Do you remember the spicy stuffed breads we used to get in bakeries in India? Not sure if they are still available, but I craved for these buns when we moved to US. I used to search for these buns in bakery sections here and would get disappointed to see the sweet breads. Finally I deciced to make them at home. Sometimes with paneer, sometimes with eggs and other times with mixed veggies, they were always a hit.
Couple of years ago, V got me a KitchenAid stand mixer as a surprise gift. It has become my favorite gadget in the kitchen. I use it to make bread dough, chapati dough, cakes etc. After some trial and error, I have figured out a way to efficiently use this. Fresh breads are on the menu atleast once a week now.
Last week I bought a oven thermometer (finally!!). I had noticed my breads were not getting baked in the time mentioned in many recipes. I had same trouble with cakes. I found online that some ovens show wrong temperatures. This thermometer costed me about $5. I think it was totally worth it. When I tried preheating my oven to 350F, I noticed the thermometer was showing 325F. So it is off by 25F, which makes a big difference to baking. If you are struggling to get your cakes/breads baked properly, this might be something you would like to invest in.
Now coming to this bread, I try to make them into decorative shapes instead of simple buns. They are always big hits in get togethers. I have started making these instead of chapatis which take a long time to roll. I learn something new with every bread I bake. So this has been ongoing learning experience for me. I make the bread with 50% multi grain flour(the one we use to make chapatis) or wheat flour. I feel the bread gets more dense if I use more of it. But I am working on it, to see if I can decrease the amount of all purpose flour(maida) in it.
Spicy Stuffed Bread (with Paneer Stuffing)
Ingredients
- 1 pack active dry yeast
- 2 cups multi grain flour or wheat flour
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 and 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbl spn butter
- 1 tbl spn honey
- 1 tbl spn + some more olive oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Take luke warm water in a bowl and add honey and yeast to it.
- Keep it aside for 10mins till the mixture becomes frothy (yeast becomes active).
- Now add milk, butter, multi grain (or wheat) flour, salt and mix till it all comes together (I do the mixing in stand mixer with dough hook).
- Then add 1/2 cup all purpose flour at a time mixing all the time till it becomes a dough.
- Add 1 tbl spn olive oil and mix again. (It may take slightly more flour or water based on humidity and other factors).
- Now knead the dough for 10mins. If you are mixing by hand, take the dough on a clean flat surface and knead for 10 mins.
- Take a small piece of dough and stretch it. If it breaks easily, you need to knead a little more.
- Now apply some olive oil on the surface and cover the bowl with a plastic wrap or damp towel and keep in a warm place (I keep in oven with lights on).
- The dough will double in volume in about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hrs.
- Punch the dough down and lightly mix the dough.
- Leave for another 45mins.
- Now take the dough pieces, stuff them and shape into required shapes (follow the pictures for few different ideas).
- Shaped into a thin long log, without any stuffing (this I use for sandwiches next day)
- Stuffed shaped into a easy, beautiful bread
- Cover the dough over the stuffing
- Make sure the seam is down and stretch the bread into long log. Then put deep cuts into it making sure the log is intact on left. Then gently lift it and move it into a circle.
- Stuffed simple braid
- Cover the shaped dough with plastic wrap or damp towel and leave around 45mins
- Preheat the oven at 350F for 10mins.
- Brush the top of the bread with milk (or egg wash), sprinkle some white sesame seeds or chopped garlic or dried herbs on top.
- I slashed the top with a sharp knife for the bread with no stuffing. Then topped with herbs and sesame seeds
- For stuffed breads, it was just sesame seeds
- Bake at 350F for about 20mins.
- Let them cool for few minutes before cutting.
For Spicy Stuffing
Spicy Stuffed Bread (with Paneer Stuffing)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup onion
- 1 cup chopped paneer or boiled and chopped eggs or mixed vegetables or ground chicken
- 1 cup green peas
- 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
- 1 tea spn garam masala
- 1/2 tea spn chilli powder
- 1/2 tea spn grated ginger
- Oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat oil and add cumin seeds.
- Add onions, ginger and fry till they are translucent.
- Add garam masala, chilli powder, salt, peas. Cover and let them cook.
- Now add paneer, mix well and cook for another 5 mins or so.
Spicy Stuffed Bread (with Paneer Stuffing)
Ingredients
- 1 pack active dry yeast
- 2 cups multi grain flour or wheat flour
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 and 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbl spn butter
- 1 tbl spn honey
- 1 tbl spn + some more olive oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Take luke warm water in a bowl and add honey and yeast to it.
- Keep it aside for 10mins till the mixture becomes frothy (yeast becomes active).
- Now add milk, butter, multi grain (or wheat) flour, salt and mix till it all comes together (I do the mixing in stand mixer with dough hook).
- Then add 1/2 cup all purpose flour at a time mixing all the time till it becomes a dough.
- Add 1 tbl spn olive oil and mix again. (It may take slightly more flour or water based on humidity and other factors).
- Now knead the dough for 10mins. If you are mixing by hand, take the dough on a clean flat surface and knead for 10 mins.
- Take a small piece of dough and stretch it. If it breaks easily, you need to knead a little more.
- Now apply some olive oil on the surface and cover the bowl with a plastic wrap or damp towel and keep in a warm place (I keep in oven with lights on).
- The dough will double in volume in about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hrs.
- Punch the dough down and lightly mix the dough.
- Leave for another 45mins.
- Now take the dough pieces, stuff them and shape into required shapes (follow the pictures for few different ideas).
- Shaped into a thin long log, without any stuffing (this I use for sandwiches next day)
- Stuffed shaped into a easy, beautiful bread
- Cover the dough over the stuffing
- Make sure the seam is down and stretch the bread into long log. Then put deep cuts into it making sure the log is intact on left. Then gently lift it and move it into a circle.
- Stuffed simple braid
- Cover the shaped dough with plastic wrap or damp towel and leave around 45mins
- Preheat the oven at 350F for 10mins.
- Brush the top of the bread with milk (or egg wash), sprinkle some white sesame seeds or chopped garlic or dried herbs on top.
- I slashed the top with a sharp knife for the bread with no stuffing. Then topped with herbs and sesame seeds
- For stuffed breads, it was just sesame seeds
- Bake at 350F for about 20mins.
- Let them cool for few minutes before cutting.
Spicy Stuffed Bread (with Paneer Stuffing)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup onion
- 1 cup chopped paneer or boiled and chopped eggs or mixed vegetables or ground chicken
- 1 cup green peas
- 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
- 1 tea spn garam masala
- 1/2 tea spn chilli powder
- 1/2 tea spn grated ginger
- Oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat oil and add cumin seeds.
- Add onions, ginger and fry till they are translucent.
- Add garam masala, chilli powder, salt, peas. Cover and let them cook.
- Now add paneer, mix well and cook for another 5 mins or so.
Black Forest Buns
The bread of the month in We Knead To Bake group were these delicious Black forest buns. I had never heard about these buns before. Since V loves Black Forest cake, I thought this would be a good fit for the Valentine’s day (I baked it on the weekend before Valentine’s day).
I have realized how hard it is to concentrate on anything these days, with 2 small kids around. I usually start with full interest and by the time I am half done, I literally start rushing things because one of them or both would have lost their patience by then. Same happened with these. I did not pay attention to some of the main details. So these turned out like pull apart rolls in shape instead of the buns that you can see in Aparna’s blog . I used little too much cake in them, so it was a little hard to roll into a log and then cut into pieces. But they were so good, I did not mind the shape at all. They looked rustic (ahem!!) and kind of cute after I drizzled the chocolate on top.
They tasted so much better on the next day. I sent some for Ishaan’s teachers and some for V’s colleagues. I think I was the one who finished the most. The bread, cake and cherries all were delicious together. I am sure I will make these again, may be with a little less cake next time.
Black Forest Buns
Ingredients
For dough
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 50 gms 3.5 tbl spn butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg optional
- 3/4 tea spn salt
- 1 and 1/2 tea spn instant yeast
- 3 to 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
For Filling
- 3/4 cup strawberry/cherry jam I used cherry preserve
- 2 and 1/2 to 3 cup crumbled chocolate cake I used 1/2 recipe of black forest cake
For Drizzling
- 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Heat milk and water till it is warm.
- Take off heat and add butter, mix till it melts. (I transferred it to stand mixer bowl).
- Add sugar and beat till it is dissolved.
- Cool down the mixture and then add yeast, egg and beat till mixed.
- Add 1 cup of flour, salt and mix.
- Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time till everything is mixed well.
- Knead the dough for about 10mins.
- Lightly apply oil to the surface of the dough and leave it aside covered for about 1 and 1/2 hrs till it doubles in volume.
- Now punch down the dough and roll it into approximately 18" x 12" rectangle.
- Spread the jam (or cherry preserve or compote) on it.
- Spread crumbled cake on top.
- Roll the dough as tightly as possible.
- Cut into 12 equal pieces.
- Place them in a cake pan leaving some space between them for them to rise(there was not much space left in my cake pan, so I kept them pretty close).
- Leave them aside loosely covered for another 45mins-1hr to rise.
- Preheat the oven at 350F for about 10mins.
- Bake at 350F for 25-30mins.
- Cool them completely. Then drizzle melted chocolate on top.
