EAT: The Best Morning Bun in the World

For those of you who haven’t had the chance to visit Tartine Bakery, you’re missing out.  But the second best option is to pick up their cookbook and attempt to create some of their incredible concoctions.  The quiche is to-die-for and their morning buns are the best in the world.  No joke.  We were lucky to find the recipes online, so you can have a chance at reproducing this decadence.  In the meantime, here is a link to purchase their cookbooks. 

Tartine’s Famous Morning Buns Recipe:

The recipe for croissant dough can be found in the Tartine cookbook.
Yields: approximately 12 buns

2 pounds croissant dough
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
Finely grated zest of 2 medium oranges
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
pinch salt
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, melted
extra white sugar for coating muffin cups and for rolling finished buns

1. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, orange zest, cinnamon and salt. Mixture will keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks or in the freezer for a month.

2. Prepare a 12-muffin capacity muffin tin by generously brushing bottom and sides of each cup with melted butter. Put a teaspoon of sugar in each muffin cup and swirl around to evenly coat. Tap out excess sugar.

3. Roll out croissant dough into a 1/4-inch thick, 6-inch-by-18-inch rectangle, with the long side in front of you. Brush dough with melted butter, and sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over the whole rectangle—the sugar layer should be about 1/8-inch thick. You may have some of the mixture left over.

4. Starting with the long side of the dough, roll rectangle into a cylinder. Cut cylinder into 1 1/2-inch discs. Fit each disc into the buttered and sugared muffin tins so that the swirl pattern is visible on top. You may have some extra rolled bun dough left over or just choose to bake fewer buns (if you do, cut them all and freeze individually on a pan). Once frozen, place in a resealable plastic bag and store in freezer.

To bake buns that are frozen: Prepare pan as above, let buns defrost in the prepared cups (this will depend on how warm your kitchen is, about 45 minutes), then continue with step 5.

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Let rolls rise in a warm but not hot place for approximately 45 minutes. The rising time will vary depending on how cold your dough was to start and how warm a place they are put to rise. They should rise approximately to 1 1/2 times their original size. Place the muffin tin on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or foil to catch any drips while baking.

6. Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour or longer, depending on your oven. When done, the tops should be well browned and the sugar melted. Remove pan from oven and immediately turn buns out onto a clean baking sheet or work surface. Place pan in sink and cover with hot water (it will be easier to clean later). Let the buns set for 5 to 10 minutes, then toss in a bowl with some sugar to coat. These buns are best eaten the day they are made. If eating the next day, heat them up first in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes before serving.

Tartine’s Quiche with Swiss Chard

  • 1 fully baked 10-inch tart shell
  • 5 large eggs
  • 3 T. all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup crème fraîche
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 T. fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • 2 cups uncooked coarsely chopped Swiss Chard
  • 1 Tb grated Gruyere cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

2) Place 1 egg and the flour in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Whisk in remaining 4 eggs until blended.

3) In a medium bowl, whisk the crème fraîche until smooth. Whisk in the milk.

4) Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve held over the milk mixture. Whisk in the salt, pepper and thyme. Stir in the swiss chard.

5) Pour the egg mixture into the pastry shell. Sprinkle with cheese.

6) Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

7) Reduce the oven temperature to 325ºF and bake until the filling is just set, about 30 minutes longer. The center of the quiche should be slightly firm, rather than liquidy, when touched.

8 ) Let cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes to set. (To serve a fully cooled quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and reheat it in a 325ºF for about 15 minutes.)

Tartine 600 Guerrero St., 415-487-2600