Inspired by one of my favorite cookbooks ever, "Small Victories" by Julia Turshen, these are morning buns made with jam. Instead of her creme fraiche frosting, I'm making frosting with labneh! Labneh is a middle eastern cheese that is basically super-strained yogurt. These jam morning buns with labneh frosting are not too sweet and perfect for a brunch potluck (which is what I made them for!)
Making a dough with yeast is a bit of a project, but I find it really fun and satisfying when a big baking project turns out. These labneh-topped morning buns took me about 12 hours total to make, since I planned for an overnight rise in my fridge.
how to make these beauties
1. Warm up milk in a microwave or in a saucepan to 120F. Transfer the warm milk to a large bowl and stir in the yeast. Let the mixture sit until the yeast is dissolved, looks cloudy, smells funky, and has some bubbles - about 5 minutes.
2. Set up your stand mixer with a dough hook.
3. Crack one of the eggs into your stand mixer and beat with a fork. Add milk-yeast mixture, flour, granulated sugar, salt, and butter to your mixer and mix to combine, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
4. If you’re using a stand mixer with a dough hook, turn up the speed to medium-high and let it run for about 5 minutes, until its surface is completely smooth and the whole thing feels both solid and soft at the same time. Or if doing my hand, kneed away - it will take a solid 5 minutes of kneading.
5. Cover the dough in a large bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit in the warmest spot in your kitchen to rise, about 1 hour.
After you let it rest
6. Return the dough to the lightly floured work surface and use a floured rolling pin to roll it into a large rectangle measuring roughly 18x12”. Spread the surface of the dough evenly with your jam of choice, leaving a half inch border. Starting from a long side, roll the dough up tightly so you end up with an 18-in rope. Cut the rolled dough into a dozen even rounds.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the buns in even rows.
8. Cover the dough buns loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until they’ve risen a bit and are soft and puffy, about 1 hour. Or, refrigerate overnight and the next morning, pull out the dough and let return to room temperature, about 1 hour, before proceeding.
9. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350F.
10. Brush the tops of the dough with an egg wash to ensure even brownness.
11. Bake the buns until browned and the jam is caramelized - 25 to 30 minutes.
12. Simultaneously, in a small bowl, whisk together the labneh, sugar, and vanilla.
13. Drizzle on top the labneh frosting. Yum!
pro-tips for baking morning buns
I've found that being super precise with this type of baking, while annoying, is just what you have to do.
Make sure the milk gets to the right temperature so the yeast reacts.
Make sure you're needing and keeping an eye on the elasticity of the dough, because you want that gluten development.
And let the dough rise properly so you get that springy texture in the final product.
These were very impressive at the breakfast brunch I took them to! Hope you love these jam morning buns with labneh frosting.
Morning Buns with Jam and Labneh Frosting
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 eggs
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- ⅔ cup any kinda jam you want
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup labneh
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Warm up milk in a microwave or in a saucepan to 120F. Transfer the warm milk to a large bowl and stir in the yeast. Let the mixture sit until the yeast is dissolved, looks cloudy, smells funky, and has some bubbles - about 5 minutes.
- Set up your stand mixer with a dough hook.
- Crack one of the eggs into your stand mixer and beat with a fork. Add milk-yeast mixture, flour, granulated sugar, salt, and butter to your mixer and mix to combine, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- If you’re using a stand mixer with a dough hook, turn up the speed to medium-high and let it run for about 5 minutes, until its surface is completely smooth and the whole thing feels both solid and soft at the same time. Or if doing my hand, kneed away - it will take a solid 5 minutes of kneading.
- Cover the dough in a large bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit in the warmest spot in your kitchen to rise, about 1 hour.
- Return the dough to the lightly floured work surface and use a floured rolling pin to roll it into a large rectangle measuring roughly 18x12”. Spread the surface of the dough evenly with your jam of choice, leaving a half inch border. Starting from a long side, roll the dough up tightly so you end up with an 18-in rope. Cut the rolled dough into a dozen even rounds.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the buns in even rows.
- Cover the dough buns loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until they’ve risen a bit and are soft and puffy, about 1 hour. Or, refrigerate overnight and the next morning, pull out the dough and let return to room temperature, about 1 hour, before proceeding.
- When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350F.
- Brush the tops of the dough with an egg wash to ensure even brownness.
- Bake the buns until browned and the jam is caramelized - 25 to 30 minutes.
- Simultaneously, in a small bowl, whisk together the labneh, sugar, and vanilla.
- Drizzle on top the labneh frosting. Yum!
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