Friday, February 24, 2012

Scraps and Snippets ~ Pinch Those Buns...

See yesterday's post if you're curious about the bun background story. Do you buy buns? Uhhh, they are stinking expensive. But if you make your own with organic ingredients and good grains, they aren't expensive at all. I will now be making all my buns. These are really easy and tasty. I'll tell you a little secret...& experimented with some delicious desserty type spread and we tried it out on these. Uh. I'll share that with you soon. Think Texas Roadhouse rolls. Not kidding.

But back to the buns. Buns.

Yep.
Buntastic!


6 Good sized, 8 medium and 10 or so slider buns.


3 teaspoons yeast
1 cup warm water (110-115 f)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 TBSP olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour + additional to knead into dough as needed. (I used mix of unbleached white and whole wheat pastry flour)
Sesame seeds or spices.

Put yeast in bowl and cover with 1/4 of the cup of water. Stir and add sugar. Let sit for several minutes til it foams. Add oil, salt, remaining water, flour. Stir until mixed well. It will form a soft ball. Add another 1/4 cup of flour or so, knead that in (in the bowl works just fine). Repeat that step two or three more times until the dough doesn't stick to you and it forms a nice ball. Knead it a minute or so. Let sit in a warm spot for 1/2 hour or 45 minutes, it will double in size. Preheat oven to 425. When ready form the dough into 6, 8 or 10 similar sized balls. Flatten each ball slightly and place on a greased cookie pan or stone. If you want to sprinkle spices or sesame seeds, damped top of bun with water then sprinkle, press down slightly with your finger...mine didn't all stay on and I didn't sprinkle or press. Let sit another 10 minutes or so. Place in the oven and bake 22 minutes for the 6 larger buns, 18-19 minutes for 8 normal sized buns and 15 minutes for 10 slider buns. When cool, slice in half and serve with favorite sandwich fillings.