Light brioche burger buns

Makes 6 medium size burger buns or about 5 large buns (Recipe adapted from here)

Bread flour- 1 1/4 cups + 3 1/2 tbsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Oil- 1 1/2 tbsp

Warm water- 1/2 cup

Whole milk- 1 1/2 tbsp
Active dry yeast- 1 tsp
Sugar- 1 1/4 tbsp
Egg- 1 large
Bread flour- 1 1/4 cups + 3 1/2 tbsp
Oil- 1 1/2 tbsp
Egg white- of one small egg for egg wash, lightly beated
Sesame seeds- around 1 tsp or so

Into the bowl of a free standing mixer add the flour and salt and rub in the oil with your finger tips so the flour resembles coarse bread crumbs. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the warm water, milk, yeast and sugar.
Beat at egg into it and pour this mix into the flour mix.
Using the dough hook of the mixer, start kneading the dough on medium speed for about 5 to 6 minutes, or till the dough comes together. If you are kneading by hand, lightly flour a work surface and knead for about 10 minutes till the dough is no longer sticky.

The dough should not be really sticky, but pliable without the use of more flour.

Oil the same mixing bowl and place the dough into it, spreading some oil on it to prevent drying.

Cover with a kitchen cloth and leave to rise for a minimum of 1.30hrs or till doubled in size.

I preheated my oven to about 40C, turned it off but with the light on and left the dough in there to proof. If proofing in the oven make sure its not more than 50C as forcing the rising will result in a dense, dry bread.

After the dough has risen to double its size, punch it down and scoop out of the bowl (on to a lightly floured surface if needed. I didnt need to use any) on to your kitchen counter.

Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. (I am a bit mental when it comes to sizes in baking so i actually measured out the portions each weighting approx 78 to 80gms)

Roughly roll each portion, flatten to a thick pancake size and bring the sides together to join in the middle and make a parcel of sorts. Then turn it over and using your palm, cup the ball and roll lightly to form a perfectly round bun.
Place all the buns on a tray lined with baking paper and keep aside to proof for another hour or till the buns have risen.
I placed them back into a warm oven with just the light on.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 200C
Brush the tops of the buns with egg white and sprinkle the sesame seeds.
Pour boiling water into a baking dish or any oven proof dish and place on the oven floor. The steam created will ensure soft buns.
Place the tray with the buns on the middle shelf and bake for about 13 to 15 minutes (if they are medium size and for about 20 minutes if large).
Remove from oven once they are done, and transfer on to cooling racks.
Store in a bread bin or wrap in cling film and use as required.

Notes: The recipe can easily be doubled.
The same recipe makes about 8 mini brioche buns
I overdid the egg white a bit too much and i suspect that why the tops browned waay too much. Use sparingly. Even milk would do instead of egg white

Super soft dinner rolls

 

These rolls are really soft and so easy to make. You'd have most of these in your pantry and even with prooving time, you still can sort this out within 2.30 hrs or so. I decided at around 4pm that i needed to make dinner rolls and these were out of the oven before 7, and just in time for dinner.

Makes 12 rolls (Recipe adapted from here)

Whole milk- 1 cup, warm

Active dry yeast- 1 tbsp

Caster sugar- 2 tbsp

Salt- 1 tsp

Oil- 3 tbsp

Egg- 1, medium

Bread flour- 3 cups (plus 2 or 3 tbsp more)

Egg- 1 ,small beaten (or milk is also fine)

Butter- 1 tbsp, melted

Into the bowl of a free standing mixer add the warm milk, yeast, sugar, salt, oil and egg. 

Whisk lightly to incorporate it all together.

Add about 2 1/2 cups of flour and using the dough hook attachment for the mixer start kneading on low speed.

Once the initial mixing is done, turn the speed on to medium and add the remaining half of the flour and continue kneading on medium speed for about 5 minutes.

The humidity of the place will determine if you need more flour. In all likeliness you'd need the extra 2 or 3 tbsp of flour to get a dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl, but take a call and add accordingly.

The dough is on the wetter side, but definitely not sticky, so aim to get a consistency like that. Dust your palms with some flour if needed to tackle the dough.

Oil the same mixing bowl and place the dough into it, spreading some oil on it to prevent drying.

Cover with a kitchen cloth and leave to rise for about an hour and half.

I preheated my oven to 25C, turned it off but with the light on and left the dough in there.

After about an hour or when the dough has risen to double its size, punch it down and scoop out of the bowl (on to a lightly floured surface if needed. I didnt need to use any) on to your kitchen counter.

Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. (I am a bit mental when it comes to sizes in baking so i actually measured out the portions each weighting approx 65gms)

Make a smooth ball out each portion and transfer them into a lightly greased baking tray and leave covered for another hour or till doubled in size. I placed them back into a warm oven with just the light on.

They will touch each other when they rise, and that's absolutely fine.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 175C.

Brush the tops of each roll with an egg wash or milk wash and bake for 16 minutes. 

Make sure you dont over bake them.

Remove from oven and immediately brush with some melted butter.

Serve warm with some butter on the side

Notes: Cool completely on a cooling rack and store in plastic bags or cling wrap the rolls if using it the next day.

Store at room temperature, but microwave for about 20 seconds on high before using.

You can do the entire kneading process by hand, just make sure you knead till you get the desired non-sticky consistency.