Soft Yoghurt Buns

Happy Easter!

What have you been doing over the Easter long weekend? I’ve been productive and made these amazingly soft and fragrant yoghurt buns.

The best tasting and smelling buns I have ever made, yes even better than my last success! The recipe is so simple, the buns turned out soft and fluffy and even without the water roux paste method. The secret? Proper bread flour! They even tasted like buns from the bakery shops! Bread flour over all-purpose flour people, big difference!

They looked a little amateur, that’s because I am one! Room for improvement. But they taste oh so good….!

I used strawberry flavoured low-fat yoghurt, because I love strawberries. You can use any other flavoured yoghurt or plain yoghurt, it works just the same!

Here is the recipe, originally from here. Measurements using regular tablespoon and teaspoon, not the measuring type! This will yield 9 fist-sized buns.

Ingredients:

• 250 g bread flour (about 2 cups)
• 3 g dry yeast (about 1.5 teaspoon)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 100 g low-fat yoghurt
• 2 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Half an egg, lightly beaten
• Remaining half an egg as eggwash

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients and make a well in the center.
2. In a separate bowl, mix yoghurt, melted butter, milk and half a beaten egg until well combined.
3. Pour wet ingredients into the flour mixture and mix using a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.
4. On a lightly floured flat surface, knead for 6 – 8 mins.
5. The dough is on the sticky side and may be difficult to handle, just sprinkle hands with flour as you go.
6. Put the dough in the bowl, cover with cling wrap and let rise in a warm place for an hour. I usually rise my dough inside the oven (not switched on) with a baking tray filled with boiling water on the bottom tray.
7. AFter an hour, punch the dough down and divide into 9 equal balls.
8. Arrange in a greased baking pan 3 buns by 3 buns, half an inch apart each other.
9. Cover and let rise until double in size, about another 30 minutes.
10. Brush the bun tops with eggwash and bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

Bread Winner (Part 2 – For The Win!)

Picking up from Part 1, I have solved the problem of stone hard buns by increasing the water content in my dough. The challenge now is to make it taste more like bread than muffins. How do you make it soft, springy and chewy like the buns they sell at the bakeries? I knew it wasn’t the kneading or the yeast or the type of flour. But what else?

I looked somemore and found this recipe for butter buns. The picture looked very promising so I decided to give it a shot, with some modifications. I added a few tablespoons of sugar and used self-raising flour instead. My logic tells me – more raising agents leads to more raising of the dough and hopefully a lighter bun.

Butter Buns from roxannagreengirl.com

This time, the dough was soft but not as wet as the no-knead recipe I tried in Part 1. So I was able to make more decent looking buns. It was slightly sticky initially but as I carefully push, roll and folded it with my fingertips around the mixing bowl, it became easier to handle with time. The buns were very tasty and buttery. However, it only remained soft when its hot. Though it departed from the muffin texture, it is still not springy or chewy. I suspected that using self-raising flour (baking powder) had a role to play in this as well. So probably all-purpose flour was better.

Sighs, I was ready to give up bread-making by then.

After a short discussion with a friend who also is an avid baker, he pointed out that I have been using basic white bread loaf or dinner rolls recipes. While what I really wanted was sweet buns. He suggested that I look at Asian sweet buns recipes instead. Which didn’t really convince me because the ingredients and steps are very similar. But it gave me a new perspective.

Then finally I landed on this blog which talked about a special water-roux method to make soft buns. Apparently, ever since a Chinese cookbook published this method, it became wildly popular among the Chinese and Asian baking community. The blogger explained that a water roux is basically one part flour and 5 parts water, cooked at 65 degrees Celcius. The gelatinisation of the starch when cooked with water gives the springy soft texture to buns, the blogger claimed.

Finally!

I was convinced! So I decided to incorporate this water roux into the butter bun recipe I used above since I am confident the recipe yields good flavour. And I used all-purpose flour this time.

I was relieved to read further in forums that the water roux doesn’t need to be cooked exactly at 65 degrees Celcius. See, I don’t have a kitchen thermometer. One member of the forum pointed that as long as it cooks in low heat without boiling until a thick paste is formed, all is good. Because this is my first attempt, I incorporated only a minimal amount of the water roux paste to see if it really works. Please note I used proper measuring spoons for this recipe. This makes 16 fist-sized buns.

So, here we go again:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 1 egg
• 4-5 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Water Roux paste – 1 tablespoon flour and 5 tablespoons water

Method:

1. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup water and set aside.
2. Make Water Roux paste – dissolve flour in water in a small saucepan, heat it on low and stir until it thickens into a paste, like a thick, creamy soup. Do not boil! Set aside to cool.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in the middle.
4. In the well, crack in the egg, pour in butter, yeast solution and water roux paste. Stir everything with a spoon to incorporate. Never mind lumps.
5. Pour in milk slowly, until a soft dough is formed. You do not necessarily need a whole cup of milk for this.
6. Using fingers, gently push, fold and roll the dough around the bowl to incorporate the ingredients. It feels a little sticky.
7. Continue to lightly knead by rolling and folding in the bowl (I was lazy to clean up a flat working surface) for 15-20 minutes. Very good exercise!
8. The dough is ready when a dent made by a finger on the dough springs back slowly.
9. Cover with cling wrap and let rise for an hour in a warm and humid place. I usually rise my dough in the oven (not switched on), with a baking tray filled with hot boiling water in the bottom rack.
10. After an hour, the dough would’ve doubled in size. Roll and fold to push out the gas.
11. Roll into 2-inch diameter balls and arrange in a greased baking tray, about an inch apart.
12. Cover and let rise another 30 minutes, the balls would have conjoined at the edges.
13. Brush bun tops generously with melted butter and bake at 200 degree Celcius for 20 minutes or until tops are browned.
14. Brush bun tops again with melted butter for a soft crust right after baking.

The verdict….

The buns were soft and springy….YES!!!

After cooling down, I poked the buns and was extremely happy that they were still soft and fluffy….YES, YES!!!

I bit into one of them and they are chewy and tasty….YES, YES, YES!!!

For the win!

The water roux paste is a miracle! The next day, the buns are still soft to the touch but not McDonald’s burger buns soft. Microwaved them for 20 seconds, and they turned fluffy again. Although still not as light and fluffy as the buns in bakeries but definitely a huge improvement. Maybe next time, I will increase the portion of the water roux paste and cut down or readjust the amount of milk and/or flour to accommodate. Hopefully this will increase the lightness and fluffiness.

Practise makes perfect! 

Try it…!!!

Bread Winner (Part 1)

My bread making journey has not been an easy one. I think I have about 10 failed attempts so far. Or at least 3 kgs of flour gone to waste!

During my first attempt, I was very ignorant and equated making bread to baking a cake, with a dough taking the place of batter. I glanced through the recipe for a basic white bread without looking at the actual methods involved. Yes, you guessed it, I baked the dough without proofing *blush*! In the bin it went.

The next attempt, I thought everything would work out after letting the dough rise for an hour. It doubled in size like the recipe stated and I was very confident! It was like a PlayDoh right out of the oven but turned stone hard after it cooled! I made bread crumbs out of this batch instead.

I tried again and this time, I let it rose twice! A-ha…..it must work this time! Again, still like PlayDoh.Very dense and heavy. Hardly edible. And it turns stone hard when its cold. So, more breadcrumbs at the end of the day.

I checked and checked the recipe. No, I did not miss a step or ingredient. I cross-referenced various other white bread recipes but they are all very similar.

(Step number 3)

I decided it must be the flour I was using. Over the next few weeks, I tried using a different (high protein) flour, adding an egg (or not), used vegetable oil instead of butter (and vice versa), adjusting amount of yeast, prolonged kneading, proofing twice (or thrice!), baking at different temperatures…..you name it, I tried it! My buns always come out too dense, heavy and gets stiff and dry when cooled. I could never achieve the soft, puffy and light texture of the sweet buns in bakeries. They stay soft even overnight. What was their secret?

After some serious trouble-shooting on the internet and chatting with a friend who is an avid baker, I had a good idea what I was doing wrong. Of course, it had to be the wrong ratio of flour and water content in my dough. The basic white bread recipes I have tried all have this line – add flour until you have a workable dough and knead. Being a newbie, a workable dough to me was like….well, (ironically) PlayDoh. Not a hint of stickiness. I must have added too much flour. But how do you knead a sticky dough if it keeps sticking to your palm? However, I was pretty sure this was my problem – adding too much flour.

All puffed up after proofing an hour (Step number 4)

I started searching for no-knead recipes and found one by The Pioneer Woman. I love her! Recipes with pictures, you will never go wrong! Her recipe calls for 9 cups of flour, and I halved that. Knowing that if I failed again, it won’t be too much of a waste. (Original recipe here.)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used vegetable cooking oil)
• 4.5 cups self-raising flour (or add 1 teaspoon baking powder/soda to plain flour)
• 2 teaspoons dried active yeast
• 1 tablespoon salt

Method:

1. Pour milk, sugar and vegetable oil into a large saucepan and heat it until it bubbles and remove from heat.
2. Let cool for 45 minutes or until lukewarm (~45 degree Celcius) and add yeast and stir. Let it sit for a minute.
3. Add 4 cups of flour into milk mixture, stir to incorporate well.
4. Cover and let rise for an hour in a warm and humid place. I usually rise my dough in the oven (not switched on) which also has a baking tray filled with boiling hot water at the bottom rack. Very effective in winter.
5. After an hour, it would have risen near to the rim of your saucepan. Add in remaining flour, salt and stir to combine.
6. Shape into balls and arrange in greased baking tray. Cover and let rise for another 20 minutes.
7. Bake at 200 degrees Celcius for 15-20 minutes. Brush bun tops with melted butter right after baking for a soft crust.

The dough was very, very wet and sticky; almost impossible to handle. I was glad it was a no-knead recipe. It was elastic though, so I knew it had proven well. Because it was so sticky, I lathered my hands with lots of oil and literally just splat them onto the baking tray without properly shaping them into balls!

Ugly "splats"!

But at last, softer and more edible (albeit ugly and wrinkly) buns. However, it tasted more like muffins than bread. The springy-chewy texture of bread wasn’t there (aaaarghhhh….!). Terry said it was too “wet”. The buns turned very dense and heavy after cooling so it wasn’t a real success yet. The taste was good nevertheless. I will reduce the amount of milk if I attempt to make this again.

This recipe gave me the “feel” of the right dough texture and I became more confident in handling softer and slightly sticky doughs in my next attempt. Stay tuned for Part 2! 

Anyone’s got any bread-making stories to share? Recipes? Tips??

Half-successful buns