By Claire Saffitz
Updated Feb. 29, 2024
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus 6 to 26 hours’ resting and proofing
- Rating
- 4(715)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This is a decidedly less-sweet kind of morning bun, topped with a lemony, cardamom-scented sugar for crunch and flavor rather than the typical icing or sticky goo of a cinnamon bun. Unlike most sweet buns, which tend to stale quickly, these stay soft and pillowy long after they cool. The buns are best the day they’re baked but will keep, stored airtight at room temperature, for up to 4 days. The recipe time factors in dough preparation. If you already have all-purpose enriched bread dough on hand, this is much swifter work.
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Ingredients
Yield:15 buns
- 1cup/128 grams raw shelled pistachios
- ½cup/105 grams Demerara sugar
- 1teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- ¾teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- ½cup/113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), plus 1 tablespoon, at room temperature, for greasing the pan
- 2tablespoons honey
- 1recipe All-Purpose Enriched Bread Dough, chilled
- All-purpose flour, for rolling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (15 servings)
178 calories; 10 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 97 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Toast the pistachios: Arrange an oven rack in the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter the pistachios on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, shaking once, until they’re golden brown and nutty smelling, 6 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely. Very finely chop the pistachios or crush them beneath a heavy pot, and set aside.
Step
2
Make the filling: In a small bowl, combine the sugar, lemon zest, cardamom and salt, and mix with your fingertips, rubbing in the lemon zest until the mixture is fragrant and well combined. Set aside ¼ cup of the mixture for sprinkling over the baked buns, then combine the remaining sugar mixture with the chopped pistachios and set aside.
Step
3
Combine ½ cup butter and the honey in a small saucepan, and warm over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted and the mixture is combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Step
4
Prepare the pans: Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom and sides of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with the remaining tablespoon of room temperature butter, then set the pan aside.
Step
5
Roll out the dough: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and uncover. Scrape the dough from the bowl and place on the work surface. Use the heel of your hand to knock out the gas and deflate the risen dough, which will be quite firm. Dust underneath and on top of the dough with a bit of flour, then roll it out into a rectangle measuring about 22 inches long, 12 inches wide, and a scant ¼ inch thick, dusting with more flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Try to work quickly to prevent the dough from warming, which will make it harder to slice the buns.
Step
6
Fill and form the buns: Dust off any excess flour, then brush the entire surface of the dough with all but 3 tablespoons of the honey butter mixture. (Reserve the remaining honey butter mixture for brushing over the baked buns.) Sprinkle the pistachio mixture evenly across the surface, pressing it gently into the dough so it adheres. Starting at one of the longer sides, roll the dough into a tight log. If the dough seems very soft, slide the log onto a baking sheet and chill until firm enough to slice, 10 to 15 minutes. Use a serrated knife to slice off the ends of the log, then cut it crosswise into three even sections. Cut each section into five even pieces, so you have 15 total. Arrange each piece cut side up in the prepared baking dish, forming a 3-by-5 grid.
Step
7
Proof the buns: Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the buns are all touching, very puffed, and about doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours.
Step
8
Meanwhile, arrange an oven rack in the center position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step
9
Bake the buns: Uncover the pan and transfer the buns to the oven. Bake, rotating the pan 180 degrees after 15 minutes, until the buns are golden brown all over, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately brush with the reserved honey butter. Sprinkle the reserved sugar mixture evenly over top, then let the buns cool completely in the pan.
Step
10
Serve: Use a small serrated knife to cut between the buns and all around the pan, then lift them out one at a time.
Ratings
4
out of 5
715
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Cooking Notes
John A
Laborious but delicious. The butter/honey mixture is better 1:1 - otherwise they aren't sweet enough. (Made the 1st batch as described, 2nd batch with this mod was much better.)
Froon
Can this dough be frozen at any point? Signed Cooking For One.
Me
Highly suggest adding chocolate bittersweet chocolate to the filling. I also replaced the lemon zest with orange zest and added orange blossom water to the honey and sugar syrup. Divine.
Jane
I did a short initial rise of 4 hrs (dough), then shaped buns and let rise overnight on terrace (cold where I live, maybe a bit warmer than fridge, but not much), and they were perfect. Did rise a little, just enough, not too much, definitely still individual buns with the sides touching.I used almonds bc pistachios are REALLY expensive and everyone loved them. I make a lot of yeasted bread and rolls and these were def different and richer in taste.Very good recipe
Seagreen
Wonderful! I used the referenced Enriched Bread Dough with buttermilk. I really liked the finished bread. What I would do differently next time: - Use roasted unsalted pistachios. I think I overcooked mine, so those on top burned. - I had way more butter/honey mixture than I used. I would try 3/4 stick butter next time. - Leave out the salt in the sugar mixture; tasted salty. - total timing is unclear. Seems that it should be an ADDITIONAL 20-25 minutes after the 15 minute turn.
Rosemary
I use no flavor, no wax dental floss to cut the bun slices. Cuts through the dough perfectly and you never have to worry about flattening or changing the shape of your bun/roll.
Martin
Anything that take 3 hours to make is not a "morning" bun.
kelly
I didn't have raw pistachios so made this using pecans, 1/4 tsp cardamom and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, more like a traditional cinnamon roll filling. They were super yum and the roll itself is quite nice. I'm excited to make it again with Claire's actual filling recipe!
Daphne Burdeaux
I halved the dough recipe and it made a full pie pan of 7 buns. I also made the dough ahead of time... after 4 hours of proofing the dough in the fridge I assembled the buns and put them in the fridge overnight, took them out the next morning 2 hours before baking and they rose perfectly and baked perfectly.
kate
They were raw at 25 minutes. Is the intended cook time in this recipe 40 minutes? I had to do 25 at 350 then 15 at 275 because they were too browned/dried out, another 10 at 350. They were delicious but I think the heat and cook times are really off. If I make these again, I will try something like 400ish for 10 minutes fo ra big poof and then 300 for 40 minutes or so to cook through. (It's not my rise: I did a 1.4 hr bench rise followed by a 12 hour cold rise with a 2 hour rest post shaping)
becaru
This recipe was originally published attached to a recipe for bread dough. What happened to it? No longer seems to be attached to that recipe
use stick blender
I added some chopped fennel seed and took it up a notch. Yummm!These are better not tight in a pan, but baked separate on a tray.
Georgia
It needs a lot of preparation but it’s delicious. I was short in pistachios so I adda some hazelnuts and almonds it was more nutty than delicate nutty. Added extra lemon zest and it gave a nice fresh ending when tasting it. Not to do it anytime soon again but for sure a keeper as a special treat.
Tim
These are really fantastic - the layer of browned honey butter on the inside with the filling is a serious step up from other recipes I’ve made. I’ve pulled that trick into every version of buns I make now!
LJC
Made as directed. My dough looked delicious and rose beautifully. The finished buns were a bit dry on the outermost layer. Any tips from more seasoned bakers? The inner layers were moist. I loved that they were not too sweet.
Suzanne
Just unbelievably good. I’d never kneaded dough for so long it the results are wellWorth the effort—and a stand mixer is essential.
Suzanne T
Sitting down to rest now that I'm at the rise stage—pretty intense recipe. Some notes: Allow plenty of time (2 hours?) to chill the dough log before slicing it; anything less than thoroughly chilled will not achieve the swirly finish. The bread dough recipe doesn't include a temperature to which one should cool the tangzhong, or “water roux” before commencing to mix the bun ingredients. They say cool is essential. This is a yeast recipe, and liquid temperatures matter!
Momo M
I live in a vegan house riddled with food allergies, I have to modify nearly every recipe. The Banana Diaries has a great recipe for enriched dough, did not use any nuts, cut the cardamom down, and used maple syrup in place of honey, they were insanely delicious! The entire pan was eaten in one day. I didn't get the height I would have liked on the buns, but I also did an overnight rise in the fridge. These are worth the work.
dg
This was fun, and I really really enjoyed making these buns. The one thing I'd revisit: the pistachio flavor. I love pistachios, and expected there would be more of a nut "oomph." Not sure what happened there - mediocre nuts, didn't toast enough, 1 cup <> 128 g, something else.I'm thinking of hunting down pistachio extract (or, for that matter, using a little pistachio oil, maybe swapping a tsp in the enriched dough). Anyone else try this?
Kim
I've made these twice without modifications turned out great! Worth the effort. I made the first batch as described, second batch I sprinkled the filling instead of pouring down the center and spreading. Sprinkling the filling gave a better coverage for me.
Linda
These are outrageously delicious. I cut back the cardamom and glad I did. Perfect balance w lemon rind. I also cut the recipe in half (baked in 8” pan) and used remaining half of dough for hamburger buns. Dough hardly rose at all in fridge overnight- I thought it was a fail but a long proof outside on a summer day proved me wrong. Perfect rise. Next time I’ll let them proof for awhile in the pan before refrigerating overnight. That way we can have them in the morning!
plumping iron
Used half this recipe for morning buns. (Other half went to slider buns). First off, ain't nobody got time for "austere" morning buns. Noted a bunch of comments in here then made walnut, orange peel, and chopped chocolate excessively fun buns in a 9" springform pan. Also used a lovely floral Manuka honey with a splash of orange blossom water for the topping. I've baked Claire's BA + DP recipes. Her recipes here seem more foolproof and reliable as vetted through the NYT Cooking edit manufactory.
Megan
Used sourdough for dough. Wow 1 stick of butter seems like a lot. I only had 2 tbsp in my frig so that's what I used and can't imagine using more! These were a huge hit and would definitely make again.
Christie
The dough was so delicious! So fluffy and tender. I resisted the urge to add more flour, even though it was sticky through the end, and I’m glad I did. Only issue I had was the filling pulled away and ran into the bottom a bit when cooled, still delicious.
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