"Pain de Pecan" - June Artisan BOM

Over at our Artisan Bread group, The bread of the month (BOM) challenge for June was "Pain de Pecan" and after looking at several recipes and some photos, I decided to make mine into cinnamon roll style and add some wet walnuts along with my pecans. They Actually turned out very delicious and easy to make. They would be great for a  Sunday brunch.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sour dough start
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon                       

• ** Filling**
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, mixed with 4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, wet walnuts and/or raisins, optional

***Icing***

• 2 tablespoons soft butter
• 2 tablespoons soft cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Preparation: In small bowl or cup, mix together sugar, yeast and water and let bubble. In  a large bowl add sour dough, vanilla, softened butter and stir. Pour yeast water into sour dough and mix. added the rest of the ingredients and stir until dough starts to form into a ball. Turn out onto lightly floured counter, knead until smooth. Cover with warm damp towel and allow to raise until double in size. Roll out to a rectangle about 10 X 18 inches. Brush with melted butter; sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. then if you choose add walnuts, pecans and raisins. Starting at long end, carefully roll up; pinch seams together. Measure and cut 1-inch slices. I used pastry floss or string. Place cut side up on a buttered baking sheet. Cover with a slightly dampened towel and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes, or until browned. Drizzle with the icing, or your own favorite glaze or icing. As you can tell from the photo above I like my topped with wet walnuts.