Conchas with Honey

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

For spongy dough:
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup whole milk
¼ cup bread flour
1 teaspoon dry yeast

For main dough:
¾ cup honey
½ cup sponge
1¼ teaspoon dry instant yeast
½ cup water
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2¾ cups bread flour
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup malted milk powder
3 tablespoons butter, softened

For sweet dough topping:
8 oz honey
1½ cups eggs
10 oz butter, softened
10 oz vegetable shortening
4 oz cornstarch
8 oz powdered sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

For spongy dough:
In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients and mix until it becomes elastic and gummy. It will be lumpy and a bit sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a cool area for 8 to 12 hours.

For main dough:
In a separate mixing bowl, combine honey, spongy dough, eggs, butter and shortening. Mix until incorporated. Add in all the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until dough starts to form. Turn to medium high speed and mix for 10 minutes or until dough begins to ball together. Remove from mixing bowl and roll into a clean ball, placing it into another bowl that's been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Let relax and double in size. Punch down and divide evenly into 12 pieces (about 2 oz. each) and place on an oven sheet pan. Spray the balls with non-stick cooking spray so as to not dry out as you prepare the pasta topping.

For sweet dough topping:
In a bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl mix and combine all the dry ingredients. Add in the egg mix slowly, avoiding lumps. Once combined, add in the vanilla extract. You’re looking for a velvety texture, similar to Play-Doh.

Assembly of honey buns:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grab a pinch of the sweet dough topping, of about the size of a bouncy ball (1½ oz). Roll out and in between hands, in a similar fashion as if you were making tortillas. Place on top of one of the doughs, pressing firmly flat so as to cover completely. With a fork, indent the imprint all the way around the bun topping to make an impression. Repeat process until all doughs have been topped. Let rest and rise until they are double in size and jiggle when you shake the pan. Place in oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the dough has a nice brown, baked look underneath the topping. Let cool completely.

*Note: Any sweet dough topping leftover can be wrapped tightly and frozen.

Recipe courtesy of the National Honey Board and Chef Pastry Chef Luis Villavelazquez

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