Cheese Buns/Stuffed Buns (Eggless)

Hello everyone, today I have got for you all a very yummy recipe of Stuffed buns. I used to have them during my school time, stuffed with masala potaotes. So just thought to prepare them with Paneer and cheese filling. The result was just awesome. This is a great snack, either with tea or coffee, we had it with freshly squeezed orange juice and is a huge hit in my house.

Preparing them is a bit lengthy process but at the same time they are very easy to prepare. The best part is that you can stuff them up with any filling you like be it Vegetarian or non vegetarian or may be the left overs. They have a very nice crust and very soft inside. You can make them in large numbers in advance or freeze them, microwave them for 15 secs and they will be fresh again. They are an awesome idea for pot lucks too :))))

So without wasting much of the time lets dive into the ingredients following the method.

Video Link :

 

Ingredients :

For the dough :

• All purpose flour : 2 cups
• Dried active Yeast : 1 tbsp (If using instant yeast then take 2+1/4 tsps)
• Sugar 1 tbsp
• Luke warm water : 1/2 +1/2 cup
• Butter : 1+1/2 tbsps  (melted)

For the stuffing :

• Onion : 1 small finely chopped
• Red Bell pepper : 1/2 finely chopped
• Green Bell pepper : 1/2 finely chopped
• Garlic : 2-3 cloves finely chopped
• Paneer/cottage cheese : 1cup finelydiced
• Cheese (any) : 1 cup (You can adjust the quantity)
• Oregano : 1 tsp
• Chilli flakes : 1 tsp
• Salt : As per the taste (add a little less as cheese also contains salt)
• Oil : 1-2 tbsps

Method :

Activate the yeast :

• In a bowl take 1/2 cup of luke warm water. To this add yeast and sugar,  mix well, cover and keep aside for 10-15 minutes or unless yeast becomes foamy or frothy.
• If you are using Instant yeast, then skip this step and add yeast and sugar directly to the flour and knead with warm water.

Make the dough :

• Once yeast activated, take All purpose flour, add salt, mix well, add yeast mixture and try to knead a dough.
• Also add the rest half of the luke warm water, little by little and knead a very sticky dough. Half way through add 1 tbsp melted butter and knead.
• As shown in the video, take the dough on to the working surface and knead atleast for 10-12 minutes. This will activate some gluten in the dough, which helps to make the buns light and soft. You might need some dry flour and butter to make it smooth. But don't add a lot of dry flour or it will become dense.
• Once done with the kneading, place it in a well greased bowl and apply some oil on the top as well. Cover it and keep it in some warm place so that it rises well. I kept it in my oven, switching on only light and not the oven. It takes 45 minutes to 1 hour or sometimes more than that, as per the whether.

Make the stuffing :

• In a pan, take some oil, to this add garlic and saute, then add onions and again saute unless they are golden, then add bell peppers and saute for 1-2 minutes. Now add the paneer, also add the chilli flakes, oregano and salt. Mix well and cook fora minute more. Keep aside to cool.
• Once cooled, add the cheese and mix.

Second proofing of the dough :

• Once doubled, take out the dough on the work surface, deflate it and roll it to a rectangular blog of same thickness, with the help of your palms.
• Cut the dough into six equal parts.
• Take each part and form a ball, as shown in the video.
• Keep these balls with some distance, apply some oil, cover and let them rise again. This will again take 40 minutes to 1 hour.

Stuffing the buns :

• Once balls are doubled in size, stuff them with the filling and close them. Try to pinch them nicely so that they don't open while baking.
• Keep all the stuffed balls on a baking tray lined with parchment paper/butter paper or aluminum foil. 
• Cover them and rest them again for 15-20 minutes. 
• In the mean while preheat the oven at 220° Celsius.

Baking the buns :

• Once rested, apply some milk with brush, for nice shine and bake them for 20-25 minutes.
• Also keep an oven proof dish filled with a cup of boiling water in the lower rack to create steam. This helps in forming nice crust.
• Mine were exactly for 22 minutes.
• After taking them out, put them on a cooling rack and apply some butter.
  Let them cool a bit.

Enjoy!!!!

Note :

• Yeast is a main hero of the recipe so if it doesn't froth nicely, throw away the mixture, check the yeast expiry date and start with fresh.
• Never skip the dough kneading part, this makes the bun softer.
• You can always play with filling part, as per you taste preferences.
• Proof them twice, as told in the recipe.
• You can also apply some egg wash instead of milk. 

Please do share your experiences and feedback with me in the below section of comments or on my Facebook page. I too have a You Tube channel please do visit for all the video recipes. All the links mentioned below :) 

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/user/cookwithpriyanka

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/cookwithpriyanka

Thanks & Happy Baking

Priyanka

Crusty Oats & whole wheat herbed Buns (Eggless)

Hello everyone, today I have got one of my trial recipe which came out perfect in one go and very much appreciated by my husband too. These days in CAL (Chef at Large) we all have a yeast mania, and our groupmates are playing with it and preparing various kinds of yummilicious breads. So just thought to do an experiment and viola!!!! it knocked quite well. 

 

These are the crusty buns which I made up with oats flour, combining it with whole wheat and plain flour (for gluten). They have a hard crust outside and soft inside. Also I added some herbs which took them to a next level. 

I served them with Tomato,carrot & coriander soup and couscous salad, believe me it was an out of world kind of lunch. They are so delicious that will be very often now made at our place. So lets look into the ingredients following the method.

Ingredients :

• Strong whole wheat flour : 1 + 1/2 cups (Strong means that it should have a high protein content approx 13-15 gms) If not available then use normal chapati flour.
• Plain flour/All purpose flour/Maida : 1 cup
• Oats flour : 1 cup (Grind quick/old fashioned oats)
• Dry active Yeast : 1 tbsp
• Sugar : 1 tsp
• Salt : 1 tsp
• Olive/veg oil : 3 tbsps
• Garlic powder : 1 + 1/2 tsps (If not available, then use 1 tsp of freshly grated garlic)
• Italian mixed herbs : 1 tbsp
• Lukewarm Milk : 1/2 cup + 3 tbsps for milk wash
• Lukewarm Water : 1/2 cup 
• Sesame seed : 1 tbsp (optional)
• Butter : 1 tbsp 

Method :

• Combine together yeast, Lukewarm water and sugar in a bowl, stir and keep aside for 10-15 minutes or until it starts to froth.
  
  

  
• In another mixing bowl, mix together oats flour, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, herbs, garlic powder and salt.
• Pour in the yeast mixture and try to combine, add little by little warm milk  and make a sticky dough. This is how the dough should look like as in the picture. 
  
• Apply a little oil over the palms and take out the entire dough over the working surface. Knead for 7-10 minutes. You can use oil rather than using dry flour if its sticking a lot. After sometime you will see that it has formed up with gluten which results into a soft dough (it will be sticky at this stage well, but that's absolutely fine)
• Place the dough in a large greased bowl and brush the top with oil, cover with a kitchen towel and leave aside to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. The best place I find is my oven keeping its light on (for about 1-1 1/2 hours).
• Once risen punch down the dough and divide this into 8 equal parts and shape them into smooth flat balls. The texture will not be very smooth.
• Place them onto a lightly greased baking tray lined with aluminum foil. Cover & leave in a warm place until doubled in volume.
• Once done brush them with milk wash and apply sesame seeds.
  
• Preheat oven to 190 ° C  and put a pan/tray filled with boiling water on the lower rack (For steam in the oven). Bake the buns for about 25-30 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned.
• Take out from the oven and apply butter, keep them onto the cooling rack and they are done.

Tips :

• Be patient while frothing the yeast and also proofing the dough.
• Adding herbs & garlic is optional or you can add the flavours of your choice.
• Don't apply a lot of dry flour while kneading the dough, this may lead to dense buns. 

Please do share your experiences and feedback with me in the below section of comments or on my Facebook page. I too have a You Tube channel please do visit for all the video recipes. All the links mentioned below :) 

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/user/cookwithpriyanka

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/cookwithpriyanka
 

Thanks & Happy Baking
Priyanka

Whole wheat seaded buns/Dinner rolls (Eggless)

"Baking is a wonderful aspect of cooking" I realized this when I started baking breads. Baking any kind of a bread gives so much of pleasure and satisfaction that can't be explained in few words. Baking bread fills your kitchen with a lovely aroma. I felt that I am standing on my favorite bakery in Bangalore :))))

Never ever thought that baking buns at home will be so easy. Yes, you read right :). Beside being easy they are healthy and full of Nutrients. They are supersoft and light. They can be well served in your breakfast with butter/Jam or as your meal rolls even. You can use them for making burgers even. I love to have them when they are little warm and believe me you won't need even butter :). Many people think that baking bread with whole wheat flour will result in a dense bread, but after baking these buns I think its not true. I would say obviously they can't be compared with plain flour buns but yes they are no where less than them even. The other best part of them - that they are eggless. Few bakers add eggs to the whole wheat breads to make them soft. You can make them small or large it depends on you. So without wasting much of the time, lets quickly see the ingredients followed by the method.

 Ingredients :

• Strong whole wheat flour : 1 1/4 cups (Strong means that it should have a high protein content approx 13-15 gms)
• Plain flour/All purpose flour/Maida : 3/4 cup
• Seeds : 1/4 cup (I used sunflower seeds, you can use any of your own choice)
• Yeast : 2 tsps
• Sugar : 1 tsp
• Salt : 3/4 tsp
• Olive/veg oil : 2 tbsps
• Milk : 3/4 cup (has to be luke warm) + 2 tbsps for milk wash
• Water : 1/2 cup (Its quantity will depend on the dough. We need to keep it a bit sticky)

Method :

• Combine together yeast, luke warm milk and sugar in a bowl, stir slighly and keep aside for 10-15 minutes or until it starts to froth.
• In another mixing bowl, mix together whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, seeds and salt.
• Pour in the yeast mixture and try to combine, add little by little warm water and make your dough a sticky dough. This is how the dough should look like as in the picture. 
• Apply a little oil over the palms and take out the entire dough over the working surface.
  Knead knead and just knead for 7-10 minutes. You can use oil rather than using dry flour. After sometime you will see that it has formed up with gluten which results into a soft dough (it will be sticky at this stage well, but that's absolutely fine)
• Place the dough in a large greased bowl and brush the top with oil,cover with a kitchen towel and leave aside to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. The best place I find is my oven keeping its light on (for about 1-1 1/2 hours).
• Once risen punch down the dough and divide this into 6 equal parts and shape them into smooth balls.
• Place them onto a lightly greased baking tray dusted with corn meal or semolina. Again leave in a warm place until doubled in volume.
• Once done brush them with milk wash.
• Preheat oven to 200 ° C and bake the buns for about 25-30 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned. If you feel that the buns are becoming over brown then cover them with aluminum foil and let them bake.
• Once 90% done, once again apply some more milk wash.
• Take out from the oven, keep them onto the cooling rack and they are done.

Note : Adding seeds is not a compulsion, it depends on you.

             Keep the dough sticky and knead well. 

             Have patience while they are kept for rising :)))

Thanks n Happy Baking

Priyanka :)