I love bread and I love the aroma of fresh bread coming out the oven. When I was little, my mum used to make these type of bread everyday. I could eat a few (I won't tell you how many!) at one go :-) They're really delicious especially when they're just out of the oven and still warm.
I have tried a number of recipes and tweak them and finally settle with this easy recipe, that is very similar to my White Bread Recipe (https://www.rabbitmum.com/post/white-bread).
Ingredients (to make 16 pieces)
2 and 3/4 cup bread flour
2 tsp instant yeast (= 6 grams), I use SAF instant yeast
1 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
1 cup fresh milk (full cream)
30 gram unsalted butter
Chocolate chips or raisins or grated cheese for the filling and topping
1 egg and 1 tsp of water for the egg wash
Method
1) Combine 1 and 1/2 cup bread flour, instant yeast, salt, and sugar in a big bowl of a stand mixer and stir until mixed.
2) Combine milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat it until it is warm. The butter wouldn't melt completely. Be careful not to overheat it. I measure the temperature using a thermometer, it should be at 47 to 48 degree celcius. If it is too hot, the yeast will not work and the same goes if it is not warm enough.
3) Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients in the big bowl and beat it for 2 minutes at medium speed.
4) Add the remaining flour (1 and 1/4 cup) and beat at medium speed for another 2 minutes. You may start with low speed to avoid the flour to fly everywhere then slowly increase it to medium speed.
5) Continue to beat the dough in a stand mixer at medium / high speed for another 8 minutes, until a smooth dough is formed.
6) Cover with wet towel and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. The dough will be bigger after resting, around 1.5 times.
7) Take the dough out from the bowl and put it on the surface lightly dusted with flour. Divide the dough into 16 balls (or 12 balls, depend on how big you want you buns to be) and roll them. Place them on the lightly dusted surface and cover with wet towel for 15 minutes.
(p.s. I only made 1/2 recipe and make 8 balls)
8) Do the filling (I use chocolate chips or raisins or cheese) by rolling the ball flat using a rolling pin, then make a few vertical cuts. Put the filling on one edge then roll it. Do the same for all balls and put them on a baking tray lined up with baking paper. Cover with wet towel and let it rest for 45 minutes. The size will be double.
9) In the last 20 minutes, heat the oven to 190 degree celcius. Once proofed, glaze the top of the buns with egg wash then bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Tips
1) You can use any filling you like, sometimes I do savoury type of filling. Just use your imagination :-)
Some ideas:
- Mini pizza (just roll the dough flat, put the pizza sauce, pineapple, ham, and cheese)
- Minced pork, so it's just like baked chinese bao
- Banana (yummm!)
2) What happens if you don't put the egg wash? Taste wise, no difference. But it's just prettier with that shiny look. See below, I didn't put egg wash on two most right.
Happy Baking!