Honey Buns

At my sister's request, here is the recipe for the honey buns I made today. The original recipe is from Martha Stewart Living magazine but there are variations in the batch I made.

For the dough:
2 tablespoons dry yeast (fuck that. a packet is 2 1/4 tablespoons and I used the entire thing)
1/3 cup warm water
1 cup whole milk at room temperature (I used raw milk and it made the dough richer)
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature (it got hot today so room temperature is relative but I started the dough in the morning)
3 large eggs
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 to 6 cups of flour (I used whole wheat flour)
Veggie oil

For the filling
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1/2 cup chopped pecans

(just now I was thinking that you could also add 1/2 dried cranberries and that would be super tastey as well.)

THE DOUGH
Pour the yeast packet over the warm water and let it do it's thing for 3-5 minutes until it is foamy and all of the yeast has disolved.

Mix milk, butter, eggs, honey, salt, and vanilla using a mixer. Add the yeast mixture and mix more. Slowly add 4 of the cups of flour until the mixer doesn't feel like working anymore.

1/2 cup at a time add the remaining flour while mixing with your hands and ruining your manicure. Stop adding flour when the dough stop sticking to the bowl. Do not add to much flour or it will dry out the dough.

On a floured surface, knead the dough until it is smooth. Put into an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic and call your sister because you have an hour to kill.

When your sister has to get off the phone, go trim the vines in your front yard. Using the supplies you bought last week, build a compost container. Wanting to fill the compost container, go prune your plum tree. Feeling the power of the clippers, prune the lime tree too while you are at it. Alright, go batshit and start pruning your whole yard. Go through your veggie drawer looking for anything that has passed the moment of freshness like Janice Dickinson.

Throw all this shit into the new compost bin.

An hour should have passed by now.

In a sauce pan on medium heat, melt the stick of butter for the topping. To that add 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 cup corn syrup and 1/2 cup honey. Once it is nicely mixed and warmed, let cool.

Mix the creme fraiche and the mascarpone cheese.

Split the dough into thirds. Wrap up 2 of those thirds really well to survive the freezer. Looking for masking tape in the garage to mark the tupperware container the 2/3 of the dough will be frozen in. The dough can chill out in the freezer for up to 3 months so mark today's date and the use by date on that masking tape you just found.

Wash your hands.

With the remaining 1/3 of the dough, roll this out to make a nice rectangle.

Brush honey on your nicely rolled out rectangle, followed by a thin layer of the dairy mixture. Sprinkle the pecans on now (and the cranberries if you took my suggestion). Roll this into a log. Cut the log into 9-11 pieces depending on the pan you're cooking it in, how many your serving or just how generous you're feeling.

Pour the butter/honey mixture into the plan you intend to cook these in. I sprayed the pan with a nonstick spray just to be on the safe side prior. Put the cut roll pieces into the pan and let it just hang out for about an hour uncovered until they double in size (and double they will).

Preheat oven to 375.

Once the oven dings for the preheat, stick these puppies in. If you used too shallow of a pan, some of the honey butter mixture will bubble out and burn on the bottom of the oven. Your house will fill with smoke and your smoke detecters will alarm. That sucks. Fear not, it will burn off. If the buns in your oven are browning too fast, cover with foil. These will cook for about an hour. Now is a good time to call your sister back and play with your puppy.

Pull these out of the oven. Make some coffee while the buns cool to a non-3rd degree burn on your tongue level. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and serve yourself a honey bun. Try not to eat them all before your boyfriend gets home from work.