Yes, you read that right, ‘Man Buns’. I named these delectable breakfast pastries after the ubiquitous hipster male hairdo. Why exactly? Well, for one, they are ‘buns’ and their signature swirl and inspiration from traditional ‘morning buns’ lends them to the name and ‘man’ because they are filled with ‘manly’ ingredients like bacon and peanut butter. I couldn’t think of a better way to combine sweet and savory to create a hearty yet sophisticated breakfast treat. These ‘Man Buns’ are sure to be a hit at your next brunch party, sunday morning breakfast or even desert!
I love breakfast pastries. There’s nothing like those flaky buttery layers of goodness paired with sweet flavors of berries or sandwiching a hearty helping of eggs and cheese. Especially when washed with your favorite espresso beverage! When I was contemplating ideas of how to spice up the breakfast pastry game without getting too complex I kept coming back to the simplicity of ‘Morning Buns’. Morning Buns are essentially a cinnamon roll in puff pastry form, just without any frosting, so a sweet cinnamon croissant if you will. To spice things up I decided why not do a sweet and savory version of the treat, and to entice my husband to be a taste tester I decided I’d incorporate three of his favorite foods, bacon, peanut butter and maple syrup, which just happened to sound like an incredibly delicious combination!
So what is puff pastry exactly?
It’s a dough made of many thin layers separated by fat (typically butter or shortening) that results in a light, flaky and rich texture when baked. These dozens of thin layers puff and separate when baked. You can make your own puff pastry, but that is for the true baking aficionados and I won’t be attempting that in this recipe. The frozen store-bought version is excellent and probably better than I could make myself anyway.
When purchasing puff pastry look for brands made from butter as they are a higher quality and not only taste better, but puff higher and don’t have the funky aftertaste that the shortening version provides. Dufour and Trader Joes make great butter based versions (I use Dufour). Pepperidge Farms also has frozen puff pastry, but its made with shortening. If you’re desperate or just don’t have the patience you can use canned crescent roll dough, but let me tell you for the little extra effort the puff pastry is ten times more delicious. It also sounds more impressive when you brag to your friends that you made these from scratch!
To get the most out of your puff pastry keep a few things in mind:
- Keep the dough cold
- Don’t let it sit out and work quickly
- If you are thawing it from the freezer thaw overnight in the fridge
- If thawing on the counter let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour checking frequently
- Freezing or keeping puff pastry cold helps keep the layers in tact and with the ‘puffing’ effect. This is why it’s important to keep it cold.
- Use a sharp knife
- You want to cut quickly and cleanly so you aren’t mangling the dough or disrupting the layers
- Again, a sharp knife will allow you to work quickly
- Puff pastry is delicate
- Don’t roll the dough too thin as it may disrupt the layers or not hold its shape
- Don’t add too much filling as it may not cook through or hold its shape
Man Buns - Maple Bacon Peanut butter Morning Buns
Ingredients
- 1 Package frozen puff pastry
- 4 slices cooked & crumbled bacon about ½ cup
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 4 TBSP granulated sugar or maple sugar if you have it
- 1 sandwich size plastic bag
Instructions
- Allow puff pastry to defrost in the fridge overnight or on the counter for 30 minutes to 1 hour, checking frequently
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray the wells of a 12 count muffin tin with cooking spray
- Open your package of bacon. This recipe only calls for 4 slices of bacon, but feel free to add a tough more if you’d like, just be careful not to overfill as puff pastry is delicate!
- Use a fry pan to cook your bacon, non-stick or cast iron is good and make sure to spray with cooking spray or a bit of olive oil. Check out our post on ‘Perfect Bacon’ for more details.
- When the bacon is finished let cool on a paper towel and pat dry to absorb extra grease. Once cool crumble into small pieces and set aside.
- Mix ¼ cup of creamy peanut butter with the 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. Once combined transfer to the sandwich bag, which you will be using like an icing piping bag to distribute the mixture on the puff pastry. You can also use a butter knife, but I found this method better to ensure the mix was evenly distributed. Set aside.
- Clear a space on your counter for the puff pastry and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar onto the area. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the counter and will also ‘season’ it and add some caramelized sugar bits.
- This recipe calls for plain granulated sugar, but if you can find maple sugar to use instead that would be preferred to bring out the desired maple flavor. Maple sugar is simply sugar made from maple syrup rather than regular sugar cane.
- Unfold your sheet of puff pastry and place onto the sugar. Roll a rolling pin lightly over the puff pastry to ensure the sugar sticks to the bottom side.
- Take your bag of peanut butter mixture and cut off the corner creating a ¼ inch hole. Pipe the mixture onto the sheet of puff pastry in a diagonal zig-zag pattern leaving an inch between the lines. Once piped you can spread additionally by lightly running a butter knife over the mixture.
- Sprinkle the bacon evenly over the sheet of puff pastry followed by an additional tablespoon of the granulated sugar
- From the long side of the pastry roll up the sheet into a tight roll
- Using a very sharp knife carefully mark out 12 evenly sized sections
- Cut the 12 sections of dough and place each into the greased 12 well muffin tin
- Using the remaining sugar sprinkle on top of each of the buns before placing in the oven
- Place the buns in the oven and bake until puffed and dark golden-brown, this should take about 20 to 25 minutes. Be careful not to let the sugar burn.
- Once finished place the muffin tin on a cooling rack or on top of the stove. When cool they should slide out of the pan easily, or can be freed with a quick swipe of a butter knife.
- Puff pastry is always best eaten the day it's made, however you can store these buns in an airtight container at room temperature and reheat in the oven or microwave over the next few days.
