Thursday, October 23, 2014

40 minute cheese buns

It was one of those really strange days. We had a dim sum lunch with family, then the kids were whisked off to the aquarium, so the LAM and I went home and I just felt totally lethargic.

I was probably suffering from food coma.

I lazed around for a couple of hours, and finally convinced myself that I should go make SOMETHING.

Well, what I did feel like making was some bread.

So I started making a tang zhong starter. But that meant I had to wait for the starter to cool to room temperature before I could use it.
BAH.

In times like this, I am just so glad I can turn to the 40 minute bread recipe. No waiting. The bread can be made in 40 minutes from start to end.

I like.

So I made the dough. For step-by-step instructions, see here.

Once the dough was made, divide it into 12 portions, each weighing about 80-85g. Flatten and roll each portion of dough into a disc.
Place about 2-3 tablespoons of cheddar (or any cheese you prefer) on the middle of the dough.
Gather the edges.
Pinch to seal.
Place the bun into the hole of a greased 6-hole muffin pan.

Cover the buns with a damp cloth and rest for 10 minutes.
Brush with egg wash.
 And sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Bake at 220°C for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops of the buns are golden brown. Cool the buns in the pans for 10-15 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.

RECIPE
40 Minute Cheese Buns (Makes 12)

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (280ml) warm water
1/3 cup (83ml) oil
2 tablespoons (about 16g) active dry yeast (or instant yeast)
1/4 cups (56.25g) sugar
1 1/2 (9g) teaspoons salt
1 egg
3 1/2 cup (or about 476g) bread flour (seems to work better but all purpose flour will also work)
1 cup (115g) Cheddar
Parmesan, grated for garnishing

Method:
1. Heat oven to 220°C.
2. In your mixer bowl combine the water, oil, yeast and sugar and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Using your dough hook, mix in the salt, egg and flour.
3. Knead with hook until will incorporated and dough is soft and smooth. (Just a few minutes) The dough will be a little sticky. I oiled my hands, knead it one to two times, and it became really easy to shape. If your dough is too wet, add a little more flour and knead a few times.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A MIXER, just hand knead the dough for about 5 minutes.
4. Form dough into 12 balls. Flatten and roll each ball into a disc.
5. Place 2-3 tablespoons of cheddar in the middle of the dough. Gather the edges and pinch to seal.
6. Place each dough in a hole of a well-greased 6-hole muffin pan.
7. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Glaze with egg wash. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

NOTE:
To keep rolls soft, wrap with cling film and keep in an air-tight container (I keep the rolls in cling film in my oven.)
If you keep the rolls in the fridge, warm in the microwave oven for about 20 - 30 seconds to soften.

TROUBLESHOOTING:
1. Dough is too wet or sticky? Add a little oil and hand knead a couple of times. The dough should become easy to work with. Still too wet? Add a little less water.
2. You can use any oil. Maybe not peanut oil. Unless you want a peanut-y bread. Olive oil, Canola oil, Sunflower oil, Grape seed oil... all can be used.
3. Personally, I have not had any problems with the bread being too yeasty. If you find it so, change the yeast and try different ones till you find one that you like.
4. Conversion of flour from cups to grams: This is a conversion I got online. You may still need to adjust.
5. Oven temperature: Every oven is different. You need to understand your oven, so if you have one that tends to be hot, lower the baking temperature, and vice versa.
6. I do not recommend that you reduce the yeast quantities because this is a quick bread. You need the yeast to make it work. Similarly, you need the sugar to feed the yeast so it works.
7. You can put any filling you like in this bread. It is very versatile.
8. You can also glaze with milk (full-fat, low-fat, skim, etc), sprinkle any toppings you like.
9. I don't recommend that you rest the dough for more than 10 minutes. From feedback I received, the bread may be less soft.
10. You can use 1/2 bread flour, and 1/2 wholemeal flour, or 100% plain flour. The results are the same. You can't use top flour. There isn't enough protein to form gluten. 
11. Every environment differs. You may live somewhere humid, or dry, or hot, or cold. If in doubt, check what other bakers recommend that you do for the weather conditions you live in, and experiment! You may need to tweak timings/ baking temperature, etc. Don't give up!

I went to Ikea the other day to get a bed for my little girl and Christmas decorations are already being sold! Yes! It is THAT TIME OF THE YEAR to eat, drink and be merry! Are you getting excited? :)

Are you planning to cook anything special for this Christmas???  Or maybe start baking batches of delicious Christmas goodies? For Christmas 2014, Yen from Eat your heart out, Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and yours truly, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and  are cooking and celebrating for the whole month of December 2014 starting on 1st December. Join us and remember to link your post with us if you are cooking something special for your Christmas celebration.





7 comments:

  1. Wow 40 minutes bread! I usually will spend about 5 hours for the first proofing of my dough. Your cheese buns looks good!

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  2. Diana, this is really good for those days when you are impatient for a bun! Amazing that you can have these yummies in under an hour.

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  3. Diana, is it a must to use the muffin trays?

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  4. Ok. 40 minutes bread! Looks attractive. I'll definitely try it out.

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