FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019 • COOK’S COUNTRY 23Key Steps to the Best Buns
- Microwave mixture of fl our and milk to
make stiff paste.
2. Add paste to more milk, egg, yeast,
and fl our in mixer. When dough forms, wait
15 minutes, then add sugar and salt.
3. Roll dough into 18 by 15-inch rectangle.
Spread bittersweet chocolate fi lling over
top. Sprinkle with milk chocolate chips.
TRIPLE-CHOCOLATE STICKY BUNS
Serves 12
These buns take about 4 hours to
make. One packet of rapid-rise or
instant yeast contains 2¼ teaspoons of
yeast. Be sure to use a metal, not glass
or ceramic, baking pan. The tackiness
of the dough aids in fl attening and
stretching it in step 7, so resist the urge
to use a lot of dusting fl our. Rolling
the dough cylinder too tightly in step
8 will result in misshapen rolls. Buns
baked according to the make-ahead
instructions will be shorter than buns
baked after the second proofi ng.
FLOUR PASTE
2⁄3 cup whole milk
1⁄4 cup (11⁄4 ounces) all-purpose fl our
DOUGH
2⁄3 cup whole milk
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
31⁄4 cups (161⁄4 ounces) all-purpose fl our
21⁄4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
11⁄2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into
6 pieces and softened
TOPPING
3⁄4 cup packed (51⁄4 ounces) brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1⁄4 cup dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon unsweetened
cocoa powder
1⁄4 teaspoon saltFILLING
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate,
chopped fi ne
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup (6 ounces) milk chocolate chips- FOR THE FLOUR PASTE: Whisk
milk and fl our in small bowl until no
lumps remain. Microwave, whisking
every 25 seconds, until mixture thickens
to stiff paste, 50 to 75 seconds. Whisk
until smooth. - FOR THE DOUGH: In bowl of
stand mixer, whisk fl our paste and milk
until smooth. Add egg and yolk and
whisk until incorporated. Add fl our and
yeast. Fit mixer with dough hook and
mix on low speed until mass of dough
forms and all fl our is moistened, 1 to
2 minutes. Turn off mixer, cover bowl
with dish towel or plastic wrap, and let
dough stand for 15 minutes. - Add sugar and salt to dough. Knead
on medium-low speed for 5 minutes.
Add butter and continue to knead until
incorporated, scraping down dough
hook and bowl as needed (dough will be
sticky), about 5 minutes longer. - Transfer dough to lightly fl oured
counter and knead briefl y to form ball.
Transfer, seam side down, to greased
large bowl, cover tightly with plastic,
and let rise at room temperature until
doubled in size, about 1 hour.- FOR THE TOPPING: Meanwhile,
whisk all ingredients in bowl until
combined. Spray 13 by 9-inch metal
baking pan with vegetable oil spray.
Pour topping into prepared pan and
use rubber spatula to spread to edges of
pan; set aside. - FOR THE FILLING: About
30 minutes before dough is done ris-
ing, microwave bittersweet chocolate
and butter in bowl at 50 percent power,
stirring occasionally, until melted and
combined, about 2 minutes. Re-
frigerate until matte and fi rm, 30 to
40 minutes. - Transfer dough to lightly fl oured
counter and lightly fl our top of dough.
Roll and stretch dough to form 18 by
15-inch rectangle with long side paral-
lel to counter’s edge. Stir bittersweet
chocolate mixture with rubber spatula
until smooth and spreadable (mixture
should have similar texture to frosting).
Using off set spatula, spread mixture
over entire surface of dough, leaving
1-inch border along top edge. Sprinkle
evenly with chocolate chips. - Beginning with long edge nearest
you, loosely roll dough away from you
into even log, pushing in ends to create
even thickness. Pinch seam to seal.
Roll log seam side down and slice into
12 equal portions. Place buns, cut side
down, in prepared pan in 3 rows of four,
lightly reshaping buns into circles as
needed. Cover tightly with plastic and
let rise until buns are puff y and touch-
ing one another, about 1 hour.- Adjust oven racks to lowest and
lower-middle positions and heat oven
to 375 degrees. Place rimmed baking
sheet on lower rack to catch any drips.
Discard plastic and bake buns on upper
rack until golden brown on top, about
20 minutes. Cover loosely with alu-
minum foil and continue to bake until
center buns register at least 200 de-
grees, about 15 minutes longer. - Carefully remove foil from pan
(steam may escape) and immediately
run paring knife around edge of pan.
Place large platter or second rimmed
baking sheet over pan and carefully
invert pan and sheet. Remove pan and
let buns cool for 15 minutes. Serve.
TO MAKE AHEAD
Follow recipe through step 8, then
refrigerate buns for at least 8 hours or
up to 24 hours. When ready to bake,
let buns sit on counter for 30 minutes
before proceeding with step 9. Increase
uncovered baking time by 10 minutes.- Carefully roll dough into even log, then
pinch seam to seal. Position log seam side
down on counter.
5. Cut log into 12 equal portions and place
buns, cut side down, on top of caramel
topping in pan. Let rise.
6. Bake buns. Run knife around edge of
pan, cover with rimmed baking sheet, and
carefully invert. Let cool and serve.
Good Things Come in Threes,
Including Chocolate
Could we have simply added some
cocoa powder to the dough or drizzled
some melted chocolate over the top
of these buns and called it a day?
Sure—if we didn’t care about making
a knockout recipe. After testing every
kind of chocolate in each component,
we ended up keeping the bun dough
chocolate-free, but we added cocoa
powder to the caramel topping, based
the fi lling on bittersweet chocolate,
and then sprinkled milk chocolate
chips on top of that. The result is a
multifaceted, complex chocolate fl avor
that contributes to these buns’ status
as a mind-blowing treat. Chocolate lov-
ers will certainly not be disappointed.