Morning Bun Cruffins and Bunny Bundt Cakelets!

Hello, friends, I have so much to share today so this will be a long post! It's been a very busy time here the past two weeks with spring birthdays and a belated Easter celebration with family this past weekend.

Today, I'm sharing a recipe that I have become totally obsessed with. TOTALLY. I've made these Cruffins (croissant meets muffin) three times in the past two weeks and my jeans are feeling a little tight.  I'm thinking an intervention or rehab might be in order.  When I first saw the technique using a pasta roller to thinly roll the dough for these cruffins on Lady and Pups I immediately imagined how wonderful they might taste with cinnamon sugar added as in Morning Bun pastries.

 

I got out my KA mixer pasta attachment and got rolling!  Flaky, croissant-y layers of butter and cinnamon-sugar deliciousness.  I was hooked when I tasted the first one.

I'm not adding a tutorial because the one you'll see on Lady and Pups is very thorough if you decide to try these (although mine are not nearly as beautiful as hers).  From now on, I promise to only eat these on the weekend.  Promise!  Fingers crossed~

For our Easter celebration, I made Bunny Cakelets for my grandsons with my new cakelet pan from Williams Sonoma.  WS is already sold out of them but you can still find them on Amazon.  Aren't they adorable?

Our boys also enjoyed an egg hunt here and I made shark hats for them - idea courtesy of La Table de Nana and her creative daughter :)

 

Last, and certainly not least, things are growing and blooming here at last! It certainly is a time to celebrate!

I'll be back soon to share a recipe for the delicious birthday cake that I made for my daughter!

Morning Bun Cruffins

Recipe Adapted from Lady and Pups

Printable Recipe 

Makes 8

Please see tutorial on Lady and Pups as a guide. 

The major change I made to her recipe (other than my addition of cinnamon sugar) was in the cutting of the dough 'logs' after they are rolled out in the pasta roller and covered with butter and cinnamon-sugar mixture.  I tried cutting them 'crosswise' as she did but most of the cinnamon sugar oozed out with the butter during baking which made a caramelized mess and kept them from rising properly.  Therefore, for my morning bun adaptation, instead of cutting the logs lengthwise before twisting into buns, I cut my logs crosswise instead and rolled them with my hands until long enough to twist into the pretzel shape.  Two successful batches later can't be bad (unless of course you become addicted to these as I have). 

It is best to use a digital kitchen scale to measure the flour and water, but if you don't have one, loosely pile the flours in a measuring cup and scrape the top level with a knife. 

150 grams (1 cup + 1 tbsp) bread flour
150 grams (1 cup + 1 tbsp) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp (6 grams) instant dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp (11 grams) salt
130 grams (1/2 cup) luke-warm water + 30 grams (2 tbsp) if more is needed
50 grams (3 1/2 tbsp) unsalted butter, cubed and softened to room temperature

115 grams (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, divided into 4 equal parts (2 T each) and softened to room-temperature (I placed mine in four small individual ramekin dishes)

1 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons of cinnamon

2 hours before starting the dough, leave the butter on the counter for it to completely come to room-temperature.

Mix 1 cup of sugar with 4 teaspoons of cinnamon and blend thoroughly and set aside.

Butter a muffin pan or spray with baking spray with flour, such as Bakers Joy.

In a stand-mixer with dough-hook (or large bowl with hand-held mixer with dough-hooks), whisk together flours, yeast and salt until blended. Add 130 grams of luke-warm water (around 95F/35C) and knead on low speed for 3 min. The dough should be slightly shaggy and stiff, but if it has difficulty coming together, add the additional 30 grams (2 tbsp) of water and knead again. Then, add the 50 grams of cubed butter and knead on low speed for 5 minutes until completely incorporated. Increase to medium speed and knead for another 10 ~ 15 minutes until the dough is extremely smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes at room-temperature. It should expand slightly.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and divide it into 4 equal portions. (Use your digital scale to proportion them if you have one). Work with 1 portion at a time covering the rest loosely with plastic wrap. Dust the dough with just enough flour so it doesn't stick, then pat into 1/3" (1 cm) thickness. With a pasta machine at its thickest setting, feed the dough through the machine.

Very lightly dust both the dough with a bit of flour, then start running the dough through the machine, until you reach the thinnest increment (should be very thin but not falling apart). If necessary, cut the dough in half if it gets too long.  On my pasta roller attachment I rolled my dough to the second thinnest setting.  

Lay the very long piece (or two pieces if you had to cut it side by side) on the counter. With your fingers, gently rub a thin layer of the room-temperature butter (has to be very soft but NOT MELTED) evenly across the dough, extending all the way to the edges. A pastry brush may help with this step. Do this to both sections of the dough if you had to cut it in half. Keep in mind that this is a 1/4 of the entire dough and you should use up 1/4 of the butter.

Sprinkle 1/8th cup or so of cinnamon sugar over the buttered dough. 

Once finished, start rolling the dough from one end to the other, as tightly as you can, into a firm log. If you had to cut the dough into two pieces, then place the first log on end of the other buttered section of dough, and roll it up again. Now, cut the log in half cross-wise with a floured knife.  Roll the two cut pieces with your hands on the counter until they are about 6 inches long and then twirl the dough and shape it into a semi-knot and tuck the ends underneath. Place the knots inside buttered muffin-pan. Repeat the process with the other 3 portions of the dough and butter.

Cover the muffin tin loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours until doubled in size. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 400F/200C, for about 20 minutes (more or less, depending on your oven) until puffed and golden browned

Note: You can wrap the entire muffin-pan with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge without allowing the dough to rise and bake them the next day.  They may take up to 3 hours or more to rise after being chilled.

Baked Eggs in Croissant 'Nests'

I love looking forward to a relaxed Sunday breakfast when I know I have time to make and eat something a little more special than cold cereal and fruit or a "no-brainer" piece of toast and preserves.

The weekend is also when I usually have more time to look through my recipes and cookbooks. If you're like me, your have a bazillion recipes that you've collected from the start of food blogging, gleaned from wonderful sites. If you're also like me, you'll never have time to make all of them. But, every now and then, while I'm looking for something else on my computer I'll come across one of those recipes that I had saved and forgotten.

This one I found while searching my computer files under Eggs as I was looking for Easter ideas. I had saved it from a post on Inn Cuisine, a blog that featured recipes from Inns and Bed and Breakfasts. Sadly, Inn Cuisine's site is not longer in existence. This particular recipe I saved came from from The Kate Shepard House Bed and Breakfast.

 

Croissants are cut into approximately 1/4 inch or so thicknesses, lengthwise to make the 'nest for the egg.

An egg is carefully dropped into each nest, seasoned with salt and pepper and then baked in the oven....

then served with a delicious Dijon cream sauce.

I know my husband will be asking me to make these again - they were that good. You can't get much better than a perfectly baked egg in a flaky croissant nest with a dollop of wonderful Dijon cream!

Happy Sunday!

Baked Eggs in Croissant 'Nests'
Adapted from The Kate Shepard House Bed & Breakfast
Printable Recipe


You will need:

Standard-size Muffin Tin
Large eggs (1 egg per muffin cup---according to the number of guests you are serving)
Croissants
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Then:

Spray muffin tin(s) with non-stick cooking spray (I like Baker's Joy)

Cut croissants lengthwise into 1/4 inch or thicker slices. Cut off the 'tips' of the croissants and press firmly into each muffin cup - smaller size of croissant going in first. Overlap as necessary to create a firm cups. Fill in with cut pieces as necessary. Crack eggs into a small cup first (so you don't get egg shell in your croissant cups) and then pour into the center of each bread-lined cup. Salt and pepper each egg to taste.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 16-21 minutes, depending on the accuracy of your oven and the preferred doneness of your egg (I baked mine for about 19 minutes). You can jiggle the pan to see how loose the eggs are to check for done-ness. When done, remove muffin tin from oven and carefully run a knife or silicone spatula around the edges of egg nest in order to release the bread from muffin cup. Carefully lift and remove cooked nests with a thin spatula or flat knife. Place upright on serving plate and pass Dijon Cream Sauce.

Dijon Cream Sauce:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 and 1/4 cup half and half (light cream)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

While eggs are baking, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until blended. Whisk in half and half and remaining ingredients, except for parsley, whisking often, being careful not to let it boil. When sauce has thickened, remove from heat and add chopped parsley.