New Jersey Crumb Buns
Yield = 15 buns
Cake
½ cup 113 grams Warm Water 90 – 100 degrees
2¼ tsp. 10 grams Instant Yeast
2½ cups 315 grams All-purpose Flour
¼ cup 50 grams Granulated Sugar
¾ tsp 5 grams Salt
1/3 cup 76 grams Warm Whole Milk – 100 degrees
6 Tbsp. 85 grams Unsalted Butter – room temperature
1 large Egg – room temperature
Streusel Topping
18 Tbsp. 254 grams Unsalted Butter
¾ cup 144 grams Dark Brown Sugar – packed
¾ cup 150 grams Granulated Sugar
1½ tsp. 4 grams Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp. 3 grams Salt
4 cups 448 grams Cake Flour
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees with a pizza stone on the middle rack. The pizza stone must be large enough to hold the 9 x 13 inch pan that will be used to bake the crumb buns. The pizza stone is optional but recommended.
2. Add the warm water and a pinch of your sugar to a small bowl with the instant yeast and mix. Set aside and allow the yeast to proof for five minutes. The mixture should become slightly foamy.
3. Add the flour, salt and sugar to the bowl of your mixer. Add the milk, yeast mixture, and egg to the bowl of the mixer.
4. Using the dough hook on your mixer, turn the mixer on to speed 1 and allow all of the ingredients to incorporate. This could take a few minutes and it will go faster if you pause the mixer from time to time and scrape any dry ingredients off of the side of the mixer bowl.
5. Once all of the ingredients are incorporated together, start adding the room temperature butter to the bowl of your mixer, 1 tablespoon at a time. Wait until each tablespoon of butter is incorporated before adding the next one.
6. Once all of the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer speed up to speed 7 and knead the dough for 6 minutes. At the end of the six minutes the dough should have cleared the side of the mixer bowl and it should just be sticking to the bottom of the mixer bowl while the mixer is running.
7. Spray a 9 x 13 inch backing pan with a bakers spray. Add the dough to the prepared baking pan and stretch the dough to completely cover the bottom of the pan. Cover the pan and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour on the counter.
8. While the dough is rising prepare the Streusel Topping.
9. Melt 18 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan.
10. While butter is melting, add the dark brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Whisk those ingredients together. Add the melted butter and continue to whisk until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
11. Add the cake flour to the bowl of the butter mixture and using a large rubber spatula, mix all of the ingredients until there is no more visible dry ingredients in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel until the dough finished rising.
12. After the hour of dough rising, use your hands to break the streusel topping into pieces and gently sprinkle the topping all over the entire surface of the dough. It will appear as if there is too much topping being placed on the dough, but continue until all of the topping is used.
13. Place the pan on top of the pizza stone and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 325 degrees and continue baking for 35 to 40 minutes. Check the buns for doneness by inserting a toothpick and looking for it to come back out of the buns clean.
14. Remove the pan from the oven when the buns are done and cool on a wire rack until the pan can be handled easily.
15. Cut the buns into 15 pieces and then generously cover with confectioner’s sugar. Buns can/should be served warm.