Here we’ve got Holly Haines’ amazing black sesame sticky buns — a spinoff from Bittman Bread cinnamon rolls. The first inspiration, Kerri’s King cake, can be found here and the foundational cinnamon roll recipe is available to members.

Read on for more.

At the beginning of the pandemic, when most people decided to learn about bread, I took a hard left and taught myself how to make puff pastry, and what a delicious time that’s been.

I’m a little late to the game, but I’m here now and excited to finally learn more about sourdough. The feeling I got as a kid playing with science sets and microscopes, is the same feeling I get watching the science that is the Bittman Bread starter. I know all I did was mix together flour, water, and yeast but that simple act made me feel like an absolute Food God. I’ve named my starter "Dough’sephine Baker" because there’s nothing I love more than a food pun that’s so bad it makes you groan.

Also, watching and feeling the texture of the dough change with each fold? Very gratifying. Every time I pulled the dough out of the bowl, I squealed with delight. It looked like the picture. It felt like the descriptions. And, most important, it was easy and gave me a sense of accomplishment. I’m an instant gratification kind of girl, so completing small goals along the way of a three- to four-day process is helpful. 

For my first bake from Bittman Bread, I decided to go straight for the cinnamon rolls. And, because I don’t know how to leave anything alone, I added a little sticky bun twist. Pecans, walnuts, pepitas, almonds, or your favorite nut would work nicely here, but I love a black sesame seed moment in a dessert so that’s what I used.