Yield: 12 Buns
| Ingredients | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buttermilk | 240g | |
| Unsalted Butter | 100g | Room Temp |
| Eggs (large) | 2 | |
| Granulated Sugar | 86g | |
| Bread Flour | 500g | or AP Flour |
| Yeast | 12g | Instant |
| Salt | 3g | |
| Filling | ||
| Unsalted Butter | 125g | Room Temp |
| Cocoa Powder | 50g | Dutch Processed |
| Brown Sugar | 100g | |
| Salt | 2.5g | |
| Dark Chocolate | 120g | Melted |
Procedure:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add your buttermilk, eggs, butter, sugar, and yeast. Then on top of that add the flour and salt. Turn the mixer on a low speed (KitchenAid 2) and knead for 5 minutes.
- Now turn the mixer up one speed (KitchenAid 3) and knead an additional 5 minutes. You should have a slightly sticky, but relatively smooth dough.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover completely, or tightly cover the KitchenAid bowl and set aside for 1 hour to proof at room temperature. Then place the bowl in the fridge for a minimum of 4 more hours. Overnight is preferable.
- Prepare your filling just before you plan to roll out the dough. You can do it with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, but I prefer mechanical help. Add the first 4 ingredients to a bowl and beat them on a low speed with a hand/stand mixer for about 1 to 2 minutes til evenly combined.
- Melt your chocolate in the microwave, stirring it every 15 seconds until completely melted and smooth. Now add this to the rest of the ingredients and mix just to combine everything. Set Aside.
- Line a baking tray with parchment and thoroughly grease the top of the parchment.
- Apply a small dusting of flour to your work surface, dump out your cold dough, flour the top, and roll this out to a 12 x 18 inch rectangle. 12 inches wide, 18 inches long.
- Apply your filling from edge to edge, don’t leave any border. Now preform a “Letter Fold” (Google it for a diagram) by folding the top 1/3rd of the dough towards yourself, and then folding the bottom 1/3rd of the dough over the section we just folded, so the dough is laying on itself in an “S” shape.
- It should be 12 inches wide and about 6 inches long now. Now cut this into 12 equal strips.
- Take each strip and pull the ends to elongate the strip back to 12 inches, then hold one end with your thumb and first 2 fingers and twist the other about 6 or so times so you have a spiral looking pattern. (You can twist more or less times, it’s all about what you want)
- Your anchor point is the tail of dough between your thumb and first 2 fingers. Once you have it twisted to your liking, you’re going to wrap a circle around the outside of your thumb and two fingers (where your 2nd finger joints are), and continue to wrap circles until you get to the very end, which you will tuck into the top hole being held open by your thumb and 2 fingers.
- Place them equidistant apart on your baking tray(s), making sure to give them enough room to become double the size. Cover these loosely with a damp towel or plastic and set them aside at room temperature for roughly 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 350⁰ Fahrenheit. Once the buns are about 60 to 75% larger than when you placed them on the tray, bake them for 18 minutes. Spin the tray 180⁰ in the oven after 9 minutes so they bake evenly.
- For a glossy shine like in the picture, and a slightly longer shelf life, brush the tops all over with simple syrup while still hot.
Special Instructions / notes:
This is exactly how you make Cardamom buns, and you can repeat this exact process and replace the filling with anything of your choosing.
Some interesting variations to experiment with:
- Cinnamon roll filling but shape them this way. Adds some novelty to a classic.
- Cream Cheese Danish filling
- A very thick Lemon Curd
- A very thick Fruit Jam
- Shredded Swiss cheese, herbs of your choosing, and sliced deli meat
- Garlic Butter and herbs