It never fails to surprise me when I see people having leisurely breakfasts in cafes on weekday mornings. Do they not have jobs to get to? Or children to wrangle? Leisurely breakfasts are a thing of the distant past in our house, so I try to make up for it by occasionally having two breakfasts on weekend mornings. These chocolate and hazelnut-filled sticky buns, which I made last Sunday with this month’s Fresh From The Oven challenge in mind, would be just the ticket.
Sticky Buns
Claire’s original recipe uses a rich mixture of butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins in the filling, but I had some incredible hazelnut spread (made in Blenheim, by Uncle Joe’s Nuts) lurking in the cupboard that I’d been dying to use. Mixing it with some smashed dark chocolate turned it into a kind of extra posh Nutella. You may think the icing is over-egging the pudding, to mix food metaphors, but it makes it even more luxurious. If you can’t find this spread, try the best hazelnut butter you can buy. Or, use more butter and sprinkle it with ground hazelnuts. Or just use Nutella, I guess. I invited a friend around to share these with us and was actually glad when they couldn’t make it, they’re that good.
250ml lukewarm milk (around 40C)
2tsp dried yeast
1Tbsp brown sugar
2 egg yolks
50g butter, melted
600g strong white flour
1tsp salt
Filling
50g very soft butter
100g hazelnut butter
100g dark chocolate, smashed into little bits
Icing
1Tbsp melted butter
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups icing sugar
Hot water – from a kettle – to mix
Put the warm milk into a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your freestanding mixer) and whisk in the sugar and yeast. Leave to activate (froth) for 5-10 minutes, then add the melted butter and egg yolks. Stir in the flour and salt to form a dough, then either knead by hand for about 10 minutes, or in the mixer with the dough hook for about five minutes, until you have a smooth, springy dough.
Return to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap, then leave in a warm place until doubled (about an hour).
Knock down and press out with your fingers until you have a large sheet of dough. Mix the butters together and slather on top, then sprinkle with the smashed chocolate. Roll up tightly, as if making a swiss roll, then cut into 3cm slices. Place into a large, well-greased roasting dish or cake tin, allowing about 2cm between them. Cover with plastic and allow to rise for another 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C. When the buns have risen, bake for 10 minutes, then cover loosely with foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes until they are well-risen and golden.
While they are cooking, mix the icing ingredients together, adding hot water until you get a reasonably runny consistency. When the buns are done, slide them onto a rack and liberally drizzle with icing. Makes about a dozen. If you can resist eating them all in one go, they can be frozen.
Have a sweet, sweet Friday and a great weekend everyone x
Oh how my mouth is watering right now! Yum.
Oooh, outdone yourself with these – the cinnamon icing sounds amahzing. Would give up my leisurely cafe breakfast for these!
I am one of those persons I'm afraid! I work for myself and eat breakfast when and where I like. Do you hate me? Those sticky buns look sensational. I have to make them!
Drool… The buns look delicious!
Yum!
We do the two breakfast thing here too one day on a weekend. I get up at 7 with the kids and eat toast, then whip up a hot proper breakfast at 10ish when the lazy Daddy drags himself out of bed. Now I just have to train him to do the same for me when it's my turn to sleep in!
We have DELUXE choc spreads here, and our own hazelnut tree. These babies are going on my list.
x Rhi
It's 10 degrees and wet outside, as I'm reading this post. I wish these buns were ALREADY made! Drool-worthy!
That is the thing that kiwi's and alike keep:breakfast in cafe:)
I love sticky buns but I always add coconut milk(more like soak them):)
It is honestly my goal in life to one day be one of those cafe-in-the-middle-of-the-weekday-morning people. And by that I really mean have a way to bring in the bacon without having to go to an office. Until then, making these this weekend will just have to sustain me, they look amazing!!
Nutty is nice – love your twist on the recipe.
Oh these look so delicious Lucy. Making my mouth water! Friend Barb and I had the best breakfast crepes at Scott's Epicurian at 11am yesterday before seeing the movie THE ORATOR. The Retired Life. Ahhhh… By the way. A House Of Your Own! How great is that! Well done.
I love fresh home made buns hot from the oven. Yours look delicious.
Ooh chocolate and hazlenut. Your version sounds fab. Thanks for baking the buns, I am so glad you enjoyed them.
Gasp… these look so good. I'm reading this on Sunday morning wishing they were Here. Now. Please. Definitely going on my to-cook list.
That made me laugh and I can see that they would be "that good". I made some cinnamon and chocolate ones a few months ago for a tea party – my first foray into sticky bun territory and they disappeared very quickly.
Yum! Chocolate and hazelnut sounds amazing!
Oh, they look great. I too wish I had time for a leisurely weekday breakfast but sadly there's a bus journey to work to contend with first.
Wow! I have to try these, they look delicious!
I'm starving just looking at these! They look and sound pretty much like my perfect breakfast. I've been meaning to make something similar ever since getting the Nordic Bakery book but am the world's biggest procrastinator… this weekend for sure 🙂
Wow, Look perfect!
I made these for breakfast (well.. brunch) on Christmas morning – with dark chocolate spread and slivered almonds – was delicious!!! Thank you! x