Instructions

1. Warm milk using a microwave safe dish or stove top if you prefer. A large glass measuring cup works best.
2. Stir in the brown sugar and active yeast to the milk. Let sit 10 minutes until the milk starts to foam.
3. In a large bowl or stand mixer if you have one with dough hook, transfer the milk mixture and slowly add the flour (3 1/2 cups) and salt reserving the remaining flour to kneed the dough. Using a mixer on low speed to form the dough until it comes together. Scrape down the sides if you have excess flour up the sides of the bowl. The dough should be a bit sticky if its too sticky add a bit more flour until it reaches the correct texture.
4. Transfer your dough to a lightly floured surface using your hands to kneed the dough. (2 minutes)
5. Use your hands to from the dough into a 1 1/2 inch rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
6. Once your dough has chilled for an hour, roll it out into a floured work surface into a 16" by 10" rectangle.
7. Spread the butter out onto plastic wrap and cover with a second piece of plastic wrap. This will prevent the butter from sticking to your rolling pin and make it easier to roll it out. Keep in mind when spreading and rolling that the butter will be placed onto your dough. You want to make sure that you roll a thin layer of butter and that it will cover most of the dough leaving about an inch space around the boarder.
8. Once you've peeled the plastic wrap off the butter and it's in the centre of your dough, fold the short side of the dough towards the centre and then fold the other side over. They should overlap slightly. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
9. Repeat step 8 to make 3 more fold in the dough, chilling after each fold. Wrap and chill for at least 8 hours or overnight.
10. Roll out the dough into 1/2 inch thick, sprinkle sugar, cinnamon, cardamon, spread dates, zest of an orange onto the dough. You could skip the sugar all together here has the dates are naturally sweet and will cook down. Adjust to your desired taste
11. Roll your dough into a log and slice into 1 inch pieces. Transfer onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. Let sit for 30 minutes. The rolls expand quite a bit be sure to leave enough space in between.
12. Preheat oven to 375F and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.
13. Optional: make a caramel sauce to drizzle over your morning bun. Simply warm 1 cup of white sugar in a saucepan on low heat. No need to stir, the sugar will naturally slowly start to melt into a caramel. Make sure to cook on low and keep an eye on it to avoid burning. Should take about 15 minutes. Add a bit of heavy cream if you would like a lighter caramel.
14. Sprinkle buns with more orange zest and serve!