Tartine’s morning buns are croissant dough rolled up like cinnamon rolls with brown and white sugar, cinnamon and orange zest, then baked in buttered, sugared muffin tins. The sugar caramelizes on the bottom, the outside goes crackly and the inside stays soft. They are best the day they are baked.

They need 2½ pounds of croissant dough. The original is the croissant dough in Tartine’s pastry book, half a batch. Ours on the site is King Arthur’s Baker’s Croissants: one batch makes about 4 pounds, so use a little over half (our suggestion, not Tartine’s).

Elisabeth Prueitt’s Tartine Bakery morning buns, as written up by Cynthia at Chic Eats, written out here in my own words.

Recipe by Willy Bear

Prep: 30 min
Bake: 50 min
Rest: 3 hr
Total: 4 hr 20 min
Makes: 12 buns
Level: hard

Recipe originally written in US cups. These are the original measures.

For the buns

2½ lb (1134 g) croissant dough, half of Tartine’s croissant recipe, or see the note above
½ cup (100 g) brown sugar (packed)
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
2 oranges, medium, finely grated zest only, up to 3 (about 2 tsp or 8 g of zest)
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp kosher salt (diamond crystal)
4 oz (113 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the tins

granulated sugar, extra, for coating the tins and dusting the buns

Equipment

Muffin tin
Baking sheet lined with foil
Rolling pin
Pastry brushes
Fine zester
Very sharp knife
Wire rack

Method

Sugar mix. Mix the white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt with a fork until there are no brown sugar lumps. Add the orange zest and mix well to spread it through and release its oils.
Prepare the tin. Melt the butter and let it cool. Brush the muffin cups generously with some of it, sprinkle about a teaspoon of sugar into each, tip and tap to coat the bottom and sides, then turn the tin over and tap out the extra.
Roll. Let the chilled dough sit out briefly so it does not crack. Roll it into a 19 x 10 inch rectangle, about ⅜ inch thick, long side toward you.
Fill. Brush the dough generously with about 2 ounces of the melted butter (room temperature, not hot), enough for the sugar to stick. Spread the sugar mix evenly over it, about ⅛ inch deep.
Roll up and cut. Starting from the long side, roll the dough into a snug log. With a very sharp knife, cut it into 1½ inch pieces and put each in a muffin cup, cut side up.
Proof. Proof 2½ to 3 hours at around 74 to 75°F (23 to 24°C), until about 1½ times bigger. Cooler is fine, just slower; too warm and the butter melts. A good proof is what stops the butter leaking out. Heat the oven toward the end. Oven: 400°F / 200°C (180°C fan)
Bake. Set the tin on a foil-lined baking sheet, put it in and turn the oven down straight away. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, turning the pan around after 20, until deep golden brown. Oven: 375°F / 190°C (170°C fan)
Finish. Take the buns out of the tin right away and lay them on their sides on a rack so the caramel does not stick. After a couple of minutes, roll them in sugar or dust them through a sieve. Eat warm or at room temperature.

Baker's notes

For tall, square buns that proof into each other, cut the log into 2½ to 2¾ inch pieces; you will get about 6 from this much dough. Face the tails of the rolls inward so they hold closed as they grow. The newer book, Tartine Revisited, uses 55 g of orange zest and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon; this version keeps the original 8 g and 2 tablespoons.

Storage + make ahead

Best the day they are made. To keep, bag them overnight or freeze them, then warm at 350°F until crisp again. The croissant dough can be frozen for up to a week; move it to the fridge the night before.

ricottabear.com/tartine-morning-buns · US measures, metric in brackets

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Tartine Morning Buns