Holiday Morning Buns

Posted by Melanie G.

**This is a wonderful make-ahead breakfast you can pop in the morning of a holiday, birthday, or ANY day**

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour + 1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 to 2 1/4 cups heavy cream

Coating
7 tablespoons butter, melted, OR 2 5/8 ounces milk
Cinnamon and sugar for rolling

Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, line with parchment, and grease the parchment. Parchment isn't absolutely necessary, but it makes it easier to get the bubbly, sugary buns out of the pan once they're baked.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add 2 cups of the cream all at once, then toss and stir the mixture till the dough comes together. If necessary, add additional cream to make the dough cohesive. Gather the dough in your hands and knead it a few times to make sure there are no dry spots.

Place the cinnamon sugar in a small, shallow bowl or pan; or in a plastic zip-top bag. Break off pieces of dough about the size of a ping pong ball, or about 1 1/8 ounces. Dip each piece in melted butter or milk, then roll or shake in the cinnamon-sugar to coat. Place the cinnamon-coated dough balls into the pan of your choice in a single layer; they'll be touching one another, which is just fine.

Cover the pan with plastic, and place in the freezer overnight, or for up to a week or so. If freezing longer than overnight wrap the entire pan in plastic wrap, then in foil. Next day, remove the pan from the freezer, and let the buns rest at room temperature while you preheat your oven to 350°F. The buns don't need to thaw.

If you're baking the buns immediately (not frozen), bake them for 45 to 50 minutes, till the buns in the center are cooked through. You can asses this by taking a toothpick and actually digging into the center bun to take a look; it should look totally baked, not doughy. If the buns have been frozen, bake them for 65 to 70 minutes, testing for doneness as instructed above. Tent them with aluminum foil after 45 minutes of baking. (I actually forgot the "tenting" step and the buns didn't get burned - phew!)

Remove from the oven, and serve immediately. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired, right before serving.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour.

Coconut bread

Heidi Harper

4 eggs
2 C sugar
1 C oil
2 tsp coconut extract
3 C flour
1/2 C coconut
1/2 t baking soda
1 C nuts (optional)
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 C buttermilk
Glaze:
1 C sugar
1/2 C water
2 T butter
1 tsp coconut extract

Beat eggs; add sugar, oil, and 2 teaspoons coconut extract. Combine flour, coconut, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Alternate adding buttermilk and the dry ingredients to the egg-oil mixture. Fold in 1 C nuts, if desired. Pour into two loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until bread tests done with a toothpick.
Glaze:
Combine ingredients, except extract, in a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. Add extract and drizzle over warm bread. Makes 2 loaves.