Stuffing Buns

Note: If you want to gild the lily a little bit, you could add some dried cranberries to the dough. Mix them in during the last step. About 1/4 cup will be just enough.
Instructions here are for a kneading with a stand mixer, but of course you can knead by hand—it's just a lot easier to let the machine do the work.

Ingredients

serves Makes 24 buns, active time 20 minutes, total time 2 hours, 20 minutes

• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 11 1/4 ounces (about 2 1/4 cups) bread flour
• 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• 1 tablespoon dry celery flakes
• 1 tablespoon dry parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried chives
• 1 teaspoon dried toasted onion flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dry lemon thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

Procedures

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the water, sugar, yeast, flour, poultry seasoning, celery flakes, parsley, chives, onion flakes, and thyme. Knead with the dough hook until the dough is smooth (except, of course, for the herbs, which will make the dough a little bumpy).
   
2. Add the salt and butter and continue kneading until the butter is completely incorporated. Cover the bowl and set aside until the dough has doubled in size, about 50 minutes.
   
3. When the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal, and dust your work surface with flour. Turn the dough out and divide into 24 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and place the finished balls onto the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until the buns have doubled in size and an indent remains if you press the dough lightly with a fingertip.
   
4. Remove the plastic wrap and bake at 350 degrees until the buns are nicely browned, about 30 minutes. Remove the buns from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.

Easy Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

This recipe combines two of my great autumn loves: caramel apples and sticky buns.
The beauty of using leftover pizza dough is you don't need to wait for a second rise. Your dough will have already done that. The "sticky" sauce comes together quickly, as does the filling. Assemble, bake, and in about an hour you could be eating these beauties fresh from the oven. These buns are best freshly baked. You can store them covered, up to a day, and reheat in the oven prior to serving.

Special equipment: 2 8-inch cake pans, food processor with grater attachment

Ingredients

serves Serves 16, active time 20 minutes, total time 1 hour and 15 minutes

• For the Caramel Sauce:
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
•  
• For the Buns:
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pound Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 2 inch wedges
• 1 1/2 pounds pizza dough

Procedures

1. Move oven rack to the center position and preheat oven to 350°F. Spray cake pans with non-stick cooking oil. Set aside.
   
2. For the caramel sauce: In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in sugar. Once sugar has dissolved whisk in milk. Let mixture come to a light boil, stirring occasionally. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until syrup thickens. Remove from heat and divide sauce between cake pans, tilt the pan as needed to coat the entire bottom of the pan.
   
3. For the buns: In a large bowl combine melted butter, sugars and cinnamon. Feed the apple pieces through a food processor fitted with the grater attachment. Add grated apple to bowl and stir to combine with butter mixture.
   
4. Roll the dough out into a 10- by 16- inch rectangle with the long side facing you. Spread apple filling on top of the dough leaving a 1/2- inch on the top edge. Roll the dough along the long side to form a 16-inch log. Use a serrated knife to cut 16 rounds from the dough. Place one round in the center of each cake pan and surround it with 7 rounds. Bake until buns are a deep golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes.
   
5. Remove pans from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Place a heatproof plate over platter over each pan and invert. Serve immediately.

Pumpkin Sweet Swirl Buns

Note: The great thing about this recipe is that you do most of the work the night before, then refrigerate the formed rolls and bake them the next day. But don't let them rest for more than one night. Sooner or later, the dough will over-rise or the gluten will degrade and you'll have a pan full of sludge instead of a pan full of buns.
You can knead this dough by hand, but it takes quite a while—a stand mixer makes the job much, much easier.

Special equipment: Stand mixer (optional, see note above)

Ingredients

serves Makes 9 rolls, active time 25 minutes, total time 1 day (including overnight rest)

• 1 cup (about 8 ounces) canned pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) lukewarm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 13 1/2 ounces (about 2 1/2 cups) bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
• Non-stick baking spray
• 1/4 cup hazelnut meal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Procedures

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the pumpkin purée, water, yeast, sugar, and bread flour. Knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the salt and butter and continue kneading until the butter is completely incorporated into the dough, a few minutes longer. Alternatively, knead by hand.
   
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 hour. The dough should have visibly risen, but it won't double in size. Flour your work surface and spray a 9-inch square pan with baking spray.
   
3. Turn out the dough and form it into a rough square. With a rolling pin, roll into a rough 10- by 8-inch rectangle.
   
4. In a small bowl, combine the hazelnut meal, sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and cinnamon. Spread this mixture evenly over the top of the dough, leaving about 1/2 inch uncovered on one of the long sides. Starting from the other long side, roll the dough up loosely, and when you reach the uncovered edge, seal the seam by pinching it together. If there are any sections of the dough that are fatter, roll it gently so the whole roll is approximately the same diameter.
   
5. Cut the roll into nine even pieces. Place the pieces, cut side down, in the pan. The filling is quite loose and will want to come out as you lift the pieces. The easiest way to move them without losing a lot of filling is to flip the pieces onto a large dough scraper and move the to the pan and slide them off. When you've moved all nine pieces to the pan, scoop up any of the filling that's left on the counter and sprinkle it over the buns. Cover the pan with plastic wrap or put it in a large plastic bag and close the bag. Refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours
   
6. When you're ready to bake, remove the pan from the refrigerator and let it rest on the counter while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap (or remove the pan from the plastic bag) and bake at 350°F until the buns are nicely browned, about 40 minutes. If you're not sure if the buns are done, you can take the dough's temperature—it should be about 200°F, but make sure you're checking the temperature of the dough and not the sugar filling.
   
7. Let the pan cool on a rack. Drizzle the buns with a sugar icing, if desired (powdered sugar and just a bit of water to reach a drizzling consistency).

Sous-Vide Pork Belly Buns With Pork Braise Mayonnaise and Quick-Pickled Cucumbers

Special equipment: sous-vide cooker, vacuum sealer, food processor

Ingredients

serves Makes about 2 dozen pork buns, serving 8 to 12, active time 30 minutes, total time 1 day

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 whole scallions, roughly chopped
• 3 medium cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 (2-inch) chunk ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 1/2 pounds pork belly, in as large pieces as possible (preferably 1 or 2 whole slabs)
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise, preferably homemade
• 24 fresh or frozen Chinese-style steamed buns
• 1 head bibb lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into medium-sized pieces
• 1 recipe Quick-Pickled Cucumbers with Rice Vinegar

Procedures

1. Preheat a sous-vide style water bath to 170°F (77°C). Combine soy sauce, mirin, sugar, fish sauce, scallions, garlic, and ginger in the bowl of a food processor. Process until vegetables are roughly pureed. Transfer pork belly and marinade to a food-saver style vacuum bag and seal. Alternatively, transfer to a heavy duty gallon-sized freezer bag and seal by slowly submerging into a pot full of water, sealing the top just before it goes underwater to remove all air. Transfer to sous vide cooker and cook until completely tender, about 10 hours. Remove bag from cooker and chill thoroughly. Pork belly can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks after cooking if the bag remains sealed.
   
2. When ready to serve, open sous vide bag and remove pork belly. Discard solid chunks of fat. Warm congealed liquids in a small saucepan, then strain through a fine mesh strainer. Return to saucepan and simmer until reduced to 2 tablespoons, making sure that the syrup doesn't reduce too far and burn, about 15 minutes.
   
3. Transfer reduced cooking liquid to a medium bowl. Add mayonnaise and whisk to combine.
   
4. Preheat broiler to high. Cut pork belly into 1 1/2-inch wide strips, then slice into 1/2- to 1/3-inch slices. Transfer to a foil lined broiler pan. Broil pork belly until crisp and charred on one side, about 3 minutes.
   
5. To Serve: Steam buns in a bamboo steamer or in the microwave on a large plate under a damp towel. Spread mayonnaise onto each bun, then stuff with lettuce leaf, slices of pork belly, and pickles. Serve immediately.

No Knead Whole Wheat Buns with Honey Butter

Special equipment

baking sheets, parchment paper, whisk

Ingredients

serves makes 12 buns

• For the Buns
• 1 1/2 cups warm water, divided
• 1/2 ounce active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
•  
• For the Honey Butter
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup honey, or to taste

Procedures

1. For buns: In a large bowl, combine yeast and 1/2 cup warm water. Stir to combine then let sit for 5 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup water, salt, sugar, and whole wheat flour to the bowl and stir for 2 minutes. Add all purpose flour and stir until mixture is smooth, about 1 minute more. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a dish cloth and let sit until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.
   
2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide dough into 12 equal portions, lightly rolling each portion into a ball and placing on the baking sheets. Let buns sit for 15 minutes to rise some more. Bake buns until golden and lightly crisp on top, 20-25 minutes.
   
3. For honey butter: In a small bowl, stir together honey and butter until smooth. Serve immediately with buns or store in the refrigerator.