Hotdog Buns for Sunday Brunch

Out from the oven to cool "My Bun-nies" NEAT!Fluffy inner portion

It's Sunday again... Time flies too fast nowadays. Before you know it, the weekends crept in and come Monday Blues yet again and again and again... Last Sunday, "B" and I had many things planned. To go Nenek's, to get some baby stuffs, to Mama to discuss stuffs, to a wedding reception and other nitty-gritty. Apart from that, I still have the household chores like the laundries, vacuuming, mopping, wiping, re-arranging etc. Just minus cooking as we thought of eating out later. But still... I made us some brunch while multi-tasking with other chores. I had a goodnight's rest and was awake by 8 am. Mr Sun's out and I first rushed out the laundries to dry. Yeap, told you peeps a gazillion times already that I HEART MR SUN...!

I had contemplated to make either a traditional malay kueh or some savoury buns. I'd love to make both but time and energy did not permit. Thus I chose the latter. Went ahead with a pretty easy hand-knead recipe. In all, you'll need about an hour half or so which included proofing and baking. The buns turned out soft and fluffy.

I could have had different fillings for variety but just not enough hands to go about doing it. Hotdogs are the simplest and fastest. I would have loved tuna, sardines, curry potatoes and even sweet fillings like red beans, mung beans, kaya, jams, dried fruits etc. A sultana would be neat too! Just meare thoughts. Huh, I was that ambitious! winks*

The buns were ready a little after 11-ish and the whole house smelt heavenly! "B's" head popped in by the kitchen entrance and with his sheepish look commented... "Sayang buat roti eh...? Kalau blom gosok gigi bleh makan dulu?" Cheh, fat hope lar...! Go wash up first before having a bite. Grrrrr...! This father-to-be acts a little childish at times. Yeah, I know there's always a child in you. But I think the child in "B" needed serious dicipline lar!

Ingredients for Dough
4 cups Prima bread flour
1 cup hot full cream milk
50g unsalted butter - room temp
1 tsp salt
8g instant yeast
Filling - 7 boiled hotdogs (halves)
Milk - to brush top of buns.
"Sprinklers" - Dried Rosemary, Dried Oregano, crushed Black Pepper and Paprika.
Method
In a bowl, pour in hot milk and butter and mix. Add in salt. Add in 1 cup of bread flour into the milk mixture and combine. Add in 1 more cup of bread flour into the mixture together with the instant yeast. Combine again. Add in the rest of the flour slowly and combine thoroughly till all flour are added and a dough is formed. Dough will be slightly sticky. Just dust in more flour on the board and some onto your hands for easier kneading. Knead for 15 to 20 minutes. Put the dough into a well greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let proof for 30 minutes or till dough doubled in size. Then, punch dough to let air out. Pinch a half fist size ball of dough and flatten into a round shape. Place a hotdog in and take one end of the side each and bring them to the middle and overlapped. Press a little so the two ends sticks. Placed the overlapped layer downside onto the baking tray. Let them sit for another 20 minutes to rise a second time before going into the oven. Brush with a little milk and bake for 20 minutes or till it browns. I sprinkled some oregano, rosemary, paprika and crushed black pepper on top for flavour and deco. I brushed more milk in the midst of baking as not to want the top to be dry. This recipe yields about 14 mini buns. The size of half a hotdog. I had some leftovers and froze them. "B" had them for breakfast the next two days. You just have to microwave them for a couple of seconds and they'll taste just as good! Oh, the buns tasted better with a little spread of mayonaise or chili sauce.