Vanilla Cream Buns
Why I Love This Recipe
These are devine little buns-- very light, soft, and with a nice sweetness. The recipe is from King Arthur Flour. These MUST be eaten the same day you bake them because they get stale quickly.
(Note: The original title of this recipe on the King Arthur website is Orange-Vanilla Cream Buns, but there is no citrus without the Fiori di Sicilia extract, so I left out the "orange" part.)
Ingredients You'll Need
1/2 cup lukewarm half and half or light cream
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) soft butter
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (original recipe calls for vanilla or "all-natural Fiori di Sicilia" which is a King Arthur citrus extract, but I use vanilla)
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
Directions
Mix all of the dough ingredients by hand, stand mixer, or bread machine till you've created a smooth, elastic dough, about 5-7 minutes by mixer (estimate based on my first time making these). Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl, and set the dough aside to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours; it'll be puffy, but may not double in bulk.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into six golf ball-sized pieces, about 3 ounces each.
Shape the pieces into balls, and place them in the lightly greased cups of a silicone brioche pan or muffin pan.
Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap or a proof cover, and allow the buns to rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (mine took about 30 minutes), until they're noticeably puffy.
Bake the buns in a preheated 350°F oven for 22 to 24 minutes, until they're golden brown.
Remove them from the oven, and turn them out of the pan onto a rack.
While the buns are cooling, stir together the glaze ingredients.
When the buns are just lukewarm, dip them in the glaze.