My mother always gives me two birthday cards. This year one of them was a girl sitting down to breakfast pouting with a very disapproving look on her face. This was the best card my mother ever sent, because well, it was me growing up. I am not a morning person as most of you know(a night owl through and through…all my life, even as a kid). I would come down to breakfast and everyone knew they should not talk to me or they would face the wrath of Hurricane Peabody(I am better now but when I first wake up it is best not to pepper me with questions). And Lord help you if my cup and bowl were not exactly how I like them. I was very inflexible, which is very humorous if you know me now(or so I thought).
I used to think I was Ms. Spontaneous, Ms. Go with the Flow. However it seems the older and older I get the more I realize how very routine oriented I am even though I never really thought I was. Having my In laws here for the last week and a half really through off my routine. We were always doing things with them, including a trip over to Idaho to see the parental unit(rabbit and dog in toe), that I never really got anything done that I needed too. The laundry stacked up nicely(and is being washed as we speak). The house needs a good cleaning as the attack dust bunnies have grown to a very large size(pray they do not get me!) and are giving me the evil eye. And my blogs. My poor, poor blogs have suffered big time. They especially suffered since pretty much everyday my In laws were here we had perfect overcast, cool baking weather…and I got to bake nothing. Nothing I tell you. 🙁 The day it was 57 and raining I could not take it anymore. I HAD to bake. My body was twitching from baking withdrawals. So there I was at 1am(again with the night owl thing) feeling the need to make something with yeast.
I have been on a bit of an orange kick the last couple of days. I have drank more orange juice since Tuesday than I probably have all year. So the orange influence shine through when I thought about what to bake. I chose to make a comfort food…cinnamon rolls/buns…but I didn’t want cinnamon. And I made me some pretty BIG ones at that. I was needing to stress eat. Not that my In laws were stressing me out, the lack of routine was. These were certainly a great food choice for stress eating…sugar and bread…the perfect calming effect on me.
My In laws are on their way home now(we really did have a nice visit with them). I am slowing getting back into my routine, though I am seeming to be playing a little more catch up than I had hoped. Hopefully, the gears will be in full swing by the end of this week!
Orange-Almond Buns
For dough:
1 2/3 cups warm milk (105°F)
4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
(2 packages, ¼ ounces each)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp almond extract
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon salt
6 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Cooks’ note:
¢â¬¢ Yes, they mean 1 tablespoon, not 1 teaspoon, of salt for the dough; with 6 1/2 cups of flour, it is needed.
For the filling:
½ cup chopped slivered almonds
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
zest of 1 orange
3 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
Make dough:
Mix milk, yeast, and sugar in a standing electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment until combined well. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add butter, eggs, almond extract, salt, and 3 cups flour and beat until smooth. Fit mixer with dough-hook attachment and, with mixer on medium-high speed, gradually knead in remaining 3 1/2 cups flour, occasionally scraping down side of bowl with a rubber spatula, until dough is smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes.
Transfer dough to a large oiled bowl, turning to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
Make orange-almond filling while dough is still rising:
Mix together almonds, both sugars and orange zest. Set aside.
Shape, fill, and bake buns:
Punch down dough, then halve it. Pat each piece into a flat rectangle and cover 1 piece with plastic wrap. Roll out remaining dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 17- by 13-inch rectangle (about 1/4 inch thick). Brush top with half of melted butter and sprinkle evenly with filling. Roll up, beginning with a short side, to form a 13-inch log and press seam to seal. Cut log crosswise into 6 pieces and arrange, cut sides up, in 2 rows of 3 buns in half of a buttered 13- by 9- by 2-inch metal baking pan. Make 6 more buns in same manner and let buns rise 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake buns in middle of oven until golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes.
For glaze:
2 oz cream cheese, softened
2 ½ cups confectioners sugar, sifted
3 TBSP fresh orange juice
zest of 1 orange
½ teaspoon vanilla
Make glaze while buns bake:
Beat together glaze ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.
Cool buns in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then spoon glaze evenly over warm buns. Sprinkle with slivered almonds if you desire.
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, February 2000
Liz says
Beautiful! Orange and almond go together so well; I bet these are delicious!
Erin says
These look great! I love the orange spin on them; it’s a nice change from regular cinnamon buns. I am the same way as you when it comes to routines. I like things a certain way and I get thrown off when things change. I love the pictures of your dog looking at the buns longingly 🙂
Joelen says
What a great recipe to get back into your routine! The rolls looks amazing and using orange as the key flavor is such a great choice. Glad to have you back blogging… and I look forward to your future posts. 🙂
VeggieGirl says
Hurricane Peabody, haha!! Love it :0)
I’m definitely a routine person – NOT spontaneous, whatsoever. Those comforting, luscious rolls are definitely the perfect way thing to bake – yum! Oh and your dog is too precious :0)
timhenk says
Good to have you back, Peabody. Very cute pictures with the dog. 🙂
Tony says
oooh, I love the over-sized buns!! Although I must say that the orange infusion is probably my favorite part… I noticed that when I bake I put orange (or lemon) zest whenever it can fit in a recipe (sometimes even when it doesn’t seem to). beautiful backdrop, too : )
Rosa says
Such lovely buns! terribly addictive!
Your post made me laugh! I am also very routine-oriented… I hate to change my habits!
Cheers,
Rosa
Melissa says
OMG – those look so good! I am going to star this recipe and hope to make it look as good one day. I hope you gave your pup a taste – love that picture 🙂
Claudia says
gosh I hate you. I was SO not baking with yeast, not, not, not. And I was doing well at my denial too! Sigh – you make those buns look so good. I HAVE to make them.
And I ADORE the puppy/baked good/love!
HoneyB says
I’m the exact opposite-I’m totally a morning person! But, I know how to leave those who aren’t alone (picturing Grumpy here).
I love your photos – they are awesome. Love the focus on the dog, then the focus on the bun!
isabelle says
hello Peabody
I don’t leave many comments because of my bad english, but I read you regularly .
I’ll try your recipe very soon. Thank you 🙂
Holly @ PheMOMenon says
I so know what you mean. When we have guests I love having them, but the lack of normalcy also tends to drive me a bit crazy inside! I’m glad you got to make these, because, well, now I get to make them too! These look and sound like absolute heaven and hit dead on the EXACT craving I have been having lately. Orange rolls are my favorite – adding the almonds and cream cheese is just perfect!! Thanks for sharing!
cindy says
these look Amazing (capital A, even) peabody. now i want to make rolls of some sort instead of the biscotti i planned for today…maybe.
Jia@ColorMeUntypical says
OMG Those look to die for! I cannot wait to try out this recipe!
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) says
What a beautiful way to get back into baking!
Manggy says
Ah, I wonder if the puppy is looking longingly at the roll/bun… I know I am! Ha ha ha.
Paul says
These look delicious! I’ll have to try them next time my fiancée visits. One question, though, as I’ve never made buns like this — how much rise are we after on the initial rise of the dough, before forming the rolls? An estimate of how long it would take would be great too, though I know those things can vary. However, I really don’t know how much volume increase to look for, even.
kamaile says
Oh wow…these look scrumptious! I wish I wasn’t afraid of yeast and melting in the heat, or I’d make these right now.
rachel says
“Wrath of Hurricane Peabody” reading that brought a smile to my face….
love the flavours that you used..something different
Angie says
Dittoing Paul’s comment: how do you tell when the first rise is done? Amount of time? A certain look? Sigh. I’m never going to get the hang of yeast stuff! 🙂
Kate says
I have a million of that same picture – food on table, dog gazing wistfully up at it.
Melinda says
I know I am obnoxiously cheerful in the morning.
But I would happily sit quietly next to you in the morning if you’d give me one of these buns.
They look perfect gob stoppers.
I just love your sweetie dog!
Susan at Sticky,Gooey,Creamy,Chewy says
I’m chuckling at your post because I am the same way. You definitely don’t want to run into me before I’ve had some strong coffee in the morning. I can’t stand to have my routine disrupted either and MY inlaws are coming to visit in about 8 hours! Oy vey!
BTW, very nice buns! 😉
Meeta says
I am not a night owl – and if I ever started to bake at 1 am my husband would call the funny farm!! To the baking withdrawal I can relate to though. I have that too. Actually as I missed last months DB challenge I am itching to bake me a cake.
Your buns – the orange almonds ones here – are gorgeous!
Emiline says
What lovely looking buns! They’re huge.
I’m a night owl too. Please don’t look at the time I’m leaving this comment. 🙂
Alexa says
I’m the opposite… I need my quiet time at night. My husband is like you though and we manage to live together just fine. I love the combination of flavors in your bun recipe: yummy!
Mary says
I’m a morning person. But I am really really not good at change. And I just came back from a week long vacation with my inlaws. (I found margaritas helped. Plenty of them!) By the final morning I was finally adjusting to eating Honey Nut Cheerios instead of plain Cheerios. Oh yeah, and eating breakfast with 11 rambunctious children. So nice to be home doing laundry!
Naama says
looks good! great picture
Carol says
Oooooooo……those buns!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING looking…..good thing you can’t gain weight looking at pictures…I think my scale would EXPLODE!!!
This is going on my “must try” list for sure!!!!
OhioMom says
Yummy buns! Love the addition of orange instead of cinnamon.
LOL .. about the morning thing. My family knows not to speak to me until I have consumed the first cup of coffee 🙂
jasmine says
I’m with you on not being a morning person. Apparently it shocks people when they find out…first hand…
j
katie102006 says
Not only do those look absolutely mouthwatering, but i’ve ALWAYS had a thing for buns with orange glaze. LOVE IT!
Erica says
Your baby doggie is so cute! I love those ears!
Ellie @ Kitchen Wench says
I know what you mean – I too am a creature of routine and though I fought it at first, accepting it means I can get what I need to do out of the way…and then at least pretend for a bit of spontaneity 😉 Lovely rolls, I like the orange and almond pairing 🙂
Lynn says
Mmmm, perfect choice for stress food. That cute pooch face looks a little stressed, too. Did your dog get to share?
Spontaneous is not me. My kids know to ask two weeks in advance for anything like having friends spend the night or the answer is no.
Jen Yu says
Puppers!! We always appreciate your pup’s special guest appearances 🙂 I totally hear ya on the routine. Funny that we are such creatures of habit. Makes it that much harder when folks who don’t live the way you do come to visit. Lovely rolls/buns. I think almond pairs with so many flavors it’s obscene (but I love it!)
Deborah says
Looks like the perfect “stress” food to me!!
Sil BsAs says
I follow your blog since… long! and it’s amazing how your photograph has improved. Congratulations! really .. great, great, inspiring photos!
Patricia Scarpin says
I’m glad to hear you had a good time – not necessarily happening with one has in laws around…
These buns are wonderful, Pea, and I love anything orange and almond. To the list it goes. As soon as I’m in my new home (I’m moving next Friday), I want to make wonderful things to open up my new kitchen – these buns will do my brand new place justice!
veron says
I always dread it when I get visitors because though I enjoy them a lot my routine gets whacked. I know how you feel. But I’m glad you are getting back into the “bun” of things :).
CookiePie says
Those orange buns are so beautiful – they’d get even the most ornery non-morning person up and to the table! And I love the pooch – what a face!
snookydoodle says
wish to wake up with the smell of the freshly baked almond orange buns. I would think i ll still be dreaming 🙂 they look delicious. i adore almonds.
patsyk says
First off, your pictures have me drooling over my keyboard right now! That flavor combination sounds heavenly… if only I could get a few more hours into each day so I could do some baking!
Kim says
So this is what I get to make when I am stressed out. These look so good and I am a fan of buns like these. Nothing like a day baking.
bakingblonde says
The almonds on top caught my eye! What an under used nut in baked goods (at least in my opinion). I Love them and this recipe sounds phenomenal! Great photos!!
Jude says
Poor dog – trying to get some but couldn’t reach it.
Elle says
Next time I’m stress I should come knock at your door so you can make me some of these! Yummy! Orange and almond is a wonderful combination…and strong enough that no one will miss the cinnamon.
[eatingclub] vancouver || js says
Gorgeous! Orange and almonds are wonderful together and this is one way to kick out of a non-baking routine.
Jaime says
i love orange anything 🙂 these buns look perfect for breakfast (or whatever you get up – i’m not a morning person, either)
Marie says
Oh peabody . . . I never get to see any of your pictures. I used to be able to, but this past month or so for some reason all I ever get is red x’s. Orange and almond sound very delicious though!
Elizabeth E-W says
Nice title dude, I like it. And I love your buns, I bet they taste as good as they look……he he
Brilynn says
I’ve been away the past week and hotel rooms are not conducive to baking… I can’t wait to get back in the kitchen. Those look awesome!
Nicisme says
Ooooh, the bigger the better! Very nice looking indeed.
Aysegul says
Beautiful! Very mouth watering! I need to try baking!
Aysegul nysdelight.com
jennifer says
looks great! i love mornings with fresh rolls. nom nom nom.