Today I am sharing you a recipe for an Asian inspired bun recipe. These buns are filled with tangy soft apple. Because tangzhong or water roux method was used in this recipe, the little buns stay fresh and soft for days.

Yes, here I am with another simple recipe for bread…this time I decided to make a lighter version of bread dough as compared to the sweet dough. In spite of no heavy cream and less fat, this bread still turned out to be very light and fluffy…

With this one recipe I made two kind of bread, my usual Pullman sandwich loaf and buns filled with freshly cooked apple filling…yes, the buns turned out so good…light bread dough with sweet and a touch of tangy apple…fall is here, and this means lots of variety of apples to choose from…

I have a feeling that this bread recipe will be here to stay, especially that contain less fat and still has the same fluffiness of the other ones that I baked in the past.

In this recipe I added the butter after the gluten developed, therefore the butter did not interfere with the gluten formation, therefore the texture came out very light, fluffy and yet springy

During mixing stage, before the butter hit the bowl I was to tempted to add more flour, but was able to control myself and waited for a while…sure enough the dough eventually did not stick to the bottom of the bowl (due to gluten formation).

When adding the butter, because the gluten network has been formed already, please be aware that it will take a while until the butter incorporate into the dough…please be patience…all well worth it!

By the way, you will need a mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer) for this recipe, as the dough is very sticky and hard to handle. Here is the recipe, and indeed it is a very simple one, just make sure that you weight all the ingredients…I hope you get to try this one…oh! Both the sandwich loaf and the apple buns stay fresh for many many days…

Ingredients:

Water Roux or Tangzhong

• 35 g bread flour
• 175 g water

Main dough

• 2 eggs slightly beaten minus 1 ½ tablespoons (use as egg wash)
• 600 g bread flour
• 90 g sugar
• 50 g dry milk
• 8 g sea salt
• 8 g dry yeast
• 120 ml water
• 60 g butter

Apple Filling

• 450 g Jazz apples, peeled and cut
• 100 g sugar
• 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 100ml water

Method:

Apple Filling

Soak the cut apple in a bowl of water with some lemon or lime juice

Drain and place the apple in a medium pan. Add the sugar, lemon or lime juice and water. Cook under high heat until boiling. Turn the heat to low and cook until most of the water is evaporated.

Add the vanilla extract and remove from the heat.

Let it cool completely before using on the dough.

Bread Dough

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in a low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reach 65C (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form. Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Dough

Place all the cooled water roux and all the ingredients listed under main dough into a mixer except for the butter. Mix until all the ingredients are together, it will be very sticky.

Increase the speed to number 2 and continue to mix for 5 to 10 minutes, until all dough comes out from the bottom of the mixing bowl.

Add the butter and continue the mixing until the dough is smooth and comes out of the mixing bowl, this will take approximately another 10 to 15 minutes. You will notice that the dough will no longer stick to the wall of the mixing bowl and pass the window pane test.

Place the dough into a medium to large bowl. Cover and let it proof until the size double from the original size.

Divide the dough into approximately 550g and 640g. Use the 550g for the Pullman loaf.

With the 640g dough, using a rolling pin shape the dough into a rectangle of approximately 28 x 38cm. Spread the apple filling evenly on the dough. Roll it like when making cinnamon rolls.

Cut into approximately 16 pieces. Place the rolls into a muffin pan.

Cover and let the buns proof until double its original size.

When ready to bake, use the leftover egg as an egg wash (add 1 teaspoon water) and brush gently on the buns.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for approximately 15 to 20 minute, until slightly golden brown.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you enjoy this Asian inspired recipe of bread, you might want to take a look at Sweet Milk Bread with Raisin or Matcha Swirl Sandwich Bread recipes.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

This light and fluffy buns made with pumpkin puree are great at anytime, especially during fall season. This is an Asian inspired recipe using tangzhong method, therefore the buns stay fresh and moist for days.

Yes, I kind of feel guilty not posting anything with pumpkin…not that I have not made anything with it…I actually made lots and lots of bread using pumpkin. I even made my first soufflé with butternut squash, which I will share with you some other time.

These pumpkin dinner rolls or if you wish you can make into a pull-apart loaf are very pretty and tasty. I again used the water roux method or tangzhong as known by many bakers…the recipe is very simple and the texture of these are so light, fluffy and very cottony.

I rely on my little Zojirushi bread machine to do all the kneading and them baked the rolls on a 8 inch round pan and the pull-apart bread was baked in mini loaf pans.

Ingredients:

Water Roux or Tangzhong

• 15 g bread flour
• 75 g water

Main dough

• 130 g pumpkin puree
• 300 g bread flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoons dry milk
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon dry yeast
• 2 tablespoon butter

Garnish for:

Dinner Rolls:

• Pumpkin seeds for garnish

Pull-Apart:

• 1 ½ tablespoons butter (melted)
• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Egg Wash ( 1 egg + 1 tablespoon milk)

Method:

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in a low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reach 65oC (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form. Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Dough

In the bread machine bucket, add the water roux, and all the other ingredients, except for the butter.

Turn the machine to knead mode until it forms soft dough, slightly sticky. Add more water of flour as needed since the content of water will vary between different pumpkin puree. Add the butter and let it knead until the butter incorporates to the dough.

Remove the dough and place in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let both dough proof until the dough double to its original size.

For the Dinner Rolls

Knock back the dough and split into 20 to 22 little balls.

Place the little balls into the round pan, cover and let it rise until double of its original size.

Gently brush with egg wash. Garnish with pumpkin seeds.

Bake in a preheated oven of 350F for approximately 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let the bread cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or store the bread in an airtight container.

For the Pull-Apart

Knock back the dough and split into 3 balls. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes (covered).

With a roller pin, open the dough into approximately 9 x 7 inch rectangle.

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, generously.

Cut into four strips and again into smaller squares or rectangles.

Pile them together and place into a mini loaf pan. Proceed the same way with the remaining 2 portion.

Cover and let it rise until double of its original size.

Gently brush with egg wash.

Bake in a preheated oven of 350F for approximately 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let the bread cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or store the bread in an airtight container.

If you enjoy this simple pumpkin dinner rolls you might want to check on the Pumpkin Chia Seed Sandwich Bread or Sesame Swirl Pumpkin Bread recipes.

Oh! I almost forgot…I will be out of town for a meeting in Chicago (so cold!) and will be back with new recipes after Thanksgiving…

Did you know that pumpkin is loaded of dietary fiber and anti-oxidants such as beta carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the body? Moreover, pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of dietary fiber as well as mono unsaturated fat, which are good for the heart.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

This is a pretty classic and traditional recipe for French toast…so what’s special? Well, I used the yolk custard bread…which is soft, fluffy and rich. Great for breakfast or brunch!

When living in Brazil, we would use a kind of bread similar to baguette to make “rabanada”, and I got very intrigued after moving to US and discovered the similarity between “rabanada” and French toast, mainly because the shape was totally different, round versus square. Moreover, we would dust the “rabanada” with cinnamon and sugar and it was mostly served during Christmastime for breakfast.

I do not make often French toast, after being in a baking frenzy mood lately I decided to use the Egg Yolk Custard Bread to make this simple and easy French toast, especially that I have a whole loaf of bread and I am already itching to bake more. This is a very simple recipe…although I still have to see a “difficult” recipe for French toast…yes, it came out very creamy, rich and it is such a treat for breakfast.

Ingredients:

• 2 thick slices of yolk custard bread (brioche, baguette, challah or white bread)
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon butter

• Fresh blueberries
• Whipped cream or maple syrup
• Or whatever you want on your French toast

Method:

In a deep pie plate whisk together cinnamon, egg, nutmeg, milk, sugar, vanilla extract and heavy cream.

Dip the bread in the egg mixture by coating both sides.

In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Fry the bread slices until golden brown, then flip to cook the other side.

Serve with fresh whipped cream, blueberries and/or syrup.

If you enjoy this simple recipe for French toast you might want to try Waffle Iron Churros recipes.

Did you know that in France and some other countries, French toast is called “pain perdu”? Pain perdu means “lost bread”, by dipping the bread in an egg mixture it is a way to recover the stale bread.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

This is one of the recipe that as soon as I saw on the Wall Street Journal on a lazy Saturday morning I said “I am making this!”. This recipe got stuck on my mind and I would not rest until I tried it…and of course I had to do it my way…it was not hard since I had all the ingredients handy.

I used an Asian version for the dough, and somehow followed the instructions for the filling. I omitted the sugar syrup because I thought it would be too sweet with the Nutella and chocolate chips in the filling, which by the way, I added a very generous amount, but hey, feel free to add the sugar syrup if you enjoy a sweeter version of this treat. If you want the original recipe look it here.

Overall the recipe is pretty simple and easy if you are familiar with bread baking…and yes, the result is delicious, the combination of Nutella and chocolate chips is just a dream…gooey, moist…as noted in the article, you will have Nutella in each and every bite of this bread. Therefore when eating this bread, you will find your fingers coated with Nutella/chocolate…yum!

One more thing…I only used half of the dough for the babka, the remaining half I made it into rolls.

Ingredients:

Bread dough with Water Roux or Tangzhong

Water Roux
15 g bread flour
75 g water

Dough
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, complete with water to make a final 2/3 cup
2 ½ cups bread flour
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons butter

Filling

Nutella
¼ cup chocolate chips

Method:

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in a low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reach 65C (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form.

Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Dough

In the bread machine bucket, add the water roux, and all the other ingredients, except for the butter.

Turn the machine to knead mode until it forms soft dough. If the dough is too wet or too dry, add more flour or water accordingly. The dough should be soft and almost sticky.

Add the butter and let it knead until the butter incorporates to the dough. At this stage, the dough will be very sticky, do not add more flour as the butter will incorporate totally in the dough.

Remove the dough and place in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let the dough proof until double of its original size.

Knock back the dough and split into 2 balls and let it rest for 5 minutes on the counter.

Using a rolling pin flatten one of the ball and roll into a rectangular (sort of) shape of approximately 13 x 9 inches. Spread Nutella (generously) and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Roll the dough tightly like a Swiss roll and lay the seam side down. Cut into half and again each half to a half. With the second ball I just made rolls…

Lay two segments and for an “X”, and twist each end once. Repeat with the remaining two segments. Transfer them to a mini loaf pan, tucking the end underneath.

Cover the pans with plastic wrap until loaves double in volume. Bake in a pre-heated oven to 350F for 20 minutes.

Remove and let it cool on a wire rack.

If you enjoy this Asian inspired recipe for babka, you might want to check on this other Asian inspired bread such as Chocolate Marble Bread or Cinnamon Rolls in a Cup.

Did you know that babka is rumored to have its origins in Poland? And it was a cake? Many other versions of babka have emerged from cake to yeasted bread.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes [dot] Me and have a great week!

When I bought the can of pumpkin from Trader Joe’s, I had no idea what I wanted to use the can for…I just knew that I wanted to make something using pumpkin…after all, it is Fall and Halloween is around the corner.
After many thoughts…why not pumpkin buns using the water roux method? But what do to with the remaining of the pumpkin? Why not fill the buns with it? So this was the end of my quest…pumpkin buns filled with pumpkin. In the middle of the baking, I decided to try and make some rolls as well, like the cinnamon rolls, using the pumpkin filling…

The buns and rolls came out delicious, the combination of the soft and pillowy bread with the creamy pumpkin filling was just perfect.

Ingredients:

Water roux or Tangzhong
15 g bread flour
75 ml water

Dough
1 ½ cup bread flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk
1 ½ tablespoons butter
1 ½ teaspoons yeast
1 egg
½ cup mashed pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
Water as needed

Pumpkin filling
1 can of pumpkin minus the ½ cup (used in the dough)
3 to 4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkins spice
2 tablespoons fresh milk

Egg wash
Poppy seeds

Method:

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in  low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reaches 65oC (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form. Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Dough

In the bread machine bucket, add the water roux, and all the other ingredients listed under “dough”, except for the butter.

Turn the machine to knead mode until it forms soft dough, add more water if needed. Add the butter and let it knead until the butter incorporates to the dough.

Remove the dough and place in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let both dough proof until the dough doubles to its original size. In the meantime prepare the pumpkin filling by mixing all the ingredients in a medium bowl.

Knock back the dough and split into 2 balls and let it rest for 5 minutes on the counter.

Flatten one of the balls and shape like a Swiss roll, place half of the filling and roll it like a Swiss roll. Cut in 8 equal size and place in a pan, cover the pan with a plastic film until it sizes double.

With the other half ball, split into 8 small portions. Flatten the dough with the roller pin and with your fingers until a disk. Place some filling in the middle of the disk and seal it with all the filling in it. Place the filled buns on the tray, cover with a plastic film and let them rest until their sizes double.

When ready to bake, with a sharp scissor make cuts on the side of the buns and brush the top of the buns with the egg wash and sprinkle some poppy seeds on it.

In a preheated oven of 350 bake the buns and rolls for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown
Remove from the oven and cool the buns/rolls on a wire rack.

If you enjoy this pumpkin buns using water roux method, you might want to check on Simple Pumpkin Cupcakes or Pumpkin Cookies for recipe using pumpkin.

Did you know that pumpkin is very rich in dietary fiber? Moreover, due to its high content in antioxidants, minerals and vitamins is one of the food item that is recommended by dieticians for cholesterol and weight controlling program.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

Hello! I am back and I hope you all had a great weekend…we went to Beijing for vacation. Being that this was my first time in China, I must tell you, it was amazing…I will, in the future, share some of the pictures that we took.

Being in China and exposed to all the Chinese food, all of a sudden I asked myself “how come I have not made Chinese steamed bread/bun?” Well, most of the time I would buy them frozen at the local Asian grocery store, either plain or filled with savory meat/vegetarian or the sweet version. Very different from when I used to live in Brazil.  Because the Asian goods were not ready available, we had to make everything from scratch. After moving to US, we just got spoiled since we could find all the goodies easily available.

I remember the first time  I introduced this buns to my husband, he looked at me and said “are you sure that this is cooked? It seems raw…” Even as I place the bun into my mouth, he was still hesitant but finally gave in and tried…Now he loves the homemade ones; he even spreads the buns with peanut butter and jelly or makes a sandwich with it.

These buns are very soft and pillowy… I love “playing” with the dough and making different shapes or into simple rolls. You can store the buns in the refrigerator or in the freezer. Just place them in the steamer for 10 to 15 minutes and you have a hot and steamy bun. Believe me this recipe is very simple!

Ingredients:

Starter dough

1/3 cup warm water
1 ½ teaspoon yeast
2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Main Dough

1 ½ tablespoon cornstarch, complete with all-purpose flour to final measurement of 1 ½ cup
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon canola oil
¼ cup warm water

Method:

Starter dough

Dissolve the sugar in the warm water and add the yeast. Mix gently and let it rest for approximately 5 minutes, add the flour. Mix and let the starter dough rest in a warm place for approximately 1 hour, until the surface is bubbly.

Final dough

In the bread machine bucket add the starter dough and the remaining ingredients from the main dough, except the water. Set the bread machine to the dough setting, slowly add the water until the dough is soft and smooth. When the dough cycle finishes, remove the dough from the bucket and place in a medium bowl cover with a plastic film and let the dough proof until it doubles its original size. It will take approximately 1 to 2 hours, depending of the room temperature.

Once the dough double its original size, knock the dough back (punch in down) gently and it is time to shape them…now the fun begins!

In this particular case, I divided the dough into 10 equal pieces and shaped them differently. I even added green onion in a couple of them.

Once you shape the buns, place them on parchment paper, cover with plastic film and let them rise in a warm place for approximately 30 to 45 minutes, or until almost double in size.

In the meantime get the steamer going. Place the buns in the steamer, making sure that there is enough space between the buns. Steam the buns in boiling medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes. Be careful when removing the buns from the steamer so the steam condensation does not drip on the buns.

Transfer the buns to a rack to cool. Serve them hot/warm.

Store them in the refrigerator or freezer.

If you enjoy this Chinese steamed buns you may want to check on this other Asian bread recipes like Red Bean Buns or Asian Style Sandwich Loaf from Simple Recipes.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

This is a very fun and simple bread recipe using the water roux method. The texture of this bread, due to the water roux,  is very soft, almost cotton like and the bread stays soft for more than 3 days. It is not very sweet because sugar was not added to the chocolate layers…

My husband was a little disappointed because he expected a sweeter chocolate layer…and he was like “looks like chocolate, but does not taste like it”. Once I explained to him that I used unsweetened cocoa powder, he settled for “Oh! So the chocolate color is just for  looks”. Anyway, to boost the flavor you can always spread jam or Nutella.

I used my Zojirushi bread machine, but this simple recipe can be easily done manually. I made them into three mini bread pans; they came out very “cute”.

Ingredients:

Water roux or Tangzhong
1/3 cup bread flour
1 cup water

Main dough
2 ½ cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk powder
100 ml of water plus 2 tablespoons water
1 ½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons yeast
2 tablespoons butter

Method:

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in a low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reach 65oC (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form. Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Main dough

In the bread machine bucket, add the water roux, and all the other ingredients, except for the butter, water and cocoa powder.
Turn the machine to knead mode until it forms soft dough. Add the butter and let it knead until the butter incorporates into the dough.

Divide the dough in approximately 2/3 and 1/3 portions. Remove the small portion and set aside by covering with a plastic film.

Knead the bigger portion until the dough is smooth and elastic. Remove from the machine and set aside in a bowl by covering the dough with a plastic film.

Place back the small portion in the bread machine and add cocoa powder and water as needed and let it knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover the chocolate dough and set aside in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let both dough proof until the dough doubles to its original size.

Knock back both dough and let it rest for 5 minutes on the counter, cover both dough.

Flatten the chocolate dough into a rectangle shape of approximately 6 x 9 inches and the white dough to 12 x 6 inches. Layer the chocolate rectangle in between the white rectangle. Flatten the rectangle and cut in 2 equal portions. Layer one piece on top of the other and flatten again. Repeat this procedure a couple of times.

Cut the flatten dough into 3 equal pieces. Then again cut into 3 equal strips. Gently roll the strips and place 3 together and make a braid. Place the braided bread in the tins. Cover the tins with plastic film and let them rise in a warm place until the dough has almost tripled its original size.

Meanwhile, preheat oven at 350F. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter. Remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

If you enjoy this Asian style bread you might want to check on red bean buns or cinnamon rolls.

Have a great week and thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes!