With the nights getting colder and longer, I find myself craving warming flavours, such as cinnamon and vanilla. Much like the beloved PSL, this is a recipe best enjoyed wrapped in your favourite jumper or fluffy PJs with a nice hot drink (my vice is coffee). It’s a vibe, it’s a mood… it’s autumn baby!

These tear’n’share sticky caramel brioche bites are a perfect treat for those cosy nights in!

Ingredients

For the starter 

2 tsp sourdough starter

75 g all purpose flour

75 g water

For the dough 

100 g sourdough starter 

350 g plain flour

3 tbsp castor sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg

75g softened butter

125 ml Whole Milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the coating 

200 g soft brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon (or more if you like cinnamon)

200 g butter, melted and cooled

For the drizzle (optional)

50 g icing sugar

1-2 tsp whole milk

Method

Day 1 - 

1 -

Feed your starter the night before and keep in a warm place to activate / rise overnight.

Day 2 - 

2-

Mix together the dry ingredients, sifting if needed. Add your sourdough starter, milk, egg and vanilla and bring together on a low speed in the bowl of a stand mixer. Once a shaggy dough forms, begin to slowly add the butter bit by bit until fully incorporated. If the dough is a little dry, you can add more milk but only one teaspoon at a time until it forms a smooth (and slightly sticky) dough. 

3 -

Knead the dough on a medium speed for 8 to 10 mins until smooth (it’s ok if the dough is a little sticky). Place the dough in a bowl and place in a warm place for approx 3 to 4 hours, or until almost doubled. 

4 -

Once almost double in size, punch down to release the air, shape into a ball and place in the same bowl, cover tightly and refrigerate until the next morning.

Day 3 - 

5 -

When ready to bake, pull the dough out and place in a warm place to bring to room temp (about an hour). Whilst this is happening, prepare a bundt pan by oiling the inside (use butter or non-stick spray) and lightly dust with sugar. Melt and cool the butter for the dip. Mix your cinnamon and sugar and set aside. Once the dough is soft and malleable, turn it out onto a floured surface and roll out to a square.

6 -

Cut into roughly 1 x 1 inch pieces - the amount does not matter, you can do this by eye - just make sure they are bite-sized. Once cut, shape into balls, dip them in the butter and then roll them in the sugar and cinnamon mix. Once you are finished with this, place them in an even layer in the prepared tin. Don’t worry if you have left over butter and sugar as we will need this later. Cover and place in a warm place until roughly double in size (1 to 2 hours). This is a good time to preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

7 -

Melt and cool any remaining butter and mix together with the cinnamon sugar you have left. If you have little to no butter and sugar left after the rolling, you can melt together 50 g of butter and sugar with 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and use that instead. Pour this mixture over the risen dough balls and place in the preheated oven

8 -

Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes until deeply browned and caramelised.  

Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before tipping it out on to a platter.

Mix up your icing sugar and milk to make a thick but pourable icing, then artfully drizzle over the cake as liberally as you dare.

Serve warm and enjoy! 

This goes amazingly well with ice cream!