I have been on a pastry roll lately. You can say I’ve been getting my laminated dough pastry practice in. Although, I will say these Tartine Bakery-inspired morning buns are actually not made with laminated dough, but instead with a Danish pastry dough.
Now, what’s a danish dough you ask? Danish pastry dough is made from flour, yeast, milk, eggs, and a generous amount of butter. The texture is similar to croissant dough but tastes sweeter (and has the addition of egg in the dough). The best part about this dough? It doesn’t require any lamination; no butter block rolling or anything like that. But like croissants, it yields a nice flaky, buttery, and tasty pastry, just without all the hassle!
This recipe for these orange cardamom morning buns has been adapted from Tara O’Brady and is quite a delicious treat. Best eaten warm but still pretty tasty even at room temperature. Oh, and just a heads up so you can plan accordingly, the Danish dough requires an overnight rest. Happy baking and enjoy!
Orange Cardamom Morning Buns
Makes 12
Equipments Needed
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 1/3 cup golden brown sugar
- Zest of 1 orange, depending on taste (if you happen to have 3 clementines, use them)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- A pinch of kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces, 1/2 stick) browned butter, cooled
- All-purpose flour for dusting
- 2 pounds quick Danish dough, recipe below
Directions
- Combine sugars, zest, spices, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Brush the wells of a 12-cup muffin tin with a thin film of browned butter, using maybe 1 tablespoon in total. Set aside the rest. Coat the wells generously with granulated sugar, tapping out excess. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured work surface (I like to use a silicone pastry mat), roll your Danish dough into an 8×20-inch rectangle. Brush the remaining browned butter across the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border on the long sides. Sprinkle 3/4th of the sugar mixture evenly atop the butter. Set the rest of the sugar mixture aside (you’ll use it at the end to roll the buns in). Press the sugar lightly into the dough. Starting from the long side closest to you, carefully roll the dough into a tight log. Once completely rolled, pinch the seam to seal. Turn the rolled dough onto its seam and cut into 12 equal portions. Turn each slice onto one of its flat sides, and press down lightly to level. Place slices in the prepared pan. Set aside to rise in a warm, draft-free spot until just about doubled in size, around 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Bake the buns until puffed and golden, around 20 minutes. Immediately turn the buns out onto another sheet pan. Carefully flip buns right side up, cool until just manageable to touch, around 5-10 minutes. With the remaining sugar mixture, add a few more tablespoons of sugar to the mixture, then one by one, roll the hot buns in the mixture, coating completely but shaking off excess.
These morning buns are best eaten when they’re still warm. Of course, they’ll still be tasty at room temperature. Keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days (if they can last that long!).
Note: For next day eating, I personally like to warm mine in the air fryer or oven (350°F) for 3-5 minutes (or until warm) so that the outside gets crispy again.
Quick Danish Dough
This recipe is no-frills and made by hand. You can use a food processor if you prefer. I personally can’t be bothered with more dishes so a simple bowl and pastry cutter will do.
- ¼ cup warm water
- ½ cup milk, at room temperature
- 1 large egg, at room temperature and lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- ¾ cup bread flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 cup (8 ounces, 2 sticks) unsalted butter*, cold and cut into small dice
Directions
- In a small pitcher or measuring cup, stir together the water, milk, and egg.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, sugar, and yeast. Scatter the cubed butter across the flour mixture. With two knives or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dry mix, as you would in making biscuits or pastry. Stop cutting once the butter is distributed but chunks are still visible.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, then pour in the milk/egg mixture. Stir quickly to bring everything together into a messy dough. The dough will be shaggy and sticky and uneven but that’s okay. Not to worry. As long as the flour is all combined, it is ready to go. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight, or as much as two days.
- When ready to proceed, bring the dough to room temperature. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 20-inch square. (The dough may be hard to work with on the first rolling, but it will get silkier and easier with each turn.) Fold the dough in thirds, as with a business letter. Turn the package 90 degrees counter-clockwise, so that the closed ends are to your left. Roll out again to a 20-inch square, and fold again, then turn. Repeat the process of rolling and turning 3 more times, 5 folds and turns in total. If the dough seems to be getting sticky or greasy, chill briefly in between turns.
- Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for 20 minutes before using, or freeze for a later date.
Makes 2 pounds.
*Note: If you prefer, you can use one stick of salted and one stick of unsalted butter. Just be sure to omit the kosher salt in the recipe.
This recipe was adapted from Tara O’Brady. This site contains affiliate links, if you make a purchase through them, we receive a small commission.