I know that Christmas is over (boo), but I also know that, like me, you probably still have some Christmas ingredients left in your cupboards.
Chutney. Cranberry sauce. Gravy. Brandy butter.
When pondering how to use up these leftovers in future dishes, I was fairly perplexed by the brandy butter. It isn’t exactly a cupboard staple and spreading it on your morning toast seems a little over-indulgent (although I’m not judging here, people – if you’re eating it on toast right now, I salute you).
I considered just replacing it with regular butter in a baking recipe, but read a few reports online of people having done that who’d had mixed results due to the alcohol/sugar content.
I thought about just slathering it on pancakes or banana bread.
But the decadence of it just seemed to command something…more. (Side note: does anyone else just have to smell brandy butter and immediately be transported to Christmastime? Just me?)
Plus, it pairs so well with rich, fruity desserts like mince pies and Christmas pudding that I knew it had to be something similar.
That was when I had a brainwave – making sticky date buns (similar to cinnamon rolls but made with a date paste) as a breakfast/brunch dish that the butter could be liberally spread on top of, in place of an icing or buttercream.
It almost seemed too good to be true.
I combined my regular fail-safe recipe for cinnamon buns and concocted a date paste for the filling. It was perfect, simply because the date-cinnamon filling actually smelled – and tasted – similar to the filling of a mince pie. It works perfectly with brandy butter, you guys (either homemade or shop-bought). You need never throw unused brandy butter away again.
That is, you know, if you actually had any leftovers to begin with.
p.s. I know this recipe seems as though it has an extraordinary amount of steps, but it really isn’t that difficult – I promise!
Sticky Date Buns with Brandy Butter
12
servings2
hours30
minutesIngredients
- Sticky Date Buns
2 3/4 cups (345g) plain flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 packet instant yeast (7g, or 2 1/4 tsp)
1/2 cup (120ml) water
1/4 (60ml) milk
3 tbsp. (43g) butter
1 egg
500g pitted dates
2 tsp cinnamon
- Brandy Butter (optional)
1/2 cup (125g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (125g) icing sugar
2 tbsp. boiling water
3 tbsp. brandy
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast together.
- Place the butter, milk and water into a small saucepan and heat until the butter is melted (the mixture should be hot to the touch, but not bubbling). Pour the butter mixture into the flour and stir to combine. Then add the egg and continue to combine until a soft dough has formed.
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (or place it into the bowl of a stand mixer) and knead for around 3-4 minutes. Form it in a ball and place into a well-oiled bowl, then let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make your date filling. Place the dates into a bowl and cover with boiling water to allow them to soften (around 5 minutes). Drain, reserving a small amount of the water. Place the dates into a food processor along with the cinnamon and one or two tablespoons of the reserved water. Whizz until an almost-smooth paste is formed (you may need to loosen it with a little more water to achieve this).
- Remove the dough from its bowl and roll out on a lightly-floured surface into a 14×8 rectangle. Spread the date past over the top, leaving a gap of around 1cm around the edge. Roll the dough up tightly, starting from the shortest side, until you have formed one long log. Cut the log into 12 even slices and then arrange into a greased glass dish or baking tray.
- Loosely cover the tray with foil and allow the buns to rise for around one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F. Once the hour is up and the buns have doubled in size, bake them in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown (cover with foil during baking if they start to brown too much on top).
- If you need to make the brandy butter, do that now. Simply beat together the butter and sugar and then add in the water and brandy, beating again until smooth. Keep in the fridge until needed.
- Once the buns have finished baking, remove from the oven, leave to cool for a few minutes, then serve – while still warm – spread with a little of the brandy butter on each one.
Notes
- If you don’t want to bake the buns straight away, you can complete all of the steps up to the end of step 5, when you should cover them with cling film/plastic wrap and place into the fridge. Remove them at least one hour before baking to allow them to rise at room temperature.
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