Can you fill your Christmas morning with the warm, rich fragrance of freshly baked sweet breads without working while Santa is coming down the chimney? Yes, thanks to Atlanta chef Sonya Jones of Sweet Auburn Bread Co.
Jones created three recipes for yeast-based breakfast breads that can be prepared in stages, leaving only the final rise and baking for Christmas morning.
In her storefront and kitchen on Atlanta’s historic Auburn Avenue, Jones bakes the pies, pound cakes, muffins and cookies that have made her an Atlanta institution. She sells all these at the bakery on Auburn Avenue, and at local farmers markets like Marietta Square and Peachtree Road.
Country white, buttermilk wheat and sweet potato rolls are the yeast breads in her usual rotation. Each is baked up as an oversize roll to be used for sandwiches in her popular catered box lunches.
Jones’ early baking was all cakes and pies. It wasn’t until she began teaching at Atlanta Area Technical School, now Atlanta Technical College, that she got into yeast baking. As a pastry instructor, she taught basic yeast breads and soon moved into enriched doughs.
When thinking about recipes for this story, Jones reached first for her cookbook, “Sweet Auburn Desserts” (Pelican Publishing Co., $24.95). There she has a recipe for Sweet Potato Angel Biscuits, a rich version of the traditional Southern angel biscuit, leavened with both yeast and baking powder. It’s a classic make-ahead dough, designed to be mixed up and then refrigerated for up to a week, and baked as needed.
She turned that dough into the basis for a monkey bread, forming balls dipped into butter and cinnamon-brown sugar and then baked up as a loaf.
Next she thought about Sally Lunn, a yeast-bread enriched with egg and similar to a brioche, and created a cinnamon apple twist. And finally she did cinnamon rolls one better by developing a fragrant cranberry-orange filling and then topping each roll with a dollop of sweetened cream cheese filling.
Recipes
These three sweet breads from chef Sonya Jones can be baked from start to finish with the option of no refrigeration or freezing, or you can break the preparation into two or more steps as outlined in the recipes. Remember that thawing and rising times will vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
Cinnamon Apple Twist
Hands on: 40 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes, plus refrigeration and rising time
Makes: 2 loaves, 24 servings
Depending on the size of your crowd, you can bake both loaves at once, or save one in the freezer ready to bake for another special breakfast.
A tip for easy apple grating: cut the unpeeled apple into quarters and core. Put a box grater on a plate. Holding the apple quarter on the peeled side, grate the apple flesh on the large holes of the grater. Grate down to the peel and discard the peel. Repeat with remaining apple quarters.
Vegetable oil for coating bowl and bag
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more if needed for dough and for flouring work surface
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
2 medium Granny Smith apples
1 1/2 cups lightly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Water, if needed, for glaze
Use vegetable oil and coat the inside of a large mixing bowl.
In a microwave, warm milk 30 seconds or just until warm. Stir in yeast and let rest 5 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flour, granulated sugar and salt and mix for 20 seconds, just until ingredients are mixed. Pour in milk and yeast mixture, egg and 2 tablespoons butter and mix until a soft dough forms. If dough is too sticky, add additional flour by tablespoons. Remove dough from mixer and place into prepared bowl. Cover lightly and let rise until dough has almost doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Coat the inside of a plastic refrigerator storage bag with oil.
Once dough has risen, gently deflate and put dough into prepared bag. Refrigerate up to 2 days.
When ready to form twists, grate apples and put apple shreds into a sieve placed over a measuring cup. Set aside.
Make cinnamon smear: melt remaining 1/2 cup butter. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon and mix until smooth. Set aside.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove dough from refrigerator and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough in half. Roll the first half into a 10-by-12-inch rectangle. Spread half the reserved cinnamon smear over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch margin clear along all sides. Sprinkle half the reserved grated apples over cinnamon smear. Set aside apple juices.
Starting with a long side, roll the dough into a log. Pinch edge firmly to seal log. Use a sharp knife to cut the log in half lengthwise. Place the half logs, filled side up, side by side on one side of prepared baking sheet. Braid the loaf by lifting the left half log, keeping the cut side up, and laying it to the right of the other half log. Repeat twice more and pinch ends together.
Repeat filling and braiding with second piece of dough and arrange on prepared baking sheet. Reserve any juices that have drained from apples and refrigerate.
Cover twists lightly and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. If desired, move baking sheet to freezer. When loaves are thoroughly frozen, remove and wrap tightly. Return wrapped loaves to freezer. May be frozen up to 1 month.
When ready to bake, remove loaves from freezer and arrange on parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Let rest 1 hour at room temperature. Loaves will thaw and begin to rise.
After 1/2 hour, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
After 1 hour of resting, bake loaves until they’ve browned on the edges and are cooked through, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet resting on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
While loaves are cooling, make glaze: In a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar and reserved apple juices. If needed, add enough water to make a smooth, but not too thin, mixture. Drizzle glaze over cooled loaves and let sit until glaze has set.
Per serving: 197 calories (percent of calories from fat, 26), 3 grams protein, 34 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 6 grams fat (3 grams saturated), 23 milligrams cholesterol, 103 milligrams sodium.
Sweet Potato Angel Monkey Bread
Hands on: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, plus refrigeration and resting time
Makes: 1 loaf, 12 servings
Using a 2-inch cutter to portion the dough is an easy way to assure each ball is the same size. The amounts of melted butter and cinnamon-brown sugar for dipping the individual rolls are just enough to coat this amount of dough. You may want to prepare a little extra to make it easier to coat those last rolls.
Vegetable oil for coating bag and baking pan
1/4 cup warm water
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting work surface
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 small sweet potatoes)
3/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
Coat the inside of a plastic refrigerator storage bag with oil.
In a 1-cup measuring cup, combine warm water and yeast and stir together. Let stand 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cayenne. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Stir in yeast mixture and sweet potatoes. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth.
Put dough in prepared bag, turn so all sides are covered with oil, close bag and refrigerate until ready to bake. May be made ahead and refrigerated up to 3 days.
When ready to form rolls, lightly grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Line bottom and long sides of pan with parchment paper and coat bottom and all sides with vegetable oil. Set aside.
In a pie plate, stir together brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour butter into a second pie plate.
Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out on lightly floured surface to 3/8-inch thick. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut circles from the dough and roll each circle into a ball. Dip each ball into the melted butter, then into sugar-cinnamon mixture, turning to coat all sides. Place balls in prepared loaf pan. Continue cutting, dipping and layering balls until all dough has been used. Loaf can be covered and refrigerated at this point for up to 2 days.
When ready to bake, remove pan from refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
After 30 minutes, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
After 1 hour of resting, bake loaf 35 minutes or until center springs back lightly when pressed. If corners are browning too much, cover them with foil. Remove loaf from oven, cool in pan 10 minutes, then unmold bread onto serving platter and remove parchment paper. Serve immediately.
Per serving: 330 calories (percent of calories from fat, 45), 3 grams protein, 42 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 17 grams fat (8 grams saturated), 21 milligrams cholesterol, 240 milligrams sodium.
Credit: Renee Brock
Credit: Renee Brock
Orange-Scented Cranberry-Cream Cheese Buns
Hands on: 35 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes, plus refrigeration and resting time
Makes: 24 rolls
If you like, double the filling recipe and serve as a compote alongside these rolls. In our photo, Jones made the rolls double size, yielding 12 rolls instead of 24.
Vegetable oil for coating bowl, bag and baking dish
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup warm water
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/4 cups plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
2 eggs
4 cups plus 5 teaspoons all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring work surface, divided
1 teaspoon plus a pinch salt, divided
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (about 6 ounces)
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ginger
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Use vegetable oil and coat the inside of a large mixing bowl.
In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine milk and butter and heat in microwave 1 minute. Remove from microwave and allow to cool 5 minutes.
Stir warm water and yeast together with 3 tablespoons sugar. Let rest 5 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine yeast mixture and cooled milk mixture. Beat 30 seconds, then add eggs, one at a time, and mix until well combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 4 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Add flour mixture to yeast mixture, 1 cup at a time, mixing between additions. When all of the 4 cups flour has been added, beat dough 3 minutes. Move dough to prepared bowl. Turn so all sides are covered with oil. Lightly cover and let rise 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
Coat the inside of a plastic refrigerator storage bag with oil. Once dough has risen, gently deflate and put dough into prepared bag. Refrigerate up to 2 days.
Prepare cranberry filling. In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar, orange zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, ginger and remaining pinch of salt. Gently warm until cranberries begin to release juice, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes or until thickened and most liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature. May be made and refrigerated up to 5 days ahead.
When ready to form rolls, remove dough from refrigerator and gently deflate. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured work surface, roll one piece of dough into a 12-by-9-inch rectangle. Spread half the cranberry filling over dough, leaving 1/2-inch margin clear on all sides. Starting with a long side, roll the dough into a log. Pinch edge firmly to seal. Slice log into 12 pieces and arrange pieces in half of prepared baking pan. Repeat with second half of dough. Cover lightly and let rise 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk. If desired, recipe can be made to this point, rolls covered tightly and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
When ready to bake, remove pan from refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
While dough is resting, make cream cheese filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar and remaining 5 teaspoons flour. Stir until smooth. Set aside.
After 1/2 hour, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
After 1 hour of resting, use a tablespoon to make a shallow indentation in each roll. Divide cream cheese filling and drop a piece on top of each roll. Bake 35 minutes or until rolls are baked through and lightly browned. Remove from oven, allow to cool 5 minutes. Remove rolls from pan and serve warm or at room temperature.
Per roll: 212 calories (percent of calories from fat, 32), 4 grams protein, 32 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 8 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 36 milligrams cholesterol, 119 milligrams sodium.
