I use a mixture of soft wheat flour (you will find it at the supermarket as whole wheat pastry flour), bread flour and wheat gluten for these wonderfully light and chewy buns. These are much lighter and fluffier in texture than my Whole Wheat Boule which I think makes them the perfect bun for my turkey mushroom burgers, my Mini BBQ Burgers and my Vegan Burgers. I also love those buns with any of my yummy soups! As for all my bread recipes, I make a starter “sponge” which activates the yeast before it is mixed in with the rest of the ingredients (Don’t forget the rule about measuring flour).
I show you how I make them in my own kitchen here and you can also see them coming right out of the oven, steaming hot in my video for my Tuscan Bean Soup here!
Soft Wheat Buns
*
Cuisinicity Tip
: Make sure the water is not actually hot or the yeast won’t rise as well!
Cuisinicity Tip2 :
To measure the flour, always use
dry measuring cups
and
do NOT pack the flour
Your dry cup should be filled so that the flour stays light and fluffy and you should use a knife or your finger to level the flour across the measuring cup to get rid of excess on top.
Ingredients
- "Sponge":
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water*
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 3 tsp dry active yeast
- Remaining ingredients:
- 1 cup lukewarm water*
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (260g)
- 1 cup unbleached organic bread flour (144g)
- 1/3 cup wheat gluten (46g)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Egg “wash” optional
- 1 egg + 1 tsp skim milk slightly beaten
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 400
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Place 1/2 cup of lukewarm water in a small cup and add the sugar and active yeast, stir and let sit for 8-10 minutes until the yeast becomes foamy. It will double in size.
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While the yeast is rising, place the remaining cup of lukewarm water in the bowl of a stand electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and add the olive oil, whole wheat pastry flour, bread flour, wheat gluten and salt, in that order.
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Pour the foamy yeast mixture in the bowl over the rest of the ingredients.
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Mix the dough (using the dough hook), on low speed until the dough forms a ball (about 1 minute) and on medium speed for an additional minute.
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The dough will feel a little sticky (that's OK!), so sprinkle a little dusting of flour on top of the dough (2 tsp but no more, don’t worry it will be just right when it has had a chance to rise) so your hands won’t stick to the dough when you take it out.
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Place the dough in a medium bowl (large enough for the dough to rise double its size) and cover with plastic cellophane.
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Let rise for 30 minutes.
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Cut with a sharp knife into 6 equal pieces and roll each into a little ball.
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Place the dough balls on a non-stick baking sheet about 1 inch from one another.
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Brush egg wash on top of each and let rise for 15 minutes (Discard extra egg wash).
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Place in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
I used 2 cups of home-milled soft white wheat berries for the pastry flour (sifted and weighed) and 1 cup of store-bought organic bread flour and the buns came out a little on the dense side (even with the 1/3 cup of vital wheat gluten flour). They were tasty but a little on the heavy side. Would reversing the 2 cups as organic bread flour and only 1 cup of home-milled pastry flour make these less dense? Perhaps I should allow the buns to rise longer than 15 mins? I have hard white wheat berries being delivered later in the week but until then I’d like to get similar results to what you achieved with the wheat berries I have. I’m new to home milling flour and realize that recipes need to be somewhat adapted to suit home milling my flour. Any suggestions?
YES! Paul, I think that will do the trick!! I love that you are determined! Please let me know how they turn out!!
How kind of you to call my stubbornness “determined”. LOL I’ll have to remember that. With the hard white wheat berries (as opposed to the soft wheat berries/pastry flour), the bread was slightly less dense. I’ve read that increasing the wheat gluten will enable bread to get a better rise. I will try doubling the amount of vital wheat gluten from the suggested 1 tbsp per cup of flour to 2 tbsp per cup. Apparently, adding vital wheat gluten to flour milled from hard wheat gives you something close to what a store-bought bread flour is. I might also sift the flour twice since manufacturers of the Nutrimill recommend not milling the flour a second time. Another comment somewhere on home-milled flour suggested that the bran from the outside of the wheat kernel is sharp and can puncture the bubbles the yeast produces in the dough. Hence the added step of “soaking” the flour (and softening the bran), I’ll have to read up more on it or use recipes specifically designed for home-milled flour. Soaking the flour seemed to make the dough far more wet and sticky than I’ve ever seen a bread dough turn out (which may have contributed to the dense nature of the bread). Also, when using home-milled flour, perhaps substituting the soft wheat berry flour with hard wheat exclusively will give better results. When it comes to milling our flour, I’m “determined” to see this through to the end. The nutritional benefits of home-milled flour and the incredibly long time the grains can be stored far outweigh the convenience of store-bought flour. My final test will be successfully making croissants and brioche with it. Better to set the bar high than not high enough.
I tried to slow down the video and search for other videos to see what the inside of the bread looked like. It was difficult for me to make out after looking at every video you had with the buns in it. Is it more like a cake-type crumb structure or more like a soft stringy type you see more in dinner rolls or brioche buns? Mine turned out with more of a cake-type.
Hi Paul, you are absolutely determined and I love the enthusiasm! My soft wheat buns are much more like a brioche than a cake. Let me see if I can show you in one of my posts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW7wvow2n1w
Hey!! I’m gonna try these this year. I’ve been watching your videos, they are fantastic. I will update you after Christmas!
What if I do not have a dough hook?
Hi Jessica, You can always do this by hand, the old fashion way so no problem there!
Heya! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new apple iphone!
Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts!
Carry on the outstanding work!
Haha!!! Thank you!! 🙂
Not sure I would use the remainder of the wheat gluten I would purchase for this recipe. Any alternatives? Or maybe I should bake more!!?
Absolutely bake more HAHAHA! The wheat gluten typically comes in a small box anyway and I store it in an airtight container without any problem! It just gives it that wonderful fluffy chewiness! 🙂
Thanks!!
My pleasure Nancy! 🙂
Hello,
Can I make this without the 3/4 salt please? Thank you! ?
Absolutely Theresa!
waoh! quelle belle recette , j’adore le pain, c’est juste la recette facile et réconfortante à faire tranquillement chez soi par une journée d’hiver pour que la maison soit pleine du bon parfum de pain! merci! et quelle agréable vidéo , vous êtes marrante et en même temps très précise! quelle joie vous avez de nus transmettre tout ça , encore une fois merci pour ce partage! belle journée parfumée au pain dans le four, hmmmmmm !! martine de France
Ah oui, Martine! moi aussi j’adore ça, le bon pain chaud sorti du four….hmmm que ça sent bon!!! et ces soft wheat buns sont moelleux à souhait!!
I have just found this website. I have been reading a lot of Dr David L Katz articles and as a member of the Australian Lifestyle Medicine Association (ALMA) and holding a Master of Clinical Science (Lifestyle Medicine) Degree from Southern Cross University, Lismore https://eu-lifestylemedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/2014-CEG-LifestyleMed.pdf I had to have a look. I am also a Naturopath (Diploma and Bachelor Degree) with a Diploma in Nutritional Science. I think the true Mediterranean Diet (not the Americanised version) is the best diet/eating pattern, diet is not a term I use.
This looks like a great website and it is certainly needed, I also raised two two lean boys (both scientists) and my wife and I both have good BMI’s.
Good luck
John Bobbin MClinSc(Lifestyle Medicine)
I am delighted that you found Cuisinicity and honored that you will be checking it out! We were both just in your part of the world in the fall, New Zealand, actually–https://cuisinicity.com/back-from-down-under/, and loved the initiatives taking place there too. In unity, there is strength!
Yesterday, I heard your husband at my daughter’s college, Calvin and I have to say, I was awaken. When we first got married, I used to very conscientious about ingredients, but then we transferred over seas for many decades and my resolve weaken. Now we are back in the US and in our fifties. I hope it’s not too late to start “eating foods that will love us back.” Thank you for your commitment and for your vision.
with kindest regards to you and your family,
Monica
Dear Monica, its’ never too late! Welcome back!!
I just found your website and blog today and have to tell you I’m excited to find such healthy, delicious, realistic recipes and information that I can use. I love the Mediterranean way of eating for health and pleasure and you combine the best of both. Thank you and I’ll be following along!
Thank you so much Kathy! It always makes me so happy to hear that!