. Round each portion and pull the gluten taut across the top. Cover and let rest for at least 10 minutes.
17. Divide each portion into six equal pieces and round each one.
18. Place dough balls in a greased 28x40cm (11x16") pan, cover, and set aside to rise.
19. Allow to rise for 45-60 minutes. Only let them go to 60 minutes if your room is fairly cool (20°C or less).
20. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes.

I've never had a Chelsea bun before, but TF and catalyst both love them, so I decided to try a batch. I had to improvise a bit on the fruit since we were out of raisins. I ended up using a mix of dried cranberries and glacé cherries. That mix seems to have worked out well, although I think I'd like to try it with some raisins (and maybe a few chopped pecans) in next time. I also think it'd be fun to try the dried cranberries with an orange-flavoured dough and glaze.

Chelsea Buns

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

Dough

• 225g hard (bread/"high grade") flour
• 1 tsp. sugar¹
• 100mL warm milk
• 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 75g salted butter
• 1 egg

Filling

• 50g salted butter, softened
• 100g mixed dried fruit
• 25g mixed peel
• 50g brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Toppings

• 1/4 c. sugar, divided
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Directions

Dough

• Mix 2 Tbsp. of the flour with the sugar and milk.
• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes.
• Sift the remaining flour and salt together and cut in the butter.
• Pour in the egg and the yeast mixture.
• Mix well to form a soft dough.
• Knead (as best you can) for 5 minutes. The dough will be quite wet, so it probably work best to knead with one hand while wielding a bench scraper with the other hand. I found that the dough became even slacker after the first minute or two as the butter began to melt from the heat of my hands. I recommend working quickly.
• Shape into a ball and place in a lightly buttered bowl.
• Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill and rise overnight.²
• On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough and roll it into a 23x30cm rectangle.
• Spread evenly with the softened butter. (I found a long off-set spatula helpful for this.
• Combine the dried fruit, mixed peel, brown sugar, and spices.
• Sprinkle the filling mixture evenly over the buttered dough.
• Roll up from a long edge to form a cylinder.
• Cut into nine pieces and place cut side down in a greased 7" (18cm) square tin³.
• Cover with a damp cloth and set to rise for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. of sugar.
• Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
• Dissolve the sugar in the milk and heat to form a glaze.
• Brush the glaze over the buns while hot.
• Pull apart and serve warm.

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¹ Edmonds calls for caster sugar here, but I just used regular granulated sugar. ^Back
2 The original recipe has you setting the dough to rise for 90 minutes at room temperature, but with the butter melting and the dough being so soft, I decided that it might benefit from some time in the fridge. My understanding is that a long slow prove is often quite beneficial as well, so I figured why not! ^Back
3 I only have an 8" square tin, so I just used that. They didn't quite rise enough to fill the tin during the second prove, but they had closed the gaps by the time they came out of the oven. I think a 7" tin would've been better but, in a pinch, you can get away with an 8" tin. ^Back

I've been wanting to try out this cinnamon scroll recipe for ages. It's a fairly basic, yeasted, enriched dough cinnamon roll. But it's been a really long time since I've worked with an enriched dough and I was intrigued by the use of soft flour in this recipe. It seemed like a fun thing to try. And I liked the idea of keeping my first foray (back) into enriched dough fairy simple.

There are actually instructions for making sticky cinnamon scrolls (aka schnecken) after the main recipe. They sound amazing! But I wanted to stick to the basic recipe for my first go 'round. I'll definitely be trying the schnecken next time though. The basic cinnamon scrolls were nice, but slightly lacking in both sweetness and cinnamon flavour. Adding a sweet, sticky topping to them would certainly address the lack of sweetness. And I think I'd just double the cinnamon in the filling next time for an extra cinnamon-y kick.

Cinnamon Scrolls

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 c. warm water
• 4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 115g salted butter, melted
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 tsp. salt¹
• 4 1/2 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom² (optional)

Filling

• 115g salted butter, softened
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon³

Glaze⁴

• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Directions

1. Dissolve 1 tsp. of sugar in the warm water and sprinkle with yeast. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Stir in remaining sugar, melted butter, eggs, and salt and mix well.
3. Add flour and cardamom (if using) and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. The mixture will be fairly loose. Almost more like a thick batter than a dough.
4. Cover and chill (in the fridge) for at least 2 hours or as long as overnight.
5. After dough has chilled, turn out onto floured surface and divide in half.
6. Roll each half out to a 30-35cm square.
7. Spread half of the softened butter onto each square.
8. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
9. Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over each square.
10. Firmly roll squares up and press edges to seal.
11. Cut each log into 9 even pieces and arrange into two greased 8" (20cm) round tins.
12. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
13. Combine beaten egg with milk and mix well.
14. When rolls have risen, brush tops with egg mixture.
15. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes.
16. Let cool in tins for 5 minutes before turning out.
17. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. salt, but I halved it since there was already quite a bit of salt coming from the butter. ^Back
2 I didn't add any cardamom to mine. ^Back
3 The original recipe calls for 3 tsp. (1 Tbsp.) cinnamon. I didn't find that amount of cinnamon to have much impact though, so I'll definitely put a bit more in next time. ^Back
4 Full disclosure: I completely forgot to glaze my buns. They were still tasty, but I'm sure they would've had a much nicer finish with the glaze. ^Back

Sticky Buns

Thank you Cook's Illustrated for making my first foray into sticky bun making a wildly successful one!

Sticky Buns
Sllightly adapted from Cook's Illustrated May/June 2016
Flour Paste
2/3 c. water
1/4 c. bread flour

Dough
2/3 c. milk
1 large egg + 1 yolk
430g bread flour
1 packet instant yeast
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Topping
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. white corn syrup (dark is fine, I just didn't have any on hand)
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 Tbsp. water
1 c. pecans, chopped (ideally toasted as well, but I didn't have time)

Filling
3/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Flour paste: Whisk water and flour together in a small bowl. Microwave, whisking every 25 seconds, until mixture thickens to stiff, smooth, pudding-like consistency. (Mine seemed done after 25 seconds, but I think I should give it a little more cooking next time. Maybe two rounds at 20 seconds each rather than one at 25.)
2. Dough: In a large bowl, whisk milk and paste together until smooth.
3. Add egg and egg yolk. Whisk.
4. Add flour and yeast. Mix for a few minutes until flour is moistened. Let stand for 15 minutes.
5. Add sugar and salt. Mix for several more minutes. (I added another couple Tbsp. of water at this point because I thought the dough looked too try, but in hindsight I should've just left well enough alone.)
6. Add butter and mix for another 5-10 minutes.
7. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Turn into greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise (~1 hour).
8. While dough rises, grease a metal 9x13 pan (I used 1 square 8x8 + a loaf pan. Buns in the 8x8 were fine, but the loaf pan didn't work so well.) Pan must be metal, don't use glass!
9. Topping: Whisk melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt together until smooth.
10. Add water and whisk until incorporated. Pour mixture into greased pan and sprinkle evenly with pecans.
11. Filling: Combine sugar and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.
12. Back to the Dough: Turn dough onto floured surface and press/stretch into a 18x15" rectangle.
13. Sprinkle filling over dough, leaving a 1" border. Gently press to adhere.
14. Gently roll dough into a long, loose cylinder. (ie. start rolling on a long edge to make an 18" long cylonder.)
15. Use dental floss to slice into 12 equal portions.
16. Place buns in prepared pan, cover with plastic wrap, and leave to rise for another hour or so.
17. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Tent with aluminum foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes. (Place a baking sheet on the oven rack below the buns during baking to catch the inevitable drips.)
18. Allow to cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes.
19. Place baking sheet over pan and invert. Allow buns to cool for a further 10 minutes before serving.

These were absolutely perfect. Couldn't ask for a better sticky bun. They don't need any tweaks or changes. That said, just because I'm curious, I might try making one slight change next time just to see how it works: I want to see what happens if I skip chopping the nuts and just line the bottom of the pan with whole pecan halves and then pour the sticky topping over that before adding the buns to the pan. I doubt it will actually be an improvement but, as I said, I'm curious so I'd like to try it.

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

These are wonderful little nuggets of delicious! They're more like a (slightly sweeter than usual) dinner roll than a "sweet" roll though. Definitely very tasty either way.

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
From Cook's Country June/July 2015
1 c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. whole milk
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
1/3 c. honey
5 1/2 c. flour
1 Tbsp. rapid-rise yeast
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
2 tsp. white vinegar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Combine pineapple juice, milk, 4 Tbsp. butter, and honey and microwave until temperature reaches 110F. (This should take about 1 minute.)
2. In a large bowl, mix 5 c. flour, yeast, and salt.
3. Slowly stir in pineapple juice mixture.
4. Combine egg, vinegar, and vanilla and then stir into flour mixture.
5. Flour your hands and the counter with remaining 1/2 c. of flour. Kneed dough until smooth and elastic.
6. Turn into greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
7. Punch down the dough. (Actually, I learned that it's better if you gently press it down, but punching is more fun!)
8. Divide dough into 18 equal portions and form into smooth, tight balls. (The Cook's Country folks described a method of dividing the dough into thirds, shaping each third into a rectangle and then cutting each of those into six equal portions. The small rectangles/logs could then be shaped into balls. I tried this method, but still found it difficult to get even rolls. They were still delicious, just really uneven.)
9. Place the rolls into a greased 9"x13" baking dish as they are formed, creating 3 rows of 6. (Or six rows of three, if you prefer.)
10. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an additional 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (Or do as I did and let them rise in the fridge overnight.)
11. Remove plastic wrap and bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes. (Add an extra five minutes or so if the dough has been chilled. Mine looked done on the outside, but were still a bit doughy in the centre.)
12. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then use a spatula/lifter to transfer them to a wire rack. Brush with remaining butter.
13. Serve warm. If you need to reheat them, wrap in tin foil and heat at 350F until warmed through.