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Meanwhile, make the filling of your choice. Set aside.

Lightly dust the work surface with flour, then deflate the dough by pressing your fist gently but firmly into it. Turn the dough out onto the work surface, dust it and a rolling pin with flour, and roll to a 16 × 8-inch rectangle, about ¼ inch thick. Brush the top of the dough with the melted butter, then top with the filling, spreading it across the rectangle, but leaving a ½-inch border all around.

Starting at one of the long sides of the rectangle, roll it up, pressing gently to compact the spiral but not so firmly as to force any of the filling out of it. You should end up with a 16-inch-long tube. Slice into 12 rolls, each about 1¼ inches thick.

Lightly butter a 13 × 9-inch baking dish. Place the rolls in it so they’re flat, one of the cut sides down; space them out evenly in the pan (they will rise and grow together). Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, dry place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Once the rolls have doubled in bulk, bake until browned with bubbling centers, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the pan onto a cutting board and cool for at least another 20 minutes before icing with the Sticky Bun Icing.

Four Sticky Bun Fillings

1. Simple Brown Sugar Filling

1¼ cups packed dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2. Raisin and Cinnamon Filling

¾ cup dried currants or chopped raisins

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

3. Honey, Pistachio, and Apricot Filling

½ cup finely chopped dried apricots

½ cup finely chopped pistachios

¼ cup honey

4. Marmalade Filling

1¼ cups orange marmalade or homemade Quince Jam

¼ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Sticky Bun Icing

Makes about ½ cup

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon milk (regular, low-fat, or fat-free)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth. Drizzle over the sticky buns once cooled.

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Quick Breads

Even if you don’t have time for yeast, you still have time for bread. When baking soda or baking powder replaces yeast, bread still rises—perhaps not as high, but certainly in less time. So here’s a set of biscuits, scones, and the like, followed by lots of quick-bread loaves, sweet and savory, and all rounded out with tortillas.

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Baking Powder Biscuits

Biscuits need not just be for breakfast; they’re great dinnertime fare, particularly with a hearty soup or stew. Makes about a dozen biscuits

2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons cool unsalted butter, cut into chunks, or 5 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon cold milk (regular, low-fat, or fat-free)

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter or shortening, using a pastry cutter or a fork, until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Alternatively, place the dry ingredients in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade, pulse a couple of times to combine, then add the butter or shortening and process to the desired consistency; turn the mixture out into a large bowl.

Stir in the milk with a fork, just until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.

Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with flour, gather the dough into a ball, and turn it out onto the work surface. Dust the dough with flour and knead two or three times, just until it starts to adhere. It will be a little sticky—as long as it’s not clumping between your fingers, you needn’t add any more flour.

Press—do not roll—the dough into a roundish shape a little less than 1 inch thick. Cut into 2½-inch rounds, using a cookie cutter or a thick-rimmed glass. Try to cut out the rounds so that there’s very little dough left over; you can pat out the scraps a second time with a little more