Adventures in sourdough: Sticky Buns

When I realized Pip Ballantine was a baker, I thought she might be interested in having sourdough starter. Since I was going to be working with her and Tee Morris this past weekend, I planned to give them a nice portion of the starter I’ve maintained over the last several years and figured I’d also bring a tasty example of what a person can do with sourdough.

Sourdough starter is a live yeast culture. I keep it in a large mason jar in the refrigerator and feed it flour and water about once a week – and, according to Stella Price, I also feed it souls

In prep for this recipe (and because I’d been gone for a month), I  began feeding cycles for the starter at room temperature two nights before making this recipe to perk up the yeast and get it alive a bubbly again. Thus, it had filled its jar home with bubbly goodness. My starter is originated from Italy and has smaller bubbles and “sour” taste than the more common San Francisco sourdough.

Do not try to taste starter. It won’t end well.

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Here’s the recipe for sticky buns I made for the filming crew this past weekend.

Sponge:

1 cup sourdough starter

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbs vegetable oil

2 cups plain flour

1/4 cup sugar

Pour the starter in a bowl. Add milk and vegetable oil. Mix well.

Fold in the flour and sugar.

The sponge will be fairly stiff and sticky. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise overnight in a warm place.

Dough:

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Combine dry ingredients, otherwise the baking soda could leave streaks in your dough.

Fold in ½ cup of the flour mixture into the sponge mixture, and combine well.

Put the dough on a well-floured surface or in a big bowl and knead well. Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture as needed, whenever you feel the dough get sticky under your palm. Actual amount of the flour mixture needed will vary depending on ambient humidity, etc. (Hey, it’s bread, what did you expect?)

Continue working until the dough is smooth and elastic.

While preparing the filling, you can set it aside to rest and rise a bit, covering with a damp cloth.  It was cooler than usual this past weekend so my sticky buns didn’t rise as much as I prefer.

Final Prep:

1 or 2 Tbsp butter, melted

sugar (white or brown, depending on the flavor you wan in the buns. I like brown)

cinnamon

crushed pecans, raisins or chocolate chips (optional)

2 Tbsp. milk or melted butter (optional)

Prepare a baking tin by greasing well with melted butter.

Mix sugar and cinnamon and any optional fillings.

Roll dough out on a floured surface to about a 12×18 inch rectangle. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture evenly over entire surface of the dough rectangle.

Beginning with the short end, roll up the dough to make a log. Cut the cross-wise dough into 1 inch slices. Arrange them flat in the tin(s). Cover and let rise for about an hour or until they’ve doubled in bulk.

Note: I took these in the car with me and it was cooler than I’d have liked. They do rise more than pictured here if you let them rise in a warm place.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Brush buns with milk or melted butter before going to the oven.

Put the risen dough in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn down the oven to 350F and continue baking for a further 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Serve warm.

Note: Baking times will vary based on oven, humidity, elevation, etc.

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Topping Options

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups Powdered sugar

1/8 tsp Vanilla

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp Lemon juice

1 to 2 Tbsp warm water

Combine ingredients to make glaze to drizzle over the top.

Variation: Sticky pecan buns with bottom glaze

1 cups Butter, softened

1 3/4 cups Packed brown sugar

1/4 cup Dark corn syrup

3/4 cup Small pecan halves or Coarsely chopped pecans

Combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup in a bowl and beat till just about smooth. Spread evenly over the bottom of a buttered 10 x 15-inch baking pan. Sprinkle evenly with the pecans.

Place the 1 inch thick dough slices in the pan and let rise until doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 375F and bake for 25-30 min until golden brown on top.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for about 5 min, the glaze will set. Invert onto serving tray or another baking sheet. The glaze will dribble down the sides of the buns. Pull apart and serve warm.