A wide range of kitchen appliances, including builtin ovens, cooktops, ranges, refrigerators, and dishdrawer dishwashers. Our passion is turning everyday cooking experiences into culinary creations. Cook to create. Learn more at fisherpaykel. Com. Quinoa, chia, flaxseed, farro, wholewheat flour, coconut flour, almond meal, steelcut oats, muesli, 10grain cereal, wheat germ, oat bran, millet, tapioca flour. Americas test kitchen is proudly sponsored by kohler. We design innovative sinks and faucets for people who do their best work in the kitchen. And by siematic the art of kitchen interior design inspired by your lifestyle. Siematic. Holland america line sails to over 400 ports of call, transporting guests to the worlds wonders. Information available through a travel professional or at hollandamerica. Com. Blue apron. Ive never liked sticky buns. I bet youve never had a real sticky bun. Well, that might be true. But if you have had a really greasy, overly sweet, and they have that raw doughlike center. Well, i think youve never had a good sticky bun, thats for sure. Well, you know what, bridget, if anyone can change my mind, its you. Awesome. All right. There is a lot of work to do. It all starts with a supersoft dough. Thats where we are starting at this moment. So what ive got here is 1 1 3 ounces of bread flour. Now, this is one of those recipes where we are going to implore to the good folks out there to please weigh out the flour. Its so much more accurate than doing it by volume, and it can make a difference here. So again, thats 1 1 3 ounces of bread flour. We want a bit of gluten in there, so we want some good structure. Now, this is 2 3 cup of water, just plain old water not himalayan water or fiji water. Gonna whisk this until its lumpfree. I have never seen a dough start out this way. So youve got me from the getgo. Yes, its a very liquidy dough, right . Well, this is going to go into the microwave. Ill go ahead and cook it for about 75 seconds in total. Ill go in there every 25 seconds and give it a good stir. I am eager to see what this looks like. I brought you flour pudding. Look at that it doesnt really look like much right now. Its definitely changed. Yeah. Its actually the flour has swollen up. It almost looks like glue. Yeah, it does. All right, so now were going to move over to our mixing bowl. So you dont have to let it cool . You use it while its warm . You use it while its warm, thats right. And this will cool it down. This is 2 3 cup of milk. Add that right in there. And ill start whisking at this point. Just to incorporate it. And the oddestlooking dough youve ever seen, huh . Yeah, you got me hooked, though. Im so intrigued at this method. So that cold milk cooled it down enough so that we can add our egg. And this is one egg, just a large egg, and one egg yolk. So well go ahead and put these in. Now were going to add 15 1 8 ounce of bread flour. Last ingredient to go into our dough at this point is 2 teaspoons of instant yeast, or rapidrise. All right. And im gonna switch over to a little spatula here, just to get it started. But i dont need to do too much, because i want to let the mixer do the work. And ive got my hook attachment. And were gonna let this go on low speed for just about one to two minutes until these ingredients are combined. Then after that, were gonna let it rest for about 15 minutes. Thats called autolyse, and its something that we do often, and thats to allow more of that gluten to develop on its own. Now, we always wait to add salt to the dough until after the dough has gone through autolyse because salt pulls away moisture, and that inhibits that formation of gluten. So ive got here 1 1 2 teaspoons, just regular table salt. And also 3 tablespoons of sugar, just regular sugar. Now, usually, well add sugar right at the beginning of a dough, and we dont worry about it. Thats because theres only a teaspoon or so in a dough. But with 3 tablespoons, we found it was better that we added this with the salt because it acted just like it it also pulled away moisture. Im going to again mix, this time on mediumlow for about five minutes just to work that in. Next ingredient, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter. Now, its not a brioche dough, again, its not going to have six pounds of butter going into it, but still, its going to add some nice richness. And, again, mediumlow speed another five minutes. All right, so we are all done with mixing at this point, but we do want to knead it just a little bit more. So well go ahead and flour the countertop. And it is a sticky dough, thats good. Sticky dough makes for softer buns. All right, with flour on my hands, im just going to give this a few turns really to bring it together. Mmm. That looks like a really nice, soft dough to work with. Its beautiful. So were gonna go ahead and put it into kind of a tight little ball here just like that. Now, ive got a bowl here that ive presprayed. A little bit of Vegetable Oil spray. If you wouldnt mind spraying the top of that thats just so it doesnt dry out. Great. And ill go ahead and cover this with a piece of plastic wrap. Now, were gonna let this sit here until it doubles in size. That can take anywhere from 40 minutes up to an hour. Okay. All right, in the meantime, weve got a few other things to work on. First one is the sauce or the caramel that goes into the bottom of the pan and eventually becomes the top of the dish. Now, a lot of recipes call for cooking in actual caramel. Mmhmm. So you have to stand over your stove sugar, water, an instantread thermometer to make sure that its just right. Ours is a nocook caramel. Ooh youre gonna love it. I like this idea. Very easy. And this is 6 tablespoons of unsalted melted butter. Ill go ahead and whisk in 1 2 cup of brown sugar. And thats going to give much more of a deeper flavor than just using all granulated sugar. Now, we are using a little bit here. This is 1 4 cup of granulated sugar. And 1 4 cup of dark corn syrup. Corn syrup is actually less sweet than plain old granulated sugar. So were going to get a much deeper flavor. All right, and just a little bit of salt. We have 1 4 teaspoon of salt. And ill whisk this together until all those brown sugar lumps are gone. All right, weve got 2 tablespoons of water. And thats just going to loosen this up, add a little bit of moisture. Oh, yeah. And ensure that the caramel stays nice and supple. Thats our caramel sauce. Very, very easy. I really like how simple that was. Yes. No stovetop. And from now on, we should refer to it as goo. That goo looks good enough to eat. Oh, yeah. And we went ahead and sprayed this pan as well just to make sure that we can turn those sticky buns right out later on. All right, next up is pecans. This is 1 cup of pecans, and weve toasted and chopped them. Well sprinkle them all over the bottom of the pan, which will become the top of the buns later on. And as with most baked goods, you want to make sure you toast your nuts before you add them to a dough, because that helps bring out their flavor. All right, one last thing, and that is the filling. That just looks like sugar. Youre right, it is its 3 4 cups of brown sugar, but i do want to add a little bit of cinnamon to this mixture. Its just 1 teaspoon is all we need. A little goes a long way with sticky buns. Well, that filling could not be simpler. Exactly. And now. Done with the preparations. Just have to wait on the dough. All right. A waffle iron is piece of equipment. You only want to buy it once, and you want to buy it right so it can last you a lifetime. And, today, adam is here to show us which belgium waffle maker brand is worth the money. Oh, man, was it wafflepalooza, i tell ya. We set a price cap of 100, and you can see we have 13 different belgium waffle makers. That is a lot of waffles. We made a lot of waffles. We tested yeasted waffle batter and our everyday best buttermilk waffle batter. Here we have a belgium waffle. You can see this guy is really tall, and hes deeply pocketed. So its gonna hold a lot of butter and syrup and whipped cream. Its gotta be a least an inch tall to qualify as a belgium waffle for us. These three machines in front of you, the waffles that came out of them, not an inch tall, so we disqualified them. Amongst all the others, there was a wide range in terms of performance. Some of them turned out waffles that were way too pale and gummy, like that one. Oh, sad waffle. Some were patchy looking, some were, like, overcooked and too browned. We wanted to find out what was going on in terms of the heating cycles, so we broke out the thermocouples and the temperature tracking software. And that helped us analyze the heating cycles in these things. And heres what we learned. If they dont heat up to 400 degrees, which was the case with this one, thats your waffle that sad, pale, gummy guy right there. If they heat up to more than 435 degrees, you end up with a cardboardy, like, overcooked waffle. That was the case with this guy here. So the ideal temperature range for the cooking of these waffles was 400 degrees to 435 degrees. Thats actually a pretty small range. That is actually a pretty small range. Timing also played a part in this. We found out that you cant really compensate for a waffle maker that doesnt get hot enough by cooking the waffle longer, because texture suffers. It would just dry it out. It dries it out, exactly. So five minutes or longer, bad texture. What you really want given that temperature range of 400 to 435 degrees, is a cooking time of three minutes to four and a half minutes. Oh, thats pretty specific. All right. That is pretty specific, but thats what were about in americas test kitchen. Now, lets talk about some of the features. One thing the testers came to really appreciate is an audible alert to tell you that your waffle is cooking or its almost done or its done to go along with the indicator lights. Neither of these two had that audible alert. Now, in terms of the indicator lights, some of them were not all that accurate. They didnt really correlate to how well the waffle was cooked. Some of them, like this one right here, had nothing to do with the cooking whatsoever. Really . Theres a power light and a preheat light, but there was no indication for how the waffle was doing in terms of cooking. Thats not helpful. When it came to cleaning up, testers really liked a drip tray. Ah just cause it catches crumbs, it catches batter that falls down, and it makes the whole operation a little bit neater. Now we come to these two. This model right here is the overall winner. This guy right here is the best buy. Our winner is a rotary model double waffle maker. Thats cool. It turns 180 degrees. This is the waring pro double belgian waffle maker. Its 89. 99. Turned out two beautiful waffles every single time. Its got a dial to customize the doneness, its got that audible alert and indicator lights that we liked. Its a fabulous waffle maker. However, its not cheap. And that brings us to the best buy. This is the presto flipside waffle maker. Its not quite as customizable as the big boy winner, but its 45. 89. Oh, thats pretty much half the price. Yeah. And it turned out really good waffles. So half the price, half the waffles. cause this is a twofer. Thats true, its a twofer. Its a beauty. So there you have it. If youre buying a new belgium waffle maker, you have two choices, you have the waring pro double belgian waffle maker, makes two waffles at once, but it costs about 90. Or you have the presto flipside belgian waffle maker, and that makes one waffle at a time, but its half the price at about 46. So the dough has risen beautifully. Mmhmm. Time to shape the sticky buns. That is a really pretty dough. Isnt it . Im sorry, i couldnt help but touch it. Im glad you did. Im glad you did. So im going to go ahead and flour the board again. And ill turn this right out onto the board. Now, i know a lot of people always want to pound down the dough, but we want to leave some of those bubbles in there. So im just going to start to pat this into an 18x15inch rectangle. And we want the longest side facing the edge of the counter. And im trying to take care to keep the corners relatively at a right angle. I know theyre gonna be a little bit more curved. But thats okay. You look like youre in the dough zone. Im in the dough zone, totally. I love working with any kind of dough, any kind of yeasty dough especially. Its very therapeutic. Yes. All right, i think this should be good. 18. 15. So now, were gonna go ahead and put the filling right on. Ill start in the middle, and ill work its way out. But i do want to leave about an inch border around there. And thats just so the dough can stick to itself as we roll it up. This is very meditative, though. Its like a zen sand garden. It really is, yes i love that. Thats a great analogy. I love cooking with you. Ditto, girl. Now, it doesnt look like a lot of filling, and that is by design as well. You dont want to overfill this, because, again, we have all that goo in the bottom of the pan. Oh, the goo right. So im just going to press this filling in. And now we roll. Lets roll, julia. Lets roll. Gonna roll this up, and the key is you dont want to roll it so tightly that everything starts to come out. But we also dont want it to be too loose. Because when we go to cut them and invert them, again, we dont want all of that filling to come out. So not too tight and not too loose. Thats exactly right. How about that . All right. So were near the edge. Im gonna go ahead and roll it over. Try to work it back so that i can just press together, this seam. There we go. Just pressing it down a little bit. And that way, it adheres to itself theres so much moisture in there. So now were going to get 12 sticky buns out of this. So the first thing that i want to do is take a knife. So ill start in the middle. And toward one end and the other end. And then two more in between each of those marks. Now, to cut these, we dont want to take a knife and go all the way through. That dough is supersoft, and it would drag. So i went into your office, and i got some. Dental floss. This is actually a great way to cut any soft dough. We use this a lot for soft cheese as well. Mmhmm. So just work my way underneath and start at those two less nicelooking ends. So just crossing the floss. And then draw it through. And look at that. Wow, that is a really clean way to cut. Nice clean cut. So we want this to go facedown right into our goo. All right, so ill go ahead and place two of these this one right here, right nearby. All right, so i need to cut the rest of these. And then ill go ahead and place them in the pan as well. Theyre even pretty at this stage, seeing those concentric circles of the sugar inside the dough. Exactly. Its alice in wonderland of desserts here. It kind of is. All right, more plastic, and this time, were gonna let these double in size. Between 40 minutes, up to an hour again. The buns are looking good. Theyve doubled in size, and now its time to bake. These are going to go into a 375degree oven for about 20 minutes. After that, ill cover them with foil, and thats so that they bake through all the way into the center. And theyll stay in there another 10 to 15 minutes at that point. And this rimmed baking sheet is going to catch any drips. Full confession, i still enjoy a pb j every now and then. But jack is here to let me know if i should set aside my beloved Peanut Butter for Almond Butter. Its really gonna be delicious. Im gonna change your mind. Almonds are taking over, you know. Almond milk, Almond Butter. So ive got three of the four brands that we tested here. You can start tasting. Okay. A couple things. There are no nationally available brands that are just almonds. All of these have some additions. The First Addition is some sort of oil to prevent separation. And there are two choices either palm oil or hydrogenated Vegetable Oil. And that will keep the natural oils in the almond from rising to the top. So all of the brands that are sold in the supermarket have one of those two choices. We didnt really notice a difference in terms of flavor or texture. Mmhmm. The second thing is some of them have salt and sugar, some of them dont. I dont think thats gonna be very difficult for you, bridget. My sense is youre gonna be able to tell the one that does not have salt and sugar. Our tasters preferred some salt and some sugar. Right. They like their Peanut Butter that way, they like their Almond Butter that way. Mmhmm. Interestingly, the texture was really quite different. These are all creamy, at least, thats how theyre advertised. But some of them werent what i would call really creamy. Right. And as best we can tell, its whether or not theyre using whole almonds with the skin or whether theyre using blanched, skinned almonds. And if theyre using blanched, skinned almonds, you got a much smoother, creamier Almond Butter than if theyre using the whole nut. Ive even given you lots of information about Almond Butter. But, first of all, have i changed your mind . Do you like Almond Butter . Oh, there are two here that i would definitely sub out a pb j. These two. Okay. This one, no sugar in it, i can absolutely tell. And its grainy. Its very, very grainy. I love to eat almonds. Yeah. But this tastes just like ground almonds. I mean, theres no seasoning in there. So im not sure that i would want that on my sandwich. Okay. Now, these two, definitely creamier. I can get that salt, i can get some sugar in there. This one, it has a deeper roasted flavor to me, which i really like, but im not crazy about the texture as much as i like this one. So spreadable. So im just thinking of my sandwich, right, when i spread it on the bread, its not going to start to squish out the sides of it. It looks like its a lot creamier. It felt a lot creamier. Im gonna go with this one right here in the middle. I love how youre thinking ahead, you know . I am. Its already in a sandwich, and youre thinking about its established. You know, is that sandwich gonna end up, you know, coming out the sides . So, okay, youve chosen your winner, you want to see what youve chosen . Yes. Can i start with the winner . Lets go there. All right. You agree with the tasting panel. Hey this is jif. Its super creamy. This does have hydrogenated Vegetable Oil. Its got the sugar and the salt. Its delicious. It was the tasting panels favorite. Great, yep. All right, lets go with my runnerup here. You agree with the tasting panel. Hey barney butter, this was the runnerup. The only real difference here, its got palm oil versus hydrogenated Vegetable Oil. But, otherwise, its the same blanched almonds, sugar, and salt. And it just went up in my book because its called barney butter, which i absolutely love. So last place for me. And for the tasting panel. This is justins, just almonds and palm oil. No sugar, no salt. You can see that its coarser and you tasted it, and its really not creamy. I wasnt crazy about it. But i think this might be coming home with me. Okay, bridget, you can take it. Well, if youd like to try an ab j instead of your pb j, then look no farther than jif creamy Almond Butter. Its 7. 99 a jar. Ooh those smell good and lets see if they look good, too. Oh, yeah, they do. Oh, they look really pretty. We know that they look pretty, but we need to tell if theyre done. The best way is to check with an instantread thermometer. All right, so these look great. We want 200 degrees. So lets go ahead and take these out. All right. So these need to stay in this pan just so they can firm up a little bit, and that caramel as well underneath for about five minutes. All right. All right, five minutes, and all that goo in the bottom of the pan has set up just enough so that i can turn them out. Were going to put them on this pretty platter. Folks at home can also use a rimmed baking sheet. All right, so lets say a prayer that we get it out on the first try, right . Et voila slide it over here. Ill use an offset spatula so i can get my towel under. Grab that pan. Oh, goodness youre kidding me. I mean, i know i said i wasnt a sticky bun fan, but even i can admit those are gorgeous. And we thought the other side was pretty. We want it to solidify just a little bit more, but we will serve these nice and warm another 15 minutes, okay . Okay. Well, bridget, these look absolutely terrible. Well, im so glad you said that, cause ill just have to eat them all. We just go in . Go in. All right. Pick a bun. They are pullapart squishy. Oh, yeah. But look at this. Its fluffy. Oh, yeah. Mmm the other thing im noticing, theyre not too sweet. Like, i hate it when theyre, like, saccharin sweet and doughy. This is the opposite. Its fluffy, a little bit of that sugar, a little bit of cinnamon. Oh. You keep talking. Mmhmm. All right. Im gonna go for the goo. Mmhmm. Oh, check, please. The goo is where its at. Wow, that topping is amazing. I would not throw these out of bed. I just keep eating it, and it keeps getting smaller and smaller. I think you just actually created a problem for me. Is that what it is . Yeah. I now have a sticky bun problem. I cant stop eating it. Mnhmnh. That is some weird shaped pecan on there. I better get that. Im crying. Actually, this is the worst part. Its when the goo just starts to oh disappear. Mmhmm, mmhmm. Mmm. Mmm oh, my goodness. Ill have what im having. So who knew . i actually do like sticky buns, and the key is in the dough. Start with a cooked base made of flour and water, which is then added to the dough to help make it super soft and workable. For the topping, make a nocook caramel with butter, brown sugar, and dark corn syrup, along with a little water to help keep it supple. Finally, shape, fill, and bake the buns, both uncovered and covered, for about 35 minutes. And there you have it. From our test kitchen to your kitchen, the perfect sticky buns. You can get this recipe, all the recipes from this season, along with our tastings and testings and selected episodes at our website americastestkitchen. Com. Phhhbbt. These are amazing. Let us help you with dinner tonight. Visit our website anytime for free access to this seasons recipes, taste tests, and equipment ratings, or to watch currentseason episodes. Log on to americastestkitchen. Com. The complete americas test kitchen tv show cookbook includes every recipe, taste test, and equipment rating from all 17 years shows. Its our most comprehensive collection ever. The cost is 19. 95 55 less than the cover price of 45. To order, call 18008883384, or order online at americastestkitchen. Com. When you order, you can receive a 14day trial membership to our new Online Cooking School at no cost. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by the following Fisher Paykel. Since 1934, Fisher Paykel has been designing a wide range of kitchen appliances, including builtin ovens, cooktops, ranges, refrigerators, and dishdrawer dishwashers. Our passion is turning everyday cooking experiences into culinary creations. Cook to create. Learn more at fisherpaykel. Com. Honey oat granola, glutenfree pancake mix, glutenfree pizza crust mix. Im bob moore, founder of bobs red mill, and thats me on every package. Oh, extrathick rolled oats, corn grits, cornmeal, lentils, buttermilk pancake mix. Americas test kitchen is proudly sponsored by kohler. We design innovative sinks and faucets for people who do their best work in the kitchen. And by siematic the art of kitchen interior design inspired by your lifestyle. Siematic. Farmfresh ingredients, stepbystep recipes delivered to your door. Learn more at blueapron. Com. And by Holland America line. Announcer a kqed television production. Its sort of like old fishermans wharf. It reminds me of old san francisco. And youd be a little bit like jean valjean, with the teeth, whatever. And worth the calories, the cholesterol, and the heart