Golfeados - Venezuelan Sticky Buns

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes plus resting

Servings makes 16 buns

Ingredients

Spiced Dough 

500g bread flour or plain flour 

50g brown sugar or panela sugar* or rapadura

2 tsp (10g) instant dry yeast 

1 tsp salt 

1½ tsp ground cinnamon 

250ml warm milk 

1 large egg 

80g unsalted butter melted

Filling 

1 tbsp aniseeds* (optional) 

80g cream cheese 

80g softened butter 

200g panela sugar or rapadura

200g crumbed firm feta cheese

Syrup 

250g panela sugar or rapadura

25g unsalted butter 

1 tsp aniseeds 

125ml water 

Pinch of salt

To Serve

250g mozzarella cheese to serve, or crumbed feta cheese, or grated halloumi cheese

Reserved Syrup

Method

For the Spiced dough, combine all dry ingredients in one bowl and all wet ingredients in another. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ones until a soft dough forms. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5-10 minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

For the filling, use a hand mixer to combine butter and cream cheese until smooth.

To assemble the scrolls, after the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it into two portions. Roll each portion out on a floured surface into a large rectangle about 1⁄2 cm thick.

Spread half of the filling, half of the aniseeds, half of the panela sugar, and half of the crumbled feta on each rectangle.

Roll the dough tightly into a log starting from the long edge.

Cut the log into buns about 4 cm thick and place them cut-side up in a greased baking dish. Ensure they are close together.

Cover and let rise again for about 30 minutes until puffy.

Meanwhile, prepare the syrup by combining panela sugar, butter, aniseeds, salt and water in a saucepan. Heat until sugar dissolves.

Preheat the oven to 180°C, brush the buns and bake them for 20-25 minutes.

Brush the baked buns with syrup and return them to the oven for another 5-10 minutes to develop a sticky glaze.

Let the golfeados cool slightly in the pan before serving.

To serve, top Golfeados with cheese of choice and drizzle with more syrup if desired.

Variations:

For a citrus version, add orange zest to the dough and substitute half of the water for orange juice in the syrup. Serve with orange segments.

Make mini versions for school lunches.