What do you do when you have to bake following your own recipe and Internet is not there? Apoorva desperately wanted buns with pizza spices in the evening and I was fine with that because recipe was in my blog itself, but due to continuous rain some problem happened and there was no Internet. Generally during rainy days we get affected by electricity problem, but surprisingly power was there but no Internet! I don’t go out much, so I didn’t care to check that data pack had also expired. Now I was cursing myself for not maintaining a diary with at least all my own recipes.
So finally I decided to do some guesswork and wrote the quantity of ingredients to compare later with my previous recipe Tea time Wheat Flour Buns with pizza spices (1) and started kneading the dough with prayer in my heart for continued power.
Buns came out really well and later when I checked both the recipes there were only a few variations. The biggest difference was the quantity of water. In previous recipe wheat flour had absorbed more liquid but this time it was less. I am using Aashirwad brand wheat flour from the beginning but it was clear that they don’t maintain same flour quality always.
That’s why I always keep on insisting in my bread posts that one should never follow blindly same quantity of liquid used for kneading the dough written in the recipe.
Around a year back I was following a bread recipe by a famous blogger and according to the instructions used whole quantity of water to knead the dough. Dough became so wet that it was impossible to handle, so I added extra flour. There was nothing wrong in the recipe, but the flour blogger had used had more liquid absorbing quality than mine. So, whether you are using wheat flour, all purpose flour (maida) or chiroti rava, if required, reduce or increase the amount of liquid given in the recipe while kneading the dough.
The same logic applies for time limit of proofing the dough. Generally first proofing time is somewhere between 1 to 1+1/2 hours. If your kitchen is warm then dough could be double in size in 50 minutes to 1 hour. If you will let it proof for the next half an hour it will be over proofed, and over proofing dough does not give you a good loaf of bread.
For first proofing if I am keeping dough in switched off microwave (which I generally do) then proofing gets over in one hour, but if I keep the dough on kitchen counter it takes half an hour more.
If you are using dry active yeast, you have to proof it first before adding it with the flour. In proofing the yeast temperature of water is most important. It should be slightly more than lukewarm…if water is cold or too hot, it kills the yeast. Take a bigger glass to proof the yeast because it blooms nicely – so there should be enough space in the glass. Add yeast, sugar and lukewarm water in the glass and mix it with a spoon. Cover it and keep it aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes it will be frothy with bubbles on the top and it’s ready to be used. I have posted recipe also for White Sandwich Bread with active dry yeast in the blog.
Don’t let yeast over proof – it will not give you good loaf of bread and you will get yeast smell in your bread/buns .
Instant yeast doesn’t need prior proofing – it can be added directly to the flour. Always keep yeast in the fridge. If you are keeping it in a box, always write down expiry date on the box. Just in case if you have forgotten to write it, then proof it to check its effectiveness.
Baking temperature is also very important. Every oven has different temperature settings. So, if I can bake buns at 190 degrees, probably your oven might do the same baking at 180 degrees. Here size of the oven also matters a lot. In small oven or microwave, heating rods are much nearer to the baking pan, so high temperature will not give you good result. Generally people complain about getting the top of bread/buns/cake hard. It happens as heat reaches very fast due to the small size of oven. So if recipe mentions to bake at 180 degree, you can reduce the temperature to 170 degrees. And still if required, use ‘tenting method’ I have mentioned in one of my bread post White Sandwich Bread
Once your bread is baked, place baking tin on wiring rack for 10-15 minutes so that tin cools down and it is easy to demold your loaf. If bread is sticking around the edges, clean the edges with sharp knife and take out bread and leave it on the wiring rack till it is completely cooled. Now give bread proper resting time of 3-4 hours by cling wrapping and keeping it in the fridge. The crumb of bread will settle down in the fridge and while slicing you will get neat bread slices. If you have invested in buying a bread tin, please invest in buying a bread cutting serrated knife also.
Don’t get disheartened if your first or second bake didn’t go as per your expectations…. you need to learn about the settings of your oven and it will happen with multiple bakes. Love your oven and it will give you desired results!!!
So, the whole purpose of writing this post was to highlight these basic points. I hope all these points will be beneficial to your baking.
Now let’s see what slight changes I did in my previous recipe with my guesswork .. so whichever recipe suits you… this one or the previous one….. try that, but one thing is for sure that your kids will be very happy with these buns because of the wonderful aroma of pizza spices in your house!!!!
Ingredients!
Sugar 1+1/2 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Yeast 3/4 tsp
Wheat flour 2+1/2 cups
Milk powder 2 tbsp
Milk 1 cup +1/4 cup (reduce 1 tbsp) (it should be slightly more than lukewarm)
Pizza mix spices 3 tsp
Oil 3 tsp
Butter 2 tbsp
Instead of milk water can be used or you can use both by mixing them together.
Other than milk all ingredients should be at room temperature.
On sim heat warm 2 tbsp butter and add 1+1/2 tsp pizza mix spices and keep it aside.
Process :
Take a big vessel and place all dry ingredients in it.
Keep adding milk slowly to collect all ingredients in the shape of dough.
Knead for 10 minutes and keep adding 1 tbsp milk from time to time. Consistency of dough should be very soft and kind of wet but not so wet that you can’t manage. Add oil and knead again for 5 minutes.
Place this dough in a bigger size oil greased bowl so that there is enough space for the dough to become double in size. Apply some oil on top of the dough, cling wrap the bowl and keep it in a warm place for first proofing.
When dough doubles in size, take it out on clean oil greased kitchen counter and punch it gently.
Collect it together, prepare a log shape and cut your desired size and roll them in shape of buns. Keep buns in oil greased baking tray or roll parchment paper on baking tray and keep buns on it with some gap in between. Space between buns is needed as buns bloom during second proofing and baking in the oven.
Apply pizza mix spices butter on all the buns and keep them for second proofing.
Just 10 minutes before second proofing time is getting over, preheat oven at 190 degrees.
Second proofing gets over in 20-30 minutes. Don’t let buns over proof otherwise instead of rising in the oven they will sink.
Give milk wash to all the buns and bake them at 185 degrees temperature for 20-30 minutes or till the top of the buns become brown and buns bounce back if pressed.
Again apply remaining pizza spices mixed butter to give them shine and to keep them soft. Serve them hot or if you are planning to serve later then shift them to wiring rack. But I am sure before cooling, buns would start disappearing!!!!!
Love to taste it 🙂
Thanks a lot Mistimaan
Hi
I tried baking sweet buns using apf. Initially my dough didnt rise so i put in d oven lower rack with a plate of boiling water below it. For 2nd proofing also i did d same. But my buns dint turn out fluffy. N moreover d recipe said bake on 200degrees for 15 mins but mine took like 30 mins for d top to brown. Mine is a LG 30L convection oven. Should i use d lower or higher rack n wat temp n time?? Pls guide
Hi Vidya, thanks for visiting the blog.
I hope your yeast was not expired…. You didn’t mention which yeast you are using… Dry active yeast or instant active yeast…. If dry active yeast … then was it proofed well before adding in flour…. If it didn’t proof, then dough will not rise….
I have used kenstar microwave and there was no option for higher or lower rack… simple one empty space….
I guess you should try with lower rack on 185 degrees for 20 minutes and then shift to higher rack till the bread is done, follow tenting method if you feel that shifting to higher rack is making your bread brown very fast.
If buns are big in size, baking time will be more than small sized buns, so you can experiment with time and temperature with your convenient size.
Tanq!! Will follow ur tips n try!!
Always welcome Vidya!
hi deeksha, i want to one thing that while baking this bun..lower rods are only used or both upper n lower rods.
i always confused about this while cake baking n other baking items.
pls reply
thanks
Thanks for visiting the blog Urvashi.i am using 60 litre Morphy Richards OTG. For cakes and cookies and buns I keep both rods and fan mode on and baking is done at middle rack. For bread, baking is done at lower rack and down rod with fan for 25 minutes…. then I change it to both rods with fan or sometimes only upper rod with fan if the top of the bread is not becoming brown.
Hi I am using Morphy convection oven but not able to understand it yet .
Can you please guide on it.
Hi Chanda,
I have a different brand so difficult to guide about Morphy. It’s better if you call the technician from Morphy for demo.
Lovely and tempting…. Will try and get back… But I want to know one thing… If I use dry active yeast then I can follow as per you but when to add this yeast mix to flour? Like make a hole in centre of wwf and add and then mix with milk..
Sandhya, thanks a lot.
Yes first add bloomed yeast and then slowly add the rest of the milk or water (as per your choice) and start kneading. There is white Sandwich Bread post with dry active yeast in the blog… you can check the whole process there….. https://deesplatter.com/2017/10/06/white-sandwich-bread-with-active-dry-yeast/
Thanks mam for lovely recipes
You are always welcome Manisha !
Can I use fresh yeast in this recipe? If yes, how to use it? Directly or it needs some process?? Thanks
Smita, The conversion for fresh yest is like this……. If a recipe asks for 1 tsp of instant yeast, then you need 4 tsp of fresh yeast. You have to dissolve fresh yeast in warm water along with sugar. Keep it stirring until it gets completely dissolved and then let it bloom the way we bloom active dry yeast and add it in flour .
Hello ma’am
Would like to know which brand of instant yeast are you using for breads?
Sheetal,I Iam using Groripan brand.
hi, wondeful tips . i have a doubt about the preheating time . i use microwave convection. if i preheat it for 10 min , my cupcake becomes like rusk in just 8 min, i felt i have preheated more.
so how long should i preheat mw. i would love to do these buns.
Hi Savithri, thank you! I have done a lot of baking in microwave on convection mode never faced any issues. Probably temperature control in your microwave is not working properly and it overheats. You can buy one oven thermometer to check the right temperature and and can get your microwave checked through a technician.
by the way , i use dry yeast . is there any specific dry yeast mam?
I am not aware of many brands Savithri. I have always used Bakers dry yeast. It is available in almost all the shops.
So well explained, will definitely try with your tips .Thanks for sharing all your valuable experiences.
Thank you very much ☺️
I do face a problem of yeast taste in bread.
Meghana, that happens if dry active yeast is overproofed before adding in the flour or if dough is overproofed it gives yeasty smell.
Ya, I read it in your blog. Will take care next time.
👍👍
[…] 2. For a few more tips on bread baking you can check this link Basics of baking – bread/buns/rolls (Wheat flour buns with pizza spices-2) […]
V don’t eat yeast any option for dat
You can try baking soda or curd for fermenting the dough,
Mam I have prime instant yeast date October 2018 is this good for use and ur using 1 cup is 240ml or 200 ml.pls reply
Pooja, if yeast is expired till this date, better buy new pack. My 1 cup is 250 ml.
Can u please tell quantity of batter like
How much should be added in which size pan
Naveed, almost with each bread recipe I have mentioned the tin size.
These look amazing! I keep my yeast in the freezer and have had it a long time. I love that you proof in the microwave, what a great idea. Do you heat it up with something first or put the dough in the room temperature microwave?
Thank you so much Diane 😊
In my city it is never so cold that I need to warm up microwave little bit in the beginning. Till the time of proofing I just keep all those doors and windows of the house closed which have cross ventilation with kitchen. Sounds funny…. but that really helps in proofing. So just room temperature microwave works fine!!
Thank you! You could teach me a thing or two, that’s for sure!!!
Diane, you are too humble and kind to say this🤗❤️
I believe that we all learn from each other a lot but generous souls like you say it with so much ease!!!
One thing we all can learn from you is how to add posts in the blog with super fast speed…before people could go through one post…you are ready with another one… amazing!!!!
Awww thank you for your kind words!
Hi Deeksha, very healthy recipe but I don’t use branded atta, I use chakki atta which is bit coarse, can I use that? Thanks
Hi Nidhi, thank you very much for visiting the blog. Chakki atta is the best for baking. If you prefer coarse type, you can grind it little bit in mixer. Coarse one might result in very dense bread. Or if you like, add chiroti rava and try that how it works.