My sister-in-law, Bev, is a fantastic cook. She was kind enough to share her bun recipe with me.
This recipe makes 15 buns of medium size, about 24 smaller tray bun style.
Notes
Variations
Cheese Buns
Make dough as usual, then stretch it out and sprinkle liberally with shredded cheddar cheese. Then roll it into a long roll and cut into rounds and put on baking sheet cut side down. Bake as usual.
Cinnamon Buns
Make dough as usual, then stretch it out, brush it with melted butter and sprinkle liberally with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon (about ¾ cup brown sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon mixed with as many raisins as you like.) Then roll it into a long roll and cut into rounds and put on baking sheet cut side down. Bake as usual.
Hints
I like to stretch the dough rather than roll it out. I dump the dough on a long flat surface like a counter top, and get my fingers under it and gently lift and stretch the dough until it is at least a meter long and about 15 cm wide, being careful not to make holes in the dough.
To make regular buns, I fold the dough so it is a meter long and about 7 cm wide, then cut them into pieces (15 even pieces makes a good size bun) I then take each piece, put it on the palm of my hand, and join the tips of my thumb and forefinger to form a circle that I then push the dough through with the thumb of my other hand. It forms a great little ball that way, and works really well for me!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ c warm water
- ½ tsp sugar
- 3 tsp yeast (regular - not the fast rising kind)
- ¼ c brown sugar
- 1/8 tsp ground cardamom (Optional, but it does add a great taste)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup oil
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 4 c flour (I prefer Robin Hood Best For Bread flour)
Instructions
- Add yeast to water and sugar. Wait for yeast to bloom. Add brown sugar, cardamom, egg, oil, salt and flour.
- Mix in mixer with dough hook, if dough sticks to the side of the bowl, add some more flour until it no longer sticks. Else if you are mixing by hand, just make sure that the ball of dough is not sticky. Too much flour will make the buns too heavy.
- Rise for 1 hour (or 'til doubled in size) in a covered greased bowl.
- Punch down and shape into buns (see hints), placing on greased sheet. Rise covered for 45-60 minutes depending on the room temperature.
- Bake at 350°F for 22 minutes.
- Brush with melted butter, cool and put in bags (if you plan on storing them for a while).