Five Minute Buns

Oh gosh. This was too easy. We might be eating bread every night now. (Well, Mark might.) I found a recipe for black bean burgers with harissa and five minute buns, and I thought I'd give it a go. Last night, I made the dough for the buns as well as the harissa (harissa recipe taken from Vehement Flame's post - scroll all the way down!), and I'm currently cooking my soaked beans. We're having the burgers tomorrow, so I'll do a post over the weekend, depending on how they turn out. However, I decided I would try out one of the buns tonight, just for kicks. If they turned out awfully, I needed a plan B, because Mark certainly won't be downing bean burgers by themselves...

They are one of my most successful bread baking endeavors ever! The cat can even make them! You MUST try these if you enjoy freshly baked bread for minimal time and cost. The BEST part about the buns though? You can make the dough (which really is done in five minutes) and leave it in your fridge for up to two weeks, taking off a few hunks every time you want a bun. And I control the fermentation time. The longer the better. So we've got one easy dough, twice a month, for fresh bread. Can you dig it?

Here's the recipe:

3 cups lukewarm water
1 ½ tablespoons yeast
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour (any combo will do though - I'll likely do all WW next time)

Mix yeast, salt and water in a large bowl. Stir together the flours, then add to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine but don’t knead it. Mine had huge lumps, and the bread still managed to turn out amazing.

Cover and allow to rise at room temperature until the dough rises and then collapses on itself. I left it overnight and just popped in a ziplock baggie, not fully shut, when I woke up in the morning. I can leave it there for up to 14 days!! However, it can be shaped and baked immediately, too.

Once you're ready to eat them, allow to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a baking stone on the top rack. Just before baking, bring a few cups of water to a boil and place a tray on the bottom rack of the oven. Pour the water into the tray.

I brushed the pictured roll with a garlic herb olive oil blend, but you can bake as is, add salt, or try another kind of seed. I will probably add caramelized onion tomorrow night! Put rolls onto the baking stone and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until they sound hollow when you tap the bottom. You can also stick a meat thermometer in the bottom of the roll. If it registers 190 or higher, you're good to go!