Cardamom Buns

When I make bread, I like to leave it rise on a heat radiator in my house, mostly because my oven is older and doesn't have the setting to proof bread. Because of this, I have to choose my baking days wisely. Yesterday was the coldest day of the week, so I made these buns and some snickerdoodle cookies! Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for spring/summer and warmer weather to come, but I wish it would all come at once and not switch back and forth like this. I hope everyone is enjoying the occasional sunny days we do get as much as I've been. I can't wait to start working in the yard and gardening once it's warm enough!

As I was getting ready to type this blog entry, I was going to title these "sweet" rolls, but they really aren't that sweet. Mildly sweet, maybe, but nothing like cake or a cinnamon roll. That being said, they are still delicious as a breakfast roll! You could cut them in half and toast them, eat them with butter or jam, or just eat the rolls plain.

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups warm milk (not hot)

• 2 eggs

• 4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 tsp dry yeast

• 1 ½ tsp ground cardamom (or cinnamon)

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 5 Tb salted butter, cut into small pieces

• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or raisins)

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, cardamom, and salt. Add the milk and one egg. Knead the mixture for about 8 minutes. Add the butter pieces and continue to knead for another 5 minutes. Knead the chocolate chips into the dough. Cover the bowl and let rise for about an hour to an hour and a half, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet (or line with parchment paper). Drop the dough onto a lightly floured surface and separate into 12 roughly-equal sized pieces (I made 10 instead, oops). Shape into balls and place onto the baking sheet. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Whisk the remaining egg in a bowl. When the buns have finished rising, brush the egg on top of the dough. This will give the buns some extra color while they bake. Bake the buns for 16 - 18 minutes, or until browned on top.