These small bacon-filled yeast buns are a Latvian special occasion staple. Speķa pīrāgi are similar to Ukrainian piroshki. They're time consuming, but if made with a group (much more fun, anyway), they're not especially complicated. They're so delicious, they're worth the effort either way.
INGREDIENTS
300 ml cups whole milk
170 grams butter (salted or unsalted), plus more for greasing
65 grams + 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 x 7 gram packages active dry yeast
600 grams flour
1 tbsp. cooking oil
450 grams double-smoked bacon, cut into 1/8"" cubes
1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. heavy cream
1 egg yolk
1 egg white, lightly beaten
METHOD
Dough:
Heat milk, butter, 65 grams of sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
Whisk together remaining 1 tsp sugar, yeast packets, and 60 ml of warm (not hot) water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and allow to sit for 10 minutes. If the yeast is active, it should be foamy. If not, discard and try again.
Whisk in milk/butter/sugar mixture, add flour, and mix on low speed until dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and knead 8-10 minutes or until smooth.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let sit someplace warm until doubled in size, about 1 1⁄2 hours.
Filling:
Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add add bacon and cook for about 6-7 minutes—stirring constantly. Add onion and cook until translucent and lightly golden. Stop cooking before bacon crisps. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Allow mixture to cool completely.
Roll out & fill:
Heat oven to 400° (if your even is very hot, 375° - keep an eye on the first batch). Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make an egg wash by whisking together cream and egg yolk in a small bowl. Have egg white in another small bowl. Have a pastry brush handy.
Roll out half the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Cover the remaining dough completely to keep it from developing a crust and drying out.
Roll dough to half a centimeter thickness. Using a 6 cm round cutter, cut out rounds of dough.
Scoop 1 heaping tsp. of bacon filling in the center of each round. Dip your fingers in the egg whites to moisten the edges of the dough rounds and fold and press to seal the edges. If you're feeling fancy, you can pull and twist the edges to create a sort of braid effect.
Place buns seam-side down, 6-7 cm apart and brush egg wash over each bun.
Bake until golden brown, 12–15 minutes. Watch the first batch carefully as the egg wash can brown too quickly if your oven is very hot.
Serve warm. To store, allow the buns to cool completely and store in an airtight container. Gently heat to serve. These freeze well.
