Best Honey Bun Bars Recipes

HONEY BUNS

Steps:

• Make the dough: Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a small bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Whisk milk, butter, eggs, honey, salt, and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed. Add yeast mixture, and whisk for 1 minute. Switch to dough hook, reduce speed to low, and add 4 cups flour. After flour is incorporated, raise speed to medium, and continue kneading.
• Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Raise speed to medium-high, and knead for 10 minutes. (Alternatively, knead by hand until smooth, 15 to 20 minutes.)
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until dough is very smooth, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic, and set aside in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Make the filling and topping: Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in honey, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a gentle simmer, then remove from heat. Let cool. Combine mascarpone and creme fraiche in a bowl.
• Punch down dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 3 portions. Roll each into a ball. Freeze 2 for up to 3 months (thaw in the refrigerator before using). Roll remaining dough into a 10-by-13 1/2-inch rectangle. Brush lightly with honey, spread mascarpone mixture evenly on top, leaving a 1-inch border, and sprinkle with pecans. Starting on 1 long side, roll dough into a log. Pinch along seam to seal. Cut into nine 1 1/2-inch-thick slices.
• Pour honey mixture into an 8-inch square baking pan. Place buns, cut sides down, in pan, 3 to a row. Let buns rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place oven rack in lower third. Bake buns, rotating halfway through, until brown and bubbling, about 1 hour. (If buns darken too quickly, cover with foil.) Set a wire rack on a baking sheet. Immediately invert buns onto rack. Drizzle with honey, and serve warm.

HONEY BUNS

Steps:

• In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add in the flour, sugar, and salt.
• In a microwave-safe bowl, add in the milk. Microwave for 30 seconds. You'll want the milk to be at 105 - 110 degrees F.
• Add in the yeast, cooled melted butter, and egg. Using a fork, whisk the egg into the mixture.
• Pour the wet mixture into the stand mixer and mix on medium for 10 minutes. The dough will be pretty sticky.
• Grease your hands and a large bowl with vegetable oil.
• Remove the dough from the mixer and shape it into a ball.
• Place the dough in the bottom of the bowl and coat it in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled. This will take about 1 to 2 hours.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with nonstick baking spray.
• Once the dough has doubled, press it down.
• Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface.
• Press the dough out into a 6-inch by 14-inch rectangle. You can use a rolling pin, but I prefer to use my hands.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon on top of the dough. Using your hand, rub the cinnamon all over the dough.
• Begin rolling the dough from the long side.
• Once the dough is rolled up, you'll need to seal the edge. Do this by rubbing the edge of the dough with water. Pinch the wet edge into the roll of dough to form the seam. If the dough isn't staying pinched together, rub a little more water on the edge and pinch again. Leave the dough seam side up since it will be sticky from the water and will likely stick to the counter if it touches it.
• Measure out 1/2-inch thick slices if you want thinner honey buns or 1-inch slice for thicker slices.
• Slide a piece of floss under the dough and cross both sides of the floss at the 1/2-inch or 1-inch line. Pull until the floss has cut completely through the dough.
• Place the slice of dough, cut side up, on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces slices of dough. If you plan on baking these, you'll want to space them 2 inches apart. If you plan on frying them, they can be 1/2 inch apart.
• Spray the slices with nonstick baking spray so they don't dry out and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until the edges begin to turn golden brown.
• Prepare the glaze while the honey buns are baking.
• Remove the honey buns from the oven and let cool for 10 to 20 minutes. While they're still warm, dip the tops in the glaze. Tap the wrist that's holding the honey bun to remove the excess glaze.
• Place on a piece of wax paper and let the glaze set up.
• Heat 3 cups of vegetable oil until it reaches 320 degrees F.
• Prepare the glaze while you wait for the oil to come up to temperature.
• Place the honey buns in one or two at a time into the oil. I did one at a time to keep my oil temperature from dropping.
• Flip once the donuts become golden brown.
• Once the other side becomes golden brown, place on a plate lined with paper towels. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Dip the warm honey bun in the glaze. Give your wrist a tap to help any excess glaze to drip off.
• Place on a piece of wax paper and let the glaze set up.
• In a medium mixing bowl, add in the butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until the glaze is smooth.

HONEY BUN BARS

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 400^. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. set aside. --- CRUST: Cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water and blend until a dough forms. Press dough onto bottom of prepared pan. Drizzle honey over crust;spread slightly.
• 2. FILLING: In saucepan melt butter in water. Bring to a boil and add flour and salt all at once. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture forms a stiff ball, about one minute. Remove from heat; add eggs one at a time; beat until smooth and glossy(like cream puff batter). Stir in honey and almond extract.
• 3. Spread filling batter over crust. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with pecans. Return to oven; bake about 10 minutes more. Cool slightly, drizzle with icing.
• 4. ICING: Combine all ingredients; adding just enough milk or cream to make a nice drizzle.

HONEY BUNS

Steps:

• Whisk ⅓ cup (40 g) bread flour and ¾ cup water in a small saucepan until combined. Set over medium-high heat and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened to a runny paste, 1-2 minutes. Transfer tangzhong to a small bowl and chill, uncovered, until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• Whisk 2 Tbsp. whole or nonfat dry milk powder, 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 2¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 2 tsp. instant yeast, and remaining 4¾ cups (570 g) bread flour in the bowl of a stand mixer until combined. Whisk 1 large egg, room temperature, 1 cup whole milk, room temperature, and 2 Tbsp. honey in a medium bowl until combined; add to dry ingredients along with tangzhong and 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 4 pieces.
• Fit bowl onto stand mixer fitted with dough hook attachment and mix on low speed, stopping motor and scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until a shaggy dough comes together around hook, 12-14 minutes. Increase mixer speed to medium-low and mix until dough springs back when you poke it, 7-9 minutes. (Dough will be very sticky but should slap and clean the sides of bowl.) Remove bowl from mixer and scrape dough from hook into bowl.
• Lightly coat a large bowl with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Transfer dough to bowl and lightly coat top of dough with nonstick spray. Cover with plastic wrap and chill dough at least 4 hours and up to 1 day. (Dough should double in size; the longer it ferments, the more flavor it will develop.)
• Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ½ cup (packed; 100 g) light brown sugar, ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, 2 Tbsp. honey, 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon, ½ tsp. vanilla paste or vanilla extract, and a pinch of kosher salt in a medium bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spoon filling into a pastry bag or a 1-qt. resealable plastic bag. Set aside at room temperature.
• Do ahead: Filling can be made 1 day ahead; chill in pastry bag. Bring to room temperature before using.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; dust top with flour. Using your hands, gently press and stretch dough to an 11x9" rectangle, then slice dough into nine 1" strips (alternatively, weigh out nine 135 g pieces). Using moderate pressure, roll each piece into a 30" rope, dusting surface with more flour (as little as possible) to prevent sticking if needed. Let rest 5 minutes.
• Pat down each rope with your palms to flatten until about ¾" wide. Make sure filling is soft and pliable but not melted; if using a resealable plastic bag, snip off one corner to make a ¼-½" opening. Pipe a thin strip of filling down the center of each flattened dough rope. Working one at a time, roll up each rope to create a spiral, then lay down on surface and tuck end underneath bun to finish. The buns should be a slightly domed, but gently push centers in to keep in line with the rest of the bun (if it sticks out too far, it can burn).
• Arrange buns on a large parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, spacing ½" apart. (You should be able to fit all 9 buns on the baking sheet; you want to give them just enough space so they proof into one another slightly.) Cover buns loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let sit at room temperature until almost doubled in size, 75-90 minutes.
• Place a rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 450°. Bake buns 10 minutes. Rotate baking sheet and continue to bake until buns are golden brown on top, 6-8 minutes (Some filling will seep out onto baking sheet-that's okay). Let cool 5 minutes.
• While the buns are cooling, vigorously whisk 2 oz. cream cheese, room temperature, 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, ¼ cup honey, ½ tsp. ground cinnamon, ½ tsp. vanilla paste or vanilla extract, and a pinch of kosher salt in a medium bowl to combine. Sift in ¼ cup (28 g) powdered sugar and whisk to incorporate.
• Generously brush buns with icing (it will melt when it hits the warm buns), then sprinkle lightly with 1 Tbsp. bee pollen, crushed to a powder, if desired.

HONEY CINNAMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat sugar, oil, honey and egg until well blended. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; gradually beat into sugar mixture. Stir in 1 cup walnuts., Spread into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake until golden brown (edges will puff up), 10-12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack., For glaze, in a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, mayonnaise, vanilla and enough water to reach desired consistency; spread over top. If desired, sprinkle with additional walnuts. Let stand until set. Cut into bars. Refrigerate leftovers.