Recipe For Adzuki Honey Buns

This breakfast treat is brought to you courtesy of the Marx Foods’ “Beans for Breakfast” contest. I was sent three bags of beans: adzuki, marrow and mayacoba (canary). My challenge was to come up with an original breakfast recipe using said beans.

My mind went all over the place thinking of recipes to make. Should I go savory? Should I go sweet? Should I go gluten free? Should I throw caution to the wind and make something for the family? I opted to thumb my nose at caution (I do hope that isn’t considered a swearing action in any culture) and make a sweet yeast bun. I have always wanted to make homemade sweet adzuki bean paste, so That. Is. What. I. Did.

I made them into flower shapes. Who doesn’t want to start the day with happy flowers smiling up at you from your plate? I chose to flavor the buns with honey. Honey in the adzuki beans. Honey in the gloppy icing. My third son, The Engineer, loves honey buns, so I thought I’d see if I could sneak beans into his favorite treat. Some days, I worry that lightning is going to strike me because of the things I sneak into that boys’ food! (But it never does, so I keep on doing it!)

So first to the beans. I am used to making common beans. You know what I am talking about: navy, pinto, kidney, green…the boring beans that every American is familiar with. I had seen Adzuki beans turned into treats on some of my favorite bloggers’ sites, so I knew I was probably on the right track in going sweet with this variety. However, I will say right here and now that I did not read any recipes before I started to make the paste. In the long run, I pretty much had to wing it because I soaked the beans overnight. Apparently, in traditional Asian bean sweets, they are treated more like aborio rice in Italian risotto. They are cooked slowly with water added a little at a time until it absorbs and the beans become creamy-ish. Yeah, that didn’t happen in my kitchen.

However, I was really pleased with the results. After soaking the beans overnight, I rinsed them and boiled them. In 20 minutes, they were soft enough to squish with my fingers. I drained the rest of the cooking liquid and threw them into my blender with 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/3 cup honey. They came out thick and smooth….and deliciously sweet. I turned all 16 ounces into paste and froze what didn’t go into the buns.

1. Info for Adzuki Honey Buns

• Cook Time: unavailable
• Total Time: unavailable
• Servings: unavailable
• Calories: unavailable

2. Ingredients for Adzuki Honey Buns

• for the dough:
• 1 Tbsp yeast
• 1¼ cups milk
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• Adzuki bean paste:
• 16 ounces adzuki beans
• 1½ tsp cinnamon
• ⅓ cup honey
• Honey Icing:
• 1 pound powdered sugar
• ⅓ cup butter or margarine, softened
• ⅓ cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• enough milk or water to form a spreadable icing (2-3 Tbsp)

3. Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast, water and sugar.
2. Let the yeast bubble.
3. In the meantime, combine the milk, salt and butter in a microwave safe bowl.
4. Heat until the butter melts, about 1 minute.
5. Add a little of the milk mixture to the beaten egg to temper it, then add all of the egg back into the milk mixture.
6. Cool slightly if it still seems hot.
7. Add it to the yeast along with the flour.
8. Mix with a dough hook until a soft dough forms.
9. Cover the bowl and let rise until doubled, about 1hour.
10. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a floured counter.
11. Roll it out into a large rectangle.
12. Spread the lower half with the bean paste.
13. Fold the top half down over the bean paste.
14. Cut the dough into 1 inch strips.
15. Roll them up jelly roll style and flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand.
16. Place on a baking sheet.
17. Make four or more cuts into the circle to form “petals.”
18. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
19. Cover and let rise 30 minutes.
20. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown.
21. Place the beans in a bowl.
22. Cover with at least 2 inches of water.
23. Soak the beans overnight.
24. Drain any remaining water.
25. Rinse, drain, repeat.
26. Place beans in a saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water.
27. Boil on medium high heat until soft, adding more water if necessary.
28. When you can squish a bean with your fingers, they are done.
29. Drain any remaining water.
30. Add honey and cinnamon and stir.
31. Put bean mixture into blender and blend until smooth and thick.
32. Beat the butter and powdered sugar until crumbly.
33. Add the honey and beat some more.
34. Add the vanilla to 2 Tbsp of milk.
35. Beat that into the sugar mixture.
36. Add more milk if necessary.
37. Spread on cooled honey buns.
38. Put a big dollop in the center to look like a flower, if desired.