Easy Butter Buns

How many of you here love bread and breadmaking?

I don't know about you, but bread baking gives me this indescribable satisfaction. I find immense "syok-ness" (satisfaction) punching down my dough after its first round of proofing.

I then get all excited and happy to see my bread well-proofed and ready to be popped into the oven, but even more so when it comes fresh out of the oven smelling so, so good!

But my ultimate weakness is this - soft and fluffy bread, with rich fragrance and buttery flavour. I am drooling just looking at these pictures! Om nom nommmm...

I usually use the tangzhong method for bread making as it never fails me. I was a little skeptical when I stumbled across this easy butter buns recipe on Christine's Recipes one Sunday afternoon, but decided to give it a go anyways since I have all the ingredients in my pantry.

I'm extremely glad that I did, because this recipe turned out beautifully, with very little effort. I will definitely be making this again, and highly recommend it for bread-lovers.

Easy Butter Buns
Recipe by Christine's Recipes

Ingredients

• 250g bread flour
• 25g cake flour
• 5g instant dry yeast
• 15g milk powder
• 40g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100ml water, about 36°C
• 80ml milk, about 36°C
• 40g butter, softened at room temperature
• whisked egg, for egg wash (I replaced with milk wash)

Method

1. Prepare and grease an 8-inch round baking tin.
2. Mix all ingredients (except butter) in a bread maker or knead by hand. When all the ingredients come together, knead in butter until the dough passes the thin membrane test.
3. Roll it into a ball. Place into a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Let it proof until dough doubled in size, which takes about an hour.
4. Transfer to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Knead each into a round, ball shape. Place them evenly in a lightly greased baking tin (shown in picture below). Cover with plastic wrap and let it proof until doubled in size, which takes approximately 1 to 1½ hours.
5. About 5 to 10 minutes towards the end of proofing time, preheat oven to 170°C. Egg wash the dough portions. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.
6. Remove the buns from the oven and let it stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn them out from the tin onto a wire rack, and they're ready to be served.

All shaped into cute, round balls, then left alone to proof. And this is what happened an hour later...

Wham! They've doubled in size, and almost reaching the rim. They've proofed well and are ready to be baked!

And voila! Here they are, beautiful buns, fresh out of the oven, smelling like a million dollars! ;)

Serve warm with butter if you like, or pair them with eggs and ham for breakfast. I had mine plain, with a hot cuppa tea. :)

The leftovers can be kept in an air-tight plastic bag or container, at room temperature.