These buns are delightfully soft and chock full of delicious speculoos spread.
Recipe adapted from: The Imaginariyum
Ingredients
125mL buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp dry instant yeast
3 tbsp white sugar
1 egg
250g flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter (room temperature)
1 cup speculoos spread (a.k.a. speculaas, cookie butter)
Optional - about 1/4 cup chopped apple
Method
1. Heat the buttermilk until lukewarm, then mix the yeast in and leave to activate. It should start to froth up.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the buttermilk and yeast mixture with the sugar, egg, flour and salt. Mix until combined.
3. Add the butter and mix until it's been incorporated. Continue to knead the dough with the mixer on low speed for about 10 minutes. The dough will be a bit sticky.
4. Place the dough inside a bowl greased with butter. Cover it with a tea towel or cling wrap and let it rise for about 1.5 hours, or until doubled in size.
5. After the dough has risen, lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll the dough out into a large rectangle, so that the dough is quite thin.
6. Spread the speculoos across the dough. If desired, you can sprinkle other fillings such as chopped apple or nuts on top.
7. Roll the dough up, starting with the short edge. Pinch the seam closed and cut the log into about 12 even slices.
8. There are a few options for baking these buns - you can arrange them in a brownie pan for a more rustic approach, or butter a muffin tin and place each roll into a separate cup (this will give you lovely round buns!)
9. Cover the buns with a tea towel or cling wrap and let them rise for another 30 minutes.
10. Preheat your oven to 175C (350F). When the buns have risen, bake them for about 15-20 minutes.
11. Let the buns cool. If you've baked them in a muffin tin, after they've cooled for 10 minutes, remove the buns from the tin by loosening the edges with a table knife, then place them on a wire rack to cool further.
These are great when warm from the oven! If you have leftovers the next day, heating them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds will rejuvenate them and bring back that just-baked feeling.
Enjoy!
These bread rolls are beautifully fluffy and would be great accompanying curry - and they're lovely on their own too!
Recipe adapted from: Mellow n spicy
Ingredients (9 rolls - 20 cm (8 inch) square baking tin)
187mL (3/4 cup) milk
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (one sachet)
2 tbsp white sugar
310g flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk powder
4 tbsp butter (softened)
Method
1. Microwave the milk until lukewarm.
2. Mix the yeast and sugar with the milk and let it sit until the mixture becomes frothy.
3. Add the flour, salt and milk powder to the yeast mixture and mix until a sticky dough forms.
4. Add the butter to the dough and knead until a smooth dough is formed. I used my stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, but you could always use your hands.
5. Lightly grease a bowl with oil or butter and place the dough inside, cover it with a clean tea towel or cling wrap. Let it rise for about an hour, or until roughly doubled in size
6. Line a 20cm (9 inch) baking tin with baking paper, and punch the dough down - knead it for a few minutes.
7. Divide the dough into nine portions and roll each into a ball.
8. Place the rolls evenly into the baking tin. Cover with cling wrap or a tea towel and let rise for about 30 minutes, until roughly doubled in size.
9. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 175C (350F).
10. Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
11. Let the rolls rest for a few minutes then you can either cool them completely or enjoy them warm!
Oh my gosh, these garlic knots are absolutely delicious, and pretty easy to make! Prepare yourself for extreme garlic action - the bread is soft, very garlicky and beautiful too.
If you don't want garlic, you could always put cinnamon and sugar on them and they'd be just as nice!
Recipe adapted from: King Arthur Flour
Ingredients - bread
270g plain flour
230g bread flour
1 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp dry instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
225g water
Ingredients - garlic glaze
45g butter
4 cloves garlic
Method
1. Mix the dry ingredients (everything except the olive oil and water) in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.
2. Microwave the water until it's lukewarm.
3. Add the olive oil and lukewarm water to the dry ingredients, mix with the dough hook until smooth and combined. If the dough is too dry, add a touch more water - if it's too wet, add a bit more flour. Knead the dough in the mixer (or by hand) for a few minutes, until nice and elastic.
4. Lightly grease the bowl with olive oil then place the dough in to rise for about an hour, covered with cling wrap. The dough should about double in size.
5. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out on a floured surface into a large rectangle.
6. Cut the rectangle into about 16 strips (along the long side, so you have 16 short strips).
7. Roll each strip into a round rope and then fold it into a knot. See this link for some helpful pictures! It's actually pretty simple to achieve.
8. Place the knots on baking trays lined with baking paper or silicone mats with a fair amount of space in between.
9. Cover the knots with cling wrap or a tea towel and let them rise for another hour. While they're rising, preheat the oven to 175C (350F).
10. Bake the knots for 15-18 minutes. They should be golden brown but still soft! While they're baking, make your garlic glaze.
11. Melt the butter for the glaze, then chop the garlic finely and mix it into the butter.
12. When the knots come out of the oven, brush them generously with the garlic glaze. The reason you don't bake them with the garlic on is because the garlic would burn!
14. These knots are best eaten warm, so enjoy them ASAP! You can also reheat them in the microwave to soften them if you have any left the next day.
Enjoy!
These buns are delicious, soft, sticky and sweet. Definitely a staple recipe for your yeast repertoire!
Recipe adapted from: The Boy Who Bakes
Ingredients - brioche
70mL milk
1 tbsp honey
1 packet dry instant yeast (7g)
150g plain flour
150g bread flour
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
125g butter (room temperature)
Ingredients - topping
75g butter
100g brown sugar
Pinch of salt
75mL cream
25mL water
(Instead of this topping, I used leftover butterscotch sauce from sticky date pudding)
75g pecans
Ingredients - filling
75g brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
30g butter
Method - brioche
1. Microwave the milk until it's lukewarm. Mix the honey and yeast into the milk and let it sit for a minute.
2. Combine the yeast mixture with the plain flour, bread flour, salt and eggs - mix until combined. I used my Kitchenaid with the dough hook attachment. Knead at low-medium speed for a few minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Chop the butter into small pieces and, while the mixer is running, add the butter a few pieces at a time. Once all of the butter is added, knead the dough for a few more minutes until smooth and the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
4. Grease a bowl lightly with butter or oil and place the dough in, then cover with cling wrap and let it sit in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size. You can also refrigerate this overnight.
5. When your dough has risen (or, if you refrigerated it, you're ready to bake the buns), make the topping and filling.
Method - topping
1. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and sugar and mix until combined.
2. Reduce the heat to low and add the salt and cream, simmer for a minute.
3. Take the pan off the heat and add the water.
4. Once this is all mixed, set it aside to cool.
5. Chop the pecans roughly and set aside. You can toast these for some extra crunch if you want!
Method - filling
1. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
2. Melt the butter.
Method - assembly
1. Lightly flour a clean work surface and tip the dough out, pat it into a rectangle with your hands.
2. Flour the dough lightly and roll it out to about a 40x50cm rectangle.
3. Brush the dough with the melted butter and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mix over it evenly.
4. Roll the dough into a log from the long edge (so you get a long log).
5. Cut the log into about 12 slices.
6. Butter two 6-hole muffin tins (these tins have bigger recesses than regular cupcake tins) - you can use a large round tin as well. I used one muffin tin and one large round silicon cake pan.
7. Pour the caramel topping evenly between your baking tins and top with the chopped pecans.
8. Place your buns into the muffin tins so the cut side is facing up.
9. Cover the tins with cling wrap and let them rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size. Preheat your oven to 170C (340F).
10. The caramel topping may bubble over the sides of your muffin tins, so just in case, place the tins on baking trays lined with baking paper to catch any spills. This wasn't an issue for me but better safe than sorry!
Bake the buns for about 35 minutes, or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. If you're using a cake tin with the buns smooshed together rather than separated in muffin tins, you may need to bake a bit longer.
11. Let the buns cool for a few minutes in the tins and then invert onto a plate.
These buns are best served while fresh and warm (though be careful, the caramel is very hot straight out of the oven!) If it's been a day or two, just heat them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to get that softness back.
Enjoy!
I've only ever deep fried churros and Camembert before, so it was very exciting to break the oil out again and try something new!
I tossed some of these in cinnamon and sugar and dipped some in a simple lemon glaze. One of my favourite parts of making these was frying the doughnut holes - they started off as flat circles and puffed up to gorgeous spheres!
Recipe adapted from: Handle The Heat
Ingredients
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast (one packet)
50g white sugar
250mL milk
2 tbsp butter (28g)
1 egg
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
360g flour
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt
For frying - about 5 cups of oil (vegetable or peanut)
For dressing - white sugar and cinnamon or lemon juice and icing sugar
Method
1. Microwave the milk until it's lukewarm, then mix the milk with the yeast and about a tablespoon of the white sugar.
2. Let the yeast proof for a few minutes. Melt the butter and set it aside.
3. Once the yeast as activated and started to foam up, mix the rest of the sugar, butter, egg, nutmeg, flour, vanilla and salt in with the yeast. I used my KitchenAid with the dough hook attachment.
4. Knead the dough (or let the mixer run) for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and soft.
5. Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl in cling wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1.5 - 2 hours.
6. Punch the dough down and tip it out onto a lightly floured surface. The dough is so soft!
7. Roll the dough out to less than 1cm thick (1/4 inch), then cut doughnut shapes. I just used a large circle cookie cutter and a smaller one. I did some big doughnuts and some small; I recommend doing larger ones (about 9cm diameter).
8. Transfer the doughnuts to a baking tray covered in baking paper, spread them out, cover with a tea towel and let them rise for about an hour.
9. When you're ready to cook the doughnuts, heat your oil to 175C (350F) in a large wok or saucepan. Prepare a plate or baking tray and cover it with paper towel to soak up excess oil.
10. Gently fry the doughnuts about 1 minute per side (for large 9cm doughnuts), until golden. I use chopsticks to turn the doughnuts - tongs or a slotted spoon would work too. The doughnut holes will take a shorter time.
11. Once done, lift the doughnuts out of the oil and place on the paper towel, turning to soak up all of the excess oil from both sides.
12. If you're dressing the doughnuts in cinnamon and sugar, it's best to coat them while the doughnuts are warm.
Another option is a simple lemon glaze, made by mixing icing sugar and lemon juice - if you're doing this, make sure that the doughnuts have cooled.
Enjoy!
Cinnamon rolls are a classic food, and so delicious! These ones come with a nut option and plain cinnamon sugar. Either way, they're fantastic - soft, sweet and yummy!
Recipe adapted from: Joy The Baker
Ingredients - dough (8 large buns)
1 sachet active dry yeast (7g)
63mL water
125mL milk (at room temperature - just heat it in the microwave for a few seconds if it's straight from the fridge!)
62g white sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
1 egg yolk
426g flour
Pinch of salt
113g butter (at room temperature)
Ingredients - filling
125g white sugar
46g brown sugar
1/4 cup pecans
1/4 cup walnuts
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp maple syrup
40g butter
Method
1. Warm the water so it's just lukewarm - about 45C/115F. In the bowl of your mixer, combine the yeast, water and half a teaspoon of white sugar. Let the yeast proof for a few minutes until it's frothy.
2. Add the milk, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, egg and egg yolk to the yeast mixture, mix with a whisk until combined.
3. Add the flour and salt to the mixture, and mix with the dough hook attachment for your mixture. Mix the dough (or knead if you're not using a stand mixer) for a few minutes so it all comes together.
4. Add the butter (113g) and keep kneading the dough until everything's combined and smooth.
5. The dough may be sticky - if it's too sticky, you can add up to 1/3 cup more flour and knead it in.
6. Grease a bowl (I just use the mixer bowl I've been doing everything in) with some extra butter, then plop your dough in. Cover the bowl with cling wrap or a tea towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.
7. When the dough's nearly finished rising, you can start making the filling. Finely chop the pecans and walnuts (I only used about 1/8 cup of each type of nut because I wanted to do half the buns with nuts and half without).
8. Combine the white sugar, brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon then work the maple syrup into the mixture. I just used a spoon for this. Also, melt the 40g butter.
9. Once your dough has risen, punch the air our and knead a bit more flour in if needed.
10. Flour your clean work surface and roll the dough out into a large rectangle about 25cm x 50cm (10 inches x 20 inches). It seems like this will be way way too big but trust me, the dough can go the distance!
11. Brush the dough generously with the melted butter, then evenly spread the filling onto the dough. Leave about 5cm at one of the short edges of the dough without filling - this is so you can seal the edge down when you roll the dough up. Press the filling down gently with your hands to make sure it's stuck down.
I only sprinkled the nuts on half of the dough.
12. Roll the dough up, starting with the short side that has filling all the way up to the edge. Try to do this as tightly as possible, press the seam down to adhere it to the rest of the dough.
13. Cut the dough into 8 even slices. Line a brownie tin (mine is 23cm x 32cm) with baking paper and place each bun slice into the pan, evenly spacing them out. As the rolls do rise more, they squish up and become more rectangular - if you want them to be more circular, you can use two trays and spread them out.
14. Cover the tin with cling wrap or a tea towel and let the dough rise again for another 2 hours.
15. Preheat your oven to 190C (375F) after the dough has risen again, and bake the rolls for about 30 minutes. If you insert a toothpick into the bread part (not the filling) it should come out clean. When you touch the tops of the buns, the top should be crusty but they should be soft in the middle - I initially thought they might not be fully baked but fear not, they were perfect!
16. If desired, brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter. Let the rolls cool in the tin for a bit, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool a bit more.
17. When you're ready to eat, peel the rolls away from each other and consume them. They're amazing when warm from the oven!
This sweet bread is a feast for your eyes and your belly!
I recommend that you consume this within two days of baking for ultimate deliciousness.
Recipe adapted from: Manu's Menu
Ingredients - starter dough
4g dry instant yeast (I'm pretty sure I used a full 7g packet and it worked out fine...)
75mL lukewarm water
1 tsp honey
135g flour
Ingredients - dough + filling
400g flour
75g white sugar
120mL lukewarm milk
5g salt
3 egg yolks
120g room temperature butter
1 1/2 cups Nutella
Method
1. Make the starter dough (I did this in a little jug) - mix the yeast, water and honey together. Ensure that the water is just lukewarm, not too hot (you'll kill the yeast) and not too cold (the yeast won't activate). Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes until the yeast starts foaming.
2. Mix the starter dough flour into the yeast mixture until smooth, then set it aside covered with cling wrap or a tea towel for about 45 minutes.
3. Once the starter dough has risen, in a separate bowl whisk the sugar, lukewarm milk, salt and egg yolks.
4. Add the flour and knead the dough. I used the dough hook on my electric mixer for this.
5. Add the butter a bit at a time, mixing in between so it's combined.
6. Finally, add the starter dough and knead until fully incorporated.
7. Grease the bowl lightly with butter and let the dough rise for another 2 hours.
8. On a clean, lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a large rectangle.
9. Spread the Nutella onto the dough evenly. If there's not enough Nutella...add more Nutella. Less is not more when it comes to Nutella.
10. Roll the dough up starting from the longer edge until you form a long cylinder.
11. Cut the cylinder lengthways, leaving a bit at the top uncut so that the two sections stay stuck together. At this point, you can transfer the roll onto a sheet of baking paper so that it makes it easier to move the finished product to a baking tray.
12. Turn the sections so that the cut cross-sections face upwards, then plait the ropes around each other and form the braid into a circle. Tuck the ends together so they look neat.
13. Slide the braid onto a baking tray and leave it to proof for another 30 minutes. During this time, you can preheat your oven to 180C (355F).
14. When the dough has risen, bake it for about 35 minutes. Be sure not to overbake it because the bread could get dry.
15. Let the bread cool for a few minutes. You can eat it warm or cold, it's also good heated up in the microwave for a few seconds the next day!
