It’s breakfast bun season! What is better than waking up to a warming breakfast of cinnamon buns? I’ll tell you… waking up to these Orange & Walnut Breakfast Buns. They are subtly sweet, very flakey, and the best part is that you do NOT need rapid rising yeast to whip them up!

Ingredients

For 6 buns

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tbs granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tbs unsalted butter

For the filling

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 tbs butter
• Zest from 1 medium sized orange
• 1 tbs honey

Optional Honey Glaze

• 2 tbs honey
• dash of cinnamon

Steps

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt; set aside
• In a saucepan over medium/low heat, melt the butter and butter milk; once the butter has melted and the ingredients are well combined, remove from the heat and fold into the flour mixture
• With floured hands, kneed together the dough (if its too sticky you can add more flour). After about a minute, fix the dough into a ball and cover with a damp paper towel while you prepare the filling
• To make the filling use the same saucepan that you made the milk mixture in. There is no need to wash it. Add 1 tbs of butter to 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and whisk until the butter has melted and the ingredients are combined. Add the orange zest, and remove from the heat
• In a separate small bowl, add the walnuts and 1 tbs of honey. Use a spoon to toss the nuts, making sure they are evenly coated
• On a floured surface roll out the dough until it is a little less than a half-inch thick; Use a spoon to sprinkle the brown sugar filling over the dough. Then sprinkle the honey-coated walnuts
• Roll the dough length-wise, pinching the seems together at the end
• Use a sharp knife to cut 6 breakfast buns. Each slice should be about 1 inch thick
• Place the buns on your baking sheet and place in the oven for 25 minutes
• OPTIONAL: Whisk 2 tbs of honey with a dash of cinnamon and drizzle over the hot buns