Cream Cheese Bun Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
• Press one can of the crescent rolls into the bottom of the prepared pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Spread over the crescent layer. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and lay them on top of the cream cheese layer. Do not press down. Pour the melted margarine over the entire pan. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the top.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is crisp and golden.

Steps:

• For the dough: Place the yeast and 1 cup lukewarm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and add the flour, butter, granulated sugar, salt and egg. Knead on medium-low speed until the dough forms a ball and releases easily from the sides of the bowl, about 4 minutes.
• Butter a large bowl; transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover with a towel and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
• For the filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter. Set aside.
• Punch down the dough, then roll or press it into a 16-by-12-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Spread with the filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border.
• Starting at one of the short ends, roll the dough into a cylinder and then slice into 12 rolls. Arrange the rolls, cut-side up, in four rows in the prepared baking dish. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm, draft-free spot until nearly doubled in volume, about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden on top, about 20 minutes.
• For the thick cream cheese icing: Blend the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the milk and mix until smooth. Top the warm cinnamon buns with icing and serve.

Steps:

• Sift flour into a large bowl, make a well in the middle and crumble the yeast into it.
• Dissolve 1 tablespoon caster sugar in lukewarm milk. Pour over yeast and mix with yeast and some of the flour. This first yeast-mixture should be still fluid. Cover and let rise in warm place for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile: Mix all other ingredients for the buns until smooth.
• Add this mixture to the yeast and flour. Mix first with a spoon.
• Then knead with floured hands until dough is peeling away from the side of the bowl and blistering. This step may take 10 minutes (or more). Use some additional flour, if dough is too sticky. At the end you should have a smooth dough. See note.
• Cover and let rise in warm place for about 30 to 40 minutes or until dough has doubled.
• Line out baking tray with parchment paper. Preheat oven (390°F, 200°C).
• After dough has doubled, knead again a few times. Roll out on a floured workspace. About 1/2 inch thick.
• Cut out circles of about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Place the buns on baking tray. Let rise again for 15 minutes.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the top of the buns are slightly golden.
• Take out and let cool completely.
• NOTE on baker's yeast: also called cake yeast. It is the yeast sold as a solid block. You could replace it by dry yeast. If you use dry yeast, dissolve the dry yeast in lukewarm water prior adding it to the flour. Use as much dry yeast as you would need for 3 cups flour.
• NOTE on cream goat cheese: I like the taste of goat cheese here, but you could replace it by any other cream cheese of your choice.
• NOTE on dough: You could also use the dough hook of your food processor to knead the dough. But I prefer to do it by hand and I always have the feeling, that the texture of a hand kneaded dough is different.