Herb Buns

Hi Everyone! Its been a busy, busy week for me. But definitely a good week. :) I received a blog award from a fellow food-blogger this week - the One Lovely Blog Award! How nice is that? Merut of Eating with my Mouth Open gave me the award - check out Merut's blog if you have a minute - its fantastic!

Any way, on to the food! As most of you who follow my blog are aware, I've been on a bread baking kick - so to further that theme, I baked some delicious buns the other week that I've been meaning to blog about. They were delicious and tender and they made the house smell soooo good while they were baking! One tip I would give for making your own bread at home is to use a stand mixer with a dough hook to knead the dough - it works so well - give it a try!

Herb Buns

Recipe from the Joy of Cooking

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp warm water
• 1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm milk
• 5 tbsp butter, melted
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 - 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp celery seeds
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp dried dill or dill seeds

Method:

1. Combine the water and yeast in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the milk, butter, sugar, egg, salt and herbs to the yeast mixture. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. Gradually stir in 2 cups of the flour until combined. Gradually add 1 1/2-2 cups more flour until the dough it moist and sticky. Knead for about 10 minutes with the dough hook on low to medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. Trasfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it once to coat with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Form the dough into buns and place in the baking dish with the seam side of the bun faced down. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 -1/2 hours. Preheat the oven to 375F. Bake until the tops of the buns are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove the buns from the pan to a rack to let cool completely.
   

This is definitely a keeper recipe! They also had a few other combinations of herbs to try - so once you've tried this one, feel free to try out these combinations:

1. 1/2 tsp marjoram or basil, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, 1 tbsp chopped parsley, 1/2 tsp oregano
2. 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp dried savory crumbled, 1 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
3. 1 tsp grated or ground nutmeg or ground cloves, 1 tsp dried rosemary crumbled, 1 tsp dried dill, 1 tbsp chopped sage

Or if fresh herbs are availabl, mince them up and triple the amounts suggested for the dried herbs! So go ahead - get creative and enjoy these buns!

Happy Baking my Friends!