Are you tired of having to choose between brownies and cinnamon buns? Because I sure as heck was…until today. Indecisive pastry-choosers rejoice! For the agony of our indecision is over! I give you, the Pecan Brownie Bun!
Yup, it’s a beautifully soft yeasted bun, stuffed with super-chocolaty pecan brownie filling. The best of both worlds, and yet somehow totally different to a cinnamon bun or brownie. And it all started with a major kitchen fail…
See guys, the filling for these brownies started out life as an attempt to make pecan-ella. That is, nutella made out of pecans and flavoured with a little maple syrup. Welp, turns out my food processor is just straight up incapable of making nut butter. I think it’s the way the bowl is designed…I won’t go into it, but just take my word for it.
So instead of a super-smooth pecan chocolate spread, I ended up with a kind of runny, grainy paste of pecan and chocolate with a hint of maple. Not what I was hoping for. Not something I would share with you guys. A definite #kitchenfail. Like most food bloggers I hate waste, so I just chucked it into the fridge and attempted to forget my kitchen disaster.
Cut to a few days later when I’m in the mood for a little yeast baking. I never get sick of making cinnamon buns, so I started up a batch of lovely soft dough, and then opened up the fridge to grab some butter and there was that failed pecan-ella staring out at me. Interestingly it had firmed up into a sort of thick ganache texture and it tasted good.
Since I had nothing to lose I spread it over the dough, rolled em up and baked them. 25 minutes later…WHAAAAAT?! That crazy pecan paste has turned into BROWNIE. A gooey, rich swirl of pecan brownie paste, perfectly wrapped up in feathery dough. From there, the espresso glaze on top was a no brainer. And these have just become a strong contender for my Christmas morning. They are gorgeous. I hope you try ’em! And even if you don’t, let me know about your kitchen fails in the comments below!
xx Sarah.
- 1 cup (130g) pecans
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp sea salt flakes
- 4 oz (100g) dark chocolate, melted
- ¾ stick (75g) butter
- 1 cup (250ml) milk
- 3 cups (450g) plain flour (aka all purpose flour)
- ¼ cup (65g) sugar
- 1 + ½ tsp dry active yeast
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1 tbsp boiling water
- 1 cup (200g) icing sugar (aka powdered sugar)
- To make the filling, place the pecans into a dry frying pan and toast over a low heat until the smell of toasty pecans wafts up to your nose. They don't look different, but you will smell (and taste) the change.
- Throw the toasted nuts into a food processor and wazz them up until they form a grainy, oily paste. Then, throw in the remaining ingredients and pulse just until combined. Pour this liquid mixture into a bowl and place in the fridge to firm up for at least an hour.
- To make the dough, melt the butter in a small pan, and then add the milk and set this aside.
- Place the remaining ingredients, and the slightly cooled milk/butter mixture into a large bowl and then bring together and knead until a smooth, elastic and ever-so-slightly tacky dough forms. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with plastic, then leave in a warm place to rise for 30-45 minutes.
- When the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a 12 inch (30cm) square. Spread the pecan filling, which should be cooled to the texture of thick ganache, all over the dough, and then roll it up tightly.
- Butter a 9inch (23cm) cake tin and line it with baking paper. Then cut the rolled dough into 8 equal pieces and arrange in the tin, swirly side up. Set aside to rise for another 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C), and then bake the risen buns for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Place the buns in their tin on a wire rack while you prepare the glaze by stirring all the ingredients together. You may need to add more water to get the desired consistency. Then pour the glaze over the warm buns, leave to soak in for about 10 minutes and then dig in!
The greatest kitchen fail I have ever had was when I made a pavlova and left it in the oven over night with the oven door slightly ajar, as per the instructions. I arose the next morning to discover a trail of ants running from the oven door to the window sill. The pavlova was full of ants and tragically inedible. Well, inedible for humans. The ants seemed to enjoy it.
NO WAY!!!! That’s such a bummer! But also kind of hilarious – I bet those ants had the time of their lives! ;P
xx
Sarah
Espresso glaze is the BEST!!!!
I want to jump in that glaze and die a happy lady. Loving the brownie-cinnamon bun mix. You are the bun master.
Smashed it out of the park with this recipe!
These are so beautiful i just want to cry.
Sounds like the best kitchen fail ever! Amazing!
omigoshhhhh serrrriously???! ahhhh way way too good. LOVE
oh. my. yum.
You just took four of my favourite things, merged them together like some orgasmic food witch and then gave me the recipe. I think this is the furthest from fail you can get.
Worst fail I ever had was when trying to make croissants for a family party. They came out like little crappy crab claws, that tasted like egg farts. With no back up and no time I took them anyway and made everyone who tried one that day believe this blogging business I’m in is a complete sham.
BAHAHAHA egg-fart croissants? What a bummer! I hate when a recipe fails me… But you’re no sham, that much I know for sure!
Ah the good old chocolate nut butter hex – I had a macadamia spread go the same way but it separated into oil and solids. After a few days in the fridge I blended it again with a few other ingredients and not only did it come back together but the result was fudge – happy days. These buns sound stunning!
That’s what happened with my pecans too! Macadamia nut fudge sounds like a pretty freaking great save!
xx
My biggest fail was as a kid I put a slice of bread and a banana into the oven in a plastic bowl while my dad was distracted watching football. Needless to say he had a fun surprise at halftime
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve struggled with the sticky buns vs brownies decision, shaking my fist at the heavens, asking WHY life has to be so hard! And you, sweet woman, have solved that problem for me at last! Bless you.
I have kitchen fails on the regular. I know it’s totally expected and normal, but I still take them personally every single time. At least you made lemonade from lemons (proverbially)!
I can’t think kitchen fails at the moment, I’m too overwhelmed with visions of chocolate brownie pecan espresso deliciousness – best fail save ever!
Thanks Beck! We should eat a bun together one of these days…
OMG these buns! pecan brownie and espresso?!
Life’s full of tough choices… Thanks for letting me make 1 less :)
\o/
Holy, this looks amazing! I think I need to do a little bit of yeast baking :)
Making my mouth water! These really look like perfection!
THIS IS EVERYTHING.
OMG. These are insanity in the most amazing way ever! Need. Need. Need!!!
WHAT?! These look incredible. Totally in love!!!!!
Holy COW. These are serious.
OMG. How do you come up with this stuff? What ever it is – keep it up. Thanks – Larry
Larry – I’ll do my best!