honey buns

Pin It Will you be my honey bun? ;)

Last year during musical auditions, I listened to my friend Tessa practice the song Honey Bun from South Pacific.  I tried my hardest to pay attention to her singing...I swear! But all I could think about were buns covered in honey. (I'm so weak!).

Thanks to Sandy (aka "Frankenstorm"), I actually had time to satisfy the honey bun craving that has been tormenting me since last year.  These little buns are absolute perfection.

They are crisp and crusty on the outside, but extremely light and airy on the inside.  Due to their light texture, it is possible to down about five of these in one sitting (not like I know anything about that...).  And what really takes these little buns to the next level is the honey butter glaze.

I didn't merely "brush" these with glaze like the recipe suggested. Oh no, sir. I full-on dunked these into a piping hot bowl of butter and honey. Oh baby.

These were the perfect thing to munch on while drinking a big mug of tea and watching the blustery storm outside, praying to the storm gods to cancel school for one more day.

With love,
Erica

Yields: 20 mini buns
Ingredients

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
2 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey


In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook attachment, combine flour, salt, honey and yeast. Add milk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla and stir until just combined. Remove dough from bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 7-10 minutes (or knead on low speed in stand mixer until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes). Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch down risen dough and divide into 20 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place in lightly greased cups of a mini-muffin pan. Spritz lightly with cooking spray on top, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
When buns have risen, remove plastic wrap and bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes in muffin pan before turning out onto a plate. Meanwhile, make the glaze: Place butter and honey in a microwave-safe bowl and heat 45 seconds to melt butter. Dunk the top of each bun in honey glaze. Serve warm.

From Girl Vs. Dough