Almond wholewheat Piggy buns & loaf

Another week gone, and I am still slacking! I really need to get my emakentum going on my posting. I have not been blogging much but I have been more active on my new "passion"....Instagram, lol! If you are too an Instagram user, do come look for me and search for "honeybeesweet88" and you will find me. :P Do drop me a comment if you find me there ya?

Okay, back to my posting. It's been more then a month since my last bread post...geese, so unlike me! Lol! Anyway, I bake bread at least once a week...but this particular recipe has been my favorite lately. After my "Snake buns" episode, I decided to bake something fun again this time...piggy buns!!! *Oink* (ok, it's not a hint about my personality ah, lol!)

 

I just love these chubby-face piggies, haha! I had fun fun fun making them too! My kids were picking off their eyes, ears and snout when they eat their piggies, haha! This recipe is pretty much similar to the multigrain snake buns I posted earlier. But instead of almond+walnut+oats puree, I used almond+brown rice and wholewheat. :) But I do apologise that I didn't get to snap any pictures while I was shaping the piggies. :P But its not too complicated...read on. :P

Ingredients for Healthy Piggy Buns (recipe by HoneyBeeSweets)
Filling:

2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
5 slices of think ham, cut into small squares
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp powder sugar

• Boil the potatoes in a pot of water till it is fork tender. Scoop out and mash well.
• Then mix together with the rest of the ingredients and set aside for the buns later.

Dough:

420g bread flour
55g brown rice powder/ flour (you can sub this with rice flour)

40g wholewheat flour (I used Prima)
50g caster sugar
6g salt
7g instant active yeast
150g almond+brown rice puree  (I got this from my soymilk machine, you can use okara too)
160ml fresh milk
200ml water (+- 15 ml ; add as per needed )  

30g unsalted butter

3 slices of kraft cheese, cut into 4 squares in each slice (yields 12 small squares)

some mini chocolate chips for eyes 

• In a large mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients except the butter. Stir and mix till everything comes together to form a pliable dough.
• Continue kneading till the  dough becomes elastic and pulls away from the side of the bowl and not sticky anymore.
• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it reaches window stage. 
• Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover to let proof for 1.5-2hrs till it doubled in size.
• Punch out the air and divide the dough into 50g & 18g portions. (Note:  I made ~9 piggy buns & a plain loaf (9x4x5).)
• First take the pig head, take a 50g portion and roll flat into a flat disc shape. Place one cheese square at the center, then 30g of the filling over the cheese. Seal up the edges into a roll ball.Then using your palm, press it down slightly to make it a slightly flat for more face "area".
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• Take the 18g portion, divide into 5g, 5g & 8g. The two 5g are for the ears and the 8g for the snout. Roll round and stick the snout and ears on the main face dough surface.
• Using tooth pick, dip it in some masak oil (prevent sticking) then poke the nose to create the nostrils. For the ears, use kitchen scissors to snip the lower end to create an opening.

• Lastly stick 2 mini chocolate chips above the snout to make the eyes. Let it proof for at least 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 175C.
• Then bake these buns in the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes till slight golden brown. 

I really love the filling! I wondered why I never use that combination before, lol! 

With the remaining dough, I made a plain loaf as well. :) I guess I can just let the pictures do all the talking ya? :D

Hope this recipe will also become a favorite for you and your family too. And have fun baking those piggy heads too! :) Have a fantastic day everyone!

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CNY Bake: Multigrain Snake Buns

My, it's less then 20 days to Chinese New year!? Where did the time go? Didn't we just had a festive Christmas celebration last week? Well, nothing wrong with my sense of time, but it sure feels like last week, lol! I guess most of us home bakers are frantically baking the new year masakies in preparation for the celebration and to give away as well. As usual, I baking the pineapple tarts, almond masakies etc etc. But since there is a blog event over at Sonia's in lieu of CNY, I decided to join in the fun. :) I made snake buns! Lol, sound creepy and unappetizing isn't it. No worries, no snakes are harmed in the making of these buns. :P Haha...

 

 I know, not exactly snake looking buns...but you can imagine soft sticky dough ain't exactly that easy to mould either. :P But I had loads of bun making them! Haha, like a big kid with "play dough"!

 This dough recipe is actually similar to the one I used for my healthy cinnamon buns I baked last week. But instead of the red bean, red dates & black rice trio puree combo, I used almond, oats and walnut puree instead. I will still post the recipe here for easier reference.

Ingredients for Healthy Cinnamon Buns (recipe by HoneyBeeSweets)
420g bread flour
105g five grain flour (you can sub this with rice flour)
50g caster sugar
6g salt
7g instant active yeast
170g almond+walnut+oats puree
160ml fresh milk
200ml water (+- 10 ml ; add as per needed )  

30g unsalted butter

Filling:
mini smoked sauages

tuna mayo (1 can of chunky tuna, drained and mixed with 2-3 tbsp mayo, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2tsp sugar, pinch of pepper)

some red beans for eyes 

• In a large mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients except the butter. Stir and mix till everything comes together to form a pliable dough.
• Continue kneading till the  dough becomes elastic and pulls away from the side of the bowl and not sticky anymore.
• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it reaches window stage. 
• Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover to let proof for 1.5-2hrs till it doubled in size.
• Punch out the air and divide the dough into 40g and 50g portions. (Note:  I made at least 12 of these snakes buns. But you can make less and use the rest of the dough to make a loaf)
• First take the snake body, so take a 50g portion and roll flat into a rectangular shape:
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• Roll it up lengthwise and seal the edges nicely. Then roll the whole thing into a coil to look like a snake body:
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• Next, make the snake head. Cut the sausages into 3 length wise and cut the tip to make it look like a snake tongue. Then wrap the sausage with the 40g dough portion like a drumstick shape. Then place the head over the coil dough:
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• Repeat till all the dough portions has been used up. Let proof for 30-45minutes covered. Preheat the oven 175C while waiting. Brush egg wash if desired.
• Place 2 red beans on top of the head to make it look like it's eyes.
• Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy!

Seems a little complicated, but I guarantee you that you will have loads of fun making this. Get your kids to involve too to make it a bonding project! How cool is that?

You can use any bread dough recipe you are comfortable to work with. The one I'm using can be a little sticky and require more kneading time. But the next photo will proof that it is all worthwhile, haha!

Feel free to use another kind of puree if you don't fancy nuts. And you can also reduce the recipe into half to make a smaller manageable portion. :)

I am happy to submit this fun post to Sonia's blog event :Chinese New Year Delights 2016 新春送礼. Have you submited yours? Do join in the fun! Thanks Sonia for hosting this! :)

Have a great week ahead everyone! And happy baking all!!

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Matcha red bean buns; Christmas Tree

Time is flying pass so fast and it is only 10 days to Christmas. *Exciting* Although we are home bound this time during this Christmas, I am still glad because we get to enjoy more quiet family time. Besides that, we also put up our beautiful Christmas tree which has been "hibernating" for more then half a decade! (No worries, it's still in very good condition, haha!) This Christmas tree shared lots of wonderful memories with us, of our dear friends and family. So it's always sentimental to put it up. And now that the kids are more grown up, they were a great help in decorating the tree with the loads of ornaments that we have collected over the years from several countries as we traveled. (not to mention all those magnets on the fridge as well! ~faint~)

Talking about Christmas Tree, I got in the festive mood and baked a Christmas Tree too! A tree made from Matcha (green tea) soft buns, dried cranberries and sweet red bean paste filling. It was fun making it!

I got this great recipe from yet another masakbook I bought in Taiwan. Yes, I am gonna slowly post all them nice recipes all up, lol! This book is call "糕點女王的聰明烘焙法" which consist of simple delicious daily recipes that we love baking up when we have that small pocket of time. Again I did a little change to the recipe to my liking, here is my version:

Ingredients for Matcha Buns (enough to make a Christmas Tree)

200g Bread flour

20g wholewheat flour

6g Matcha powder

40g caster sugar

4g instant active dry yeast

1 egg white

3g salt

135ml water

30g unsalted butter @room temperture

1/4 tsp green food gel (optional : only if you want it real green)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Red bean paste filling (or any filling you fancy)

• In a mixing bowl, add in bread, wholewheat flour, matcha powder, sugar, salt, water, egg white and yeast. Mix well till it comes together to form a pilable dough.
• Continue to knead till it is not sticky and pulls away from the mixing bowl. Add in butter (and green food coloring if using) and continue to knead till it reaches window stage.
• Cover dough and let proof at room temperature for 2hours or till it doubled in size.
• Punch out the air and divide the dough into 11 equal rounds. (or which ever portions you see fot to build your tree). Cover and let rest for 10 mins)
• Flatten each dough portion and place about 15g of red bean paste in the center. Close and seal nicely. Roll round and lay it on a baking pan laid with parchment. Repeat for the rest of the portions till all is filled and rolled. Remember to assemble your tree as you go along.
• Brush the dough surface with some egg white/water and press on some dried cranberries as decorations. Let proof for anothwe 30 minites covered.
• Preheat the oven to 175C.
• Bake the tree in the oven for 15minutes or till it is golden brown in colour. Remove from oven and let cool before serving.

As you can see, this is not complicated, I think anyone can bake this wonderful festive bread at home. Whether you choose green tea or pandan flavor, I am sure your little ones at home will enjoy, pulling off these soft delicious buns and munching it down happily. :)

Again another wonderful easy recipe, soft and yummy even on the following days! Do give this recipe a try. ;)

I am happy to submit this post to this month's Aspiring Bakers #26 - Creative Christmas Motif Bakes! hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies. Thanks for hosting Alan! If you have not made anything for this month's AB, get in the kitchen now and join in the festive fun! 

Okay, hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Cheers!

 

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