Nothing smells quite as good as buns baking in the oven. Do not be intimidated by yeast doughs. We will walk you through the steps.
Ingredients
2 Tbsp Fermipan quick rise yeast
3 Cups warm water
4 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
6 Tbsp oil
7 Cups all purpose flour
Directions
1. In a large metal or glass bowl, mix together the water, sugar and yeast. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Mixture will have lots or foam and bubbles.
2. Mix in the oil and beaten eggs. Combine well.
3. Mix in 3 cups of flour and stir vigorously to mix well. For this I use a whisk. Now add flour 1 cup at a time using a spatula. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Once you cannot stir in more flour turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
4. Flour the top and begin kneading. Knead using the heel of your hands and push away from you. Lift up the dough that is furthest from you and fold over. Repeat this action until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky, but elastic. A good test is to poke your finger into the dough to the first knuckle. If it bounces back out the dough is now smooth and elastic.
5. Place the dough into an oiled bowl. Flip the dough over. This ensures the dough is oiled on both sides. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Allow dough to rise until double in size. For this I place the dough in the oven with the light on. This provides a draught free warm location.
6. Once the dough has doubled in size remove from the oven. Now it’s time to punch down the dough. This knocks out all the air bubbles making a finer grained bun. It also redistributes the yeast, sugar and moisture allowing the dough to rise again once the buns are formed.
7. Pull up small sections of dough and cut off with a small knife. Flatten the dough between your hands. With the dough on your non-dominant hand use your dominant hand to grip the dough and pinch together. Turn the dough 90 degrees and pinch in sides again. Push the pinched piece in slightly and place the buns and a well oiled cookie sheet. you should get 36 buns from this recipe.
8. Place the cookie sheets back into the oven with the light on and allow to double in size. This will take 45-60 minutes. Once double remove from oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes to a nice golden colour. Allow to cool a couple of minutes. Remove from the cookie sheet onto a cooling rack. These buns freeze very well. Ensure they are cooled before bagging.
Notes:
1) I will sometimes take 1/3 of the dough, roll it out to 1/2 inch thickness.
2. Spread butter on the surface, then sprinkle with 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1 Tbsp of cinnamon. Roll up and slice into 12 pieces then place in an 8X12 cake pan.
3. We also at times fold the dough over a thick piece of pepperoni. They come out of the oven a complete sandwich!