Pistachio Cardamom Challah Buns
Challah iced buns, filled with a pistachio cardamom mixture.
Ingredients
Ingredients for Challah Buns
- 2¼ teaspoon dry active yeast (one packet)
- ¾ cup warm water
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 2½ cups plain or all purpose flour
- ¾ cup strong bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup flavorless oil (such as canola or sunflower oil) plus extra to oil the bowl
- ¼ cup light brown muscovado sugar, packed
Ingredients for Pistachio Cardamom Filling
- 1 cup pistachios, shelled and unsalted
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg separated
Ingredients for Icing
- 1¾ cup powdered icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon whole milk
- ¼ cup pistachios, shelled and unsalted, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Place the warm water in a small bowl. Add ½ teaspoon of the sugar and sprinkle the dry yeast over top. Stir lightly and set aside for 10 minutes. The yeast should create a frothy surface on the water.
- In a jug, whisk together the eggs, oil and brown sugar. Set this aside.
- Place the flours, remaining sugar and salt in a large bowl of the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Mix together lightly.
- After 10 minutes, once the yeast is foamy, add this to the flour, immediately followed by the egg mixture. Knead this together either by hand or with the electric mixer for about 10 minutes until a sticky dough is formed. It should be pulling itself away from the sides of the bowl.
- Lightly oil a large bowl and scrape the prepared dough into this. Cover and let rise for 2 hours at room temperature. The dough should double in size. Alternatively allow to proof slowly overnight in the refrigerator (the next day, allow to stand at room temperature for about an hour before handling).
- While the dough is proofing, make the filling by pulsing the pistachios, cardamom, sugar and salt in a food processor until the pistachios are finely ground. Pour these into a small bowl and then add the vanilla, egg white and butter. Mix to form a paste.
- When the dough is ready, turn this out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces.
- Working one piece at a time, form balls with the dough and flatten these out. Spoon a heaping teaspoon (approximately ½ tablespoon measure) of filling into the centre and pinch the dough closed around the filling. Set the finished filled dough ball seal side down on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Repeat the filling process until all 12 balls are filled. Place these well spaced on the parchment paper or silicon mats and allow these rise again for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175C/155C Fan).
- After 30 minutes, brush the challah rolls with an egg wash, made from the remaining egg yolk and a sprinkle of water whisked together. Bake these in the middle of a preheated oven for 20 minutes, until golden on top.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a bowl, mix together the powdered icing sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and milk.
- Once the challah buns are cooled, frost each of these with a generous amount of the icing mixture and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.
Notes
See blog post for further tips, tricks and photographs of process.
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