Yeastless Walnut Maple Sticky Buns

Yeast is a beautiful thing.  It creates bread, babka, and helps with beer production (if you are are that way inclined).
But...it takes ages.  I mean, you have to wait for the stuff to get all bubbly, then you have to let whatever delicious baked good to rise for ages then rise again for ages.


So, if you are impatiently hungering for a breadlike treat, these walnut maple sticky buns are for you!  They have...no yeast.  No waiting!  Plus, these little buns sport maply-sticky walnuts and the tops are soaked in maple syrup sweetness.


Recipe Adapted From: Oishii
Warning - if not consumed in 2 - 3 days, these buns go stale.  STALENESS BAD!  So eat them.  Eat them quickly.
Ingredients
3/4 cup whole walnuts (or pecans)
310g flour
60g sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
180g butter - 4 tablespoons melted, the rest cubed
250mL buttermilk
1 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp maple syrup (or more)


A word on buttermilk
If, like myself, you don't keep buttermilk readily on hand in your fridge there is an easy solution!
Just mix 1 cup of normal milk with 1 tbsp of lemon juice and let sit for a couple of minutes.  There.  Buttermilk substitute.
Reference: Joy the Baker


Method
1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C.  Butter a 12 space muffin tin.


2. Toast the walnuts in a frypan and let cool.


3. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 2 tbsp of the sugar.

4. Add the cubed butter and pulse until the butter bits are the size of small peas.


5. Add the buttermilk and pulse until a smooth dough is formed.


6. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and knead a few times.

7. Roll the dough out to a 20 x 30cm rectangle.

8. Brush the dough with 2 tbsp of the melted butter.

9. Combine the remaining sugar with the cinnamon.  Sprinkle this mixture over the dough rectangle.

10. Beginning at the long side, roll the the dough tightly into a cylinder and pinch the seam closed with your fingertips.  Cut the dough into 12 equal slices.

11. Mix the remaining melted butter (2 tbsp) with the maple syrup.  Divide this mixture between the muffin moulds.  I grabbed some extra butter and maple syrup for this bit so my buns would be sweeter.


12. Scatter the walnuts over the top of the maple syrup mixture, and squash a dough pinwheel on top.

13. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until golden.

14. Invert the muffin tray with a cooling rack and let the buns cool.  If any nuts get stuck in the tray, peel them out and stick 'em back on their buns.  No one will ever know...