Sunday, October 10, 2010

No-Knead Whole Wheat Date & Walnut Mini Buns

I was never much of a bread person till a few years ago when I started on a weight loss programme. The dietitian I was consulting figured that I had been having too much of  food with high Glycemic Index, hence was not losing  as much weight as I should ideally have. One of the breakfast options was whole wheat bread slices with any protein as its partner.  I have been eating bread quite regularly since then, more for the convenience factor than anything else. So when I made idlis or dosas or poha etc for the rest of the family, I would make do, no, I still make do with bread as my breakfast. Bread often finds its way into my kids' snack box as sandwiches, goes in their tummies as a slice of toast with milk in the morning school rush. To cut the long story short, bread is quite indispensable to me!!

Being more of a cake baker all these years, the idea of home baked bread  has opened a whole new world to me. Attention folks!! Eating bread does not have to be monotonous or boring, you don't have to eat tasteless 'varieties' of  store bought bread paying fancy prices. You can bake your own healthy gourmet bread at home, yaaaayyyy!! And to my delight, I am discovering the possibilities are infinite and limited only to your imagination.

If you are not new to my blog, you would know that I have started baking breads only recently. My last couple of bread experiments with whole wheat were not exactly super successful. The right amount of kneading being one of the key factors resulting in a light bread, a no-knead bread gives the new baker better chances at success. So when I saw this recipe on Champa's blog, it instantly went into my new 'Breads' folder in my bursting 'Baking' folder.

Read on to know how I made 'No-Knead Whole Wheat Date & Walnut Mini Buns'
You can find Champa's recipe on Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen here. The only change I have made here is increasing the quantity of sugar by one tablespoon and using dates and walnuts instead of raisins.

 Ingredients:
Whole Wheat flour - 1 1/4 cups
Dry Active Yeast - 1 1/4 tsp
Warm Water - 6 TBSP
Yogurt - 2 TBSP
Oil - 2 TBSP
Sugar - 3 TBSP, can increase by another tablespoon if you want sweeter buns. 
Chopped and lightly toasted walnuts- 1 tablespoon(increase by another 1/2 tablespoon if you want more of these in each bun)
De-seeded chopped dates - 1 tablespoon increase by another 1/2 tablespoon if you want more of these in each bun)
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Procedure as described by Champa:  In a bowl, mix water and sugar. Sprinkle yeast on the top and let it froth about 5 -10 minutes. Add oil, yogurt, salt and flour. Add the dates and walnuts. Stir with a wooden spoon till all the dry flour is incorporated. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise till puffy. This dough will not double in bulk. (My dough was puffy in 2 hours).

But check after 1 hour for indentation. If it remains, then the dough is ready to be put into the pan. When it is doubled, stir with a spoon again to deflate. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan. Divide the dough between the 12 cups equally.( I made 11 tiny buns.)

With greased hands, roll into balls and place them in the cups.  Cover with a greased aluminum foil and let it rise for about 45 minutes to an hour. Again, dough will not double in bulk. (But I was pleasantly surprised to see the dough double in 45 mins!!)

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C / 375 F. I baked for 25 minutes(the recipe specifies 15 minutes as the baking time) till the buns appeared light brown. If not for the over-baking here, the crust would have been softer too.  Remove from the pan immediately to the wire rack to cool.

The buns tasted slightly sweet, interspersed with the nuttiness of the walnuts and the sweetness of the dates and were quite light textured. So I can consider this as a good attempt by a beginner. Thanks for the accurate recipe Champa!! Indeed a healthy and winning recipe for a beginner!!

Sending these buns to Champa's Bake Off .

These also go to Susan's YeastSpotting













22 comments:

M D said...

Hey Suma, I have been away from blogging for sooooo long and I missed so much here! Lovely looking mini buns. And healthy too!

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

you know I tried making breads twice with active dry yeast but my dough never rose. so my first obvious question would be which brand of yeast do you use?
this idea of mini buns is very useful. and my baby would love it too. looks very delicious especially the last click with pouring honey...total yum.

Champa said...

Suma,
I can see that you are getting bread baking fever. Nice ones. I am sure it would've tasted lovely with dates. Thanks for the entry.

Anonymous said...

Hey Suma,
Mini buns look really soft and date and walnut definitely go hand in hand.

Satya said...

hi suma ,
mini buns looks superb ...love the combination of dates n nut s..yummy

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

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Sangi said...

cute mini buns with nutty flavors...

Santosh Bangar said...

small buns are looking cute and tasty

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Wow so cute and i really loved the recipe suma.. the pictures are really making me drool.. beautiful.

Sushma Mallya said...

so soft and perfectly done...yum..

Treat and Trick said...

Looks great, love the changes you've made...

Aparna S Mallya said...

yum yum!

Priya Suresh said...

Cute looking buns, stunning clicks..

Sanjeeta kk said...

Beautiful texture, soft and moist buns.

panchpakwan said...

Wow so spongy, and perfect baked buns.

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

Suma, have tagged you with an award. please collect from my page.

Rachana said...

Those mini buns look lovely. Date and walnut combo is simply delicious.

Sum said...

Will bookmark this! Hope i try it soon....

s said...

I too hope I get a chance to try this one out!

Anonymous said...

I missed so many of your posts while I away on vacation Suma!
You definitely had a lot brewing while I was gone. Tell you what, these buns remind me of Aditi. They're just like her, cute and cheruby! Im sure both kids enjoyed the treat that mamma made for them :)

PS: Recipe Bookmarked!

Shruthi said...

hey suma, Great recipe...i've been away for a long time now...guest's,house hunting etc etc... but been following all your yummy posts though...just one question...with what can i replace yeast with..?? i just cannot stand the smell of yeast...i know that's weird but just don't seem to like it..;) hope to hear from you soon...!!

love,
shru

mbbseq said...

Hi Suma,

I'm new to your blog. Found it when I was looking for mini measuring spoons on google and was happy I did first with the article on bakers suppliers in Bangalore and also with your articles on baking bread etc. Just a note to say thanks. I subscribed to your blog.

Mario