Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Overnight Buns

The really great thing about bread is that you can delay it, if need be, to fit your schedule. The even better thing about bread is that if give it a long, cool rest, the flavor improves. Win-win.

When I'm bringing buns to someone's house for dinner, I like to bring fresh buns. Baked that day. They don't have to be warm, but if I'm going through the trouble of making home made bread, I want it to be as good as it can be. And that means I don't want it to be a day old.

But sometimes the whole process of kneading, rising, shaping, rising, baking doesn't fit neatly into the hours before we're going out. What's a baker to do? Make an overnight recipe, of course.

I usually make small recipes - just one loaf or a dozen buns, but if I'm bringing them to a dinner or a party, I want to have enough for dinner and enough left so the hosts have some buns for themselves for the next day. So this one makes a whopping 24 buns.

For my own convenience, I baked these all on a half-sheet pan, so they snuggled together during rising and baking. If you prefer buns that remain separate, you'll need two baking sheets. I don't mind when buns have those soft - pulled-apart sides, but it's up to you.

Overnight Buns

1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon instant yeast
3 cups bread flour
1/2 cup semolina flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup instant mashed potato flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons room temperature butter
White rice flour, as needed

Combine the water, honey, instant yeast, bread flour, semolina flour, dry milk, and potato flakes in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add the salt and butter and continue kneading until the salt and butter are completely incorporated and the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 45 minutes. Line a half-sheet rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Divide it into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Arrange the balls on the prepared baking pan, sprinkle the tops white rice flour. If you don't have rice flour, you can use bread flour or all purpose flour.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and put the pan in the refrigerator.

When you're ready to bake, take the buns out of the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center position. Let the oven heat for 20 minutes.

Uncover the buns and bake until nicely browned, about 25 minutes.

Let the buns cool on a rack.

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Comments (7)

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DEE DEE RIVERAL's avatar

DEE DEE RIVERAL · 529 weeks ago

WHY ISN'T SHE ON THE FOOD NETWORK CHANNEL ANYMORE, COOKING ON HER THE SHOW SHE WAS ON?? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED AND WHERE DID SHE GO?? I AM SO DAMN ANGRY WITH THOSE PEOPLE OVER AT THE FOOD NETWORK, COOKING CHANNEL, TRAVEL CHANNEL, ETC., BECAUSE THEY ABSOLUTELY RUINED THEIR CHANNELS, SHOWS, CREDIBILITY, AND REPUTATION BY TAKING ALL THE REALLY GREAT, TALENTED, EXPERIENCED, GENUINE, LEGITIMATE, CREDIBLE, AND REPUTABLE CHEFS AND COOKS OFF THE AIR. BIG MISTAKE. HUGE MISTAKE. EPIC MISTAKE. WE DON'T WATCH THOSE CHANNELS ANYMORE. WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE THAT MESS SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED LONG AGO. WHEN THEY FINALLY DECIDE TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND BRING BACK ALL THE TALENTED CHEFS/COOKS THEY FIRED, WE WILL BE BACK AS WELL. ABOUT THE ONLY ONE'S THEY STILL HAVE ON WHO ARE REALLY GOOD, IS NADIA G. TOM KERRIDGE, KELSEY NIXON, CHUCK HUGHES, TYLER FLORENCE, ANN BURRELL, AND A FEW OTHERS, BUT THEY TOOK SOME OF THEM OFF THEIR SHOWS TOO, WHICH I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY. I LIKE THAT THEY PUT THEM ON SHOWS WHERE THEY VISIT RESTAURANTS, DELI'S, FOOD TRUCKS, ETC., BECAUSE WE SHOULD GET THOSE EXACTLY RECIPES THEY MAKE ON THEM, AND ALL THE INFORMATION, BUT I DON'T LIKE THAT THEY TOOK THEM OFF OF THEIR REGULAR COOKING SHOWS. FOR INSTANCE, I REALLY LOVED "CHUCK'S DAY OFF", WHICH CHUCK HUGHES, AND I LIKE THE OTHER SHOWS THEY PUT HIM ON TOO, BUT WHY THE HELL DID THEY HAVE TO GO AND TAKE HIM OFF HIS REGULAR AWESOME COOKING SHOW?? STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!!
These look amazing and I can not wait to make them! I am always looking for bun recipes!
My recent post Open Faced Blueberry Pie
I will have to try these. Love the idea of making them the next day.

Have you tried them with whole wheat flour?
My recent post Using Leftovers – Banana Raisin Whoopie Pie
1 reply · active 678 weeks ago
Not these specifically, but I find that most recipes adapt well if you substitute 1/3 of the white flour with whole wheat. It might need a tad more water, though, since whole wheat tends to be thirstier.
Just gorgeous ... It's been way too long since I've made yeast rolls :-)
My recent post NEW – Monthly Food Story Photo Contest

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