Garlic Buns

I just did a check on my blog archive.

I am so surprised to know that it was 9 months ago since I last made bread buns! Ever since my younger boy developed this 'special liking' for square sandwich bread, I have been making loaves after loaves of breads.

I finally got to make some Garlic Buns a few days back. I picked up this recipe as it yields only 6 buns, which is just right for us since we are down to the three of us for the next couple of weeks.


From the photo, these tasty buns look almost like mini baguettes with a hard crisp crust. In reality, they taste just like soft dinner rolls.



As usual, I left the bread machine to knead the dough so that I would be free to go about doing other chores. This is one great use of the bread machine, I guess it is even better than kneading with a standing mixer, as I am quite sure I wouldn't leave the mixer alone to do the kneading. To cut down on the electricity bill, I left the dough to rise in room temperature. I was glad that the dough rose beautifully within the required time. I then had fun shaping the doughs. This is the first time I have tried shaping doughs into longish or the torpedo shape, and I didn't do a good job. Yet, the most difficult part I discovered was making a slit on each dough after the second proofing. Since I do not have any razor sharp knives at home (you'll be surprised, my knives are only good enough to slice tofu!), it was a challenge trying to make a nice clean slit. Fortunately, the slits were later filled with garlic spread, the finished buns didn't look too bad ;)



Ingredients
(makes 6 buns)

150g bread flour
50g cake flour
15g caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
130g milk
15g unsalted butter

filling:
30g butter, soften room temperature
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped)
1 tsp dried parsley


Method:

1. Place all ingredients except the butter in the pan of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Select the Dough function of the bread machine and press start. After about 8mins of kneading (the ingredients should form a smooth dough by now), add in the 15g of butter. Let the machine continue to knead the dough. After the kneading cycle has stopped (20mins), Stop and Restart the machine. Continue to let the machine knead for another 10mins.
2. Stop the machine and remove dough from the bread pan. Shape the dough into a smooth round and place in a mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it rise till double in volume for about 80mins.
3. Remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as your knead. Divide into 6 equal portions and shape into balls. Cover with cling wrap, let the doughs rest for 15mins.
4. Flatten each dough into a round disc. Roll up Swiss roll style and pinch the seams in place. Roll the dough on work surface to shape it into a longish oval shape or torpedo shape.
5. Place doughs seams side down on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper. Loosely cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let dough proof for 30mins.
6. Prepare filling by mixing butter, garlic and parsley to form a smooth paste.
7. Brush each dough with egg wash. With a sharp knife, make a slit lengthwise on each dough. Pipe fillings on each slit.
8. Bake at preheated oven at 180 degC for about 12-15 mins. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack

Recipe adapted from 孟老师的100道面包