Morning buns a sweet way to start the day
Combine the rich layers of a croissant with the sweet swirls of a cinnamon bun and you’ll have one of our favorite brunch pastries: morning buns.
For a simpler route to a yeasted, croissant-like pastry, we added a packet of yeast to a quick puff pastry dough. We created long, thin pieces of flake-producing butter by adding chilled butter to the dry ingredients in a zipper-lock bag and rolling over it with a rolling pin. Orange zest and juice offered sweet, citrusy brightness.
We started our rolls in a hot oven for a rapid rise but later dropped the temperature to impart gradual, even browning. If the dough becomes too soft to work with at any point, refrigerate it until it’s firm enough to easily handle. Unrisen buns can be refrigerated for at least 16 hours or up to 24 hours; let buns sit at room temperature for 1 hour before baking. With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 12-by-4 inch rectangle. Transfer to parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet, cover loosely with greased plastic wrap, and freeze for 15 minutes.
Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners and spray with vegetable oil spray. Combine all ingredients in bowl. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and roll into 20-by-12 inch rectangle, with long side parallel to counter edge. Sprinkle with sugar mixture, leaving inch border around edges, and press lightly to adhere.
Roll dough away from you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go. Pinch seam closed, then reshape cylinder as needed to be 20 inches in length with uniform thickness.
Using serrated knife, trim
inch dough from each end and discard. Cut cylinder into 12 pieces and place cut side up in muffin cups. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let rise until doubled in size, 1 to 11⁄2 hours.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 F. Bake until buns begin to rise, about 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325 F. Continue to bake until buns are deep golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Let buns cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and discard liners. Serve warm.
Nutrition information per serving: 431 calories; 238 calories from fat; 27 g fat (17 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 84 mg cholesterol; 160 mg sodium; 44 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 19 g sugar; 4 g protein.