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Monday, April 12, 2010

Apple Grape Buns

It must be love, love, love.. That’s all I can say about this yummy fruity bread!
Source 
Variation on Apple Buns with Water Roux from the Scent of Spice blog
Taste 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty 1 (out of 5)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (1140 cal)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat bread flour (165 cal)
- 1/2 cup ground oats (160 cal)
- 2 medium apples (160 cal)
- 1/4 cup grapes (15 cal)
- 2 tbsp honey (130 cal)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (210 cal)
- 2 tbsp apple vinegar (5 cal)
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds (95 cal)
- 3/4 tbsp yeast
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1 cup water at 90-100F
Total 2080 cal, 16 buns, 130 cal / bun
Instructions
1. Wash the apples and the grapes, discard the seeds, do not peel. Finely chop the apples and the grapes and puree in a food processor. 
2. Prepare water roux: mix 2 tablespoons of whole wheat bread flour with 1/2 cup of water and cook over medium heat in a small  saucepan, stirring continuously, until the roux thickens to a paste, so that when you stir it you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove form the heat and let cool to room temperature. The roux is supposed to make the bred softer and keep it fresh longer.
3. In a large container that has a lid, using a wooden spoon mix all the ingredients until all the flour is incorporated. Cover the container (not airtight) and let on the kitchen counter for about 2 hour until the dough approximately doubles in size. 
4. Use the dough after the 3-4 hour rest or refrigerate it in the same container still covered (not airtight). The refrigerated dough can be used over the next 10 days. Usually the no knead bread takes about 2 hours to ferment, but in this cake all the fruit makes it a little harder on the yeast, so it takes much longer for the dough to double in size. So you can either increase the yeast or wait longer.
5. On the baking day, sprinkle the dough with flour to prevent sticking and cut the desired amount. I use half of the dough at a time to make 8 buns. Each bun should be a size of a large plum. Dust it with flour and gently form a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Place the buns on a cornmeal or semolina coated pizza peel leaving 2 inches between the buns. If you do not use a baking stone, place the buns on a cookie sheet which will be used for baking. Let the buns rest for about 50 minutes (or 30 minutes if using non-refrigerated dough).
6. Place an empty broiler tray in the oven where it will not interfere with the rising of your buns.   About 30 minutes before baking preheat the oven with the broiler tray and the baking stone to 450F. If you do not use the stone, the preheat will be shorter.  
7. Right before baking you can brush the tops of the buns with an egg white wash made from 1 egg white lightly beaten with 1 tsp of sugar - this will make the buns shinier. Slide the buns onto the stone, if using or simply place the cookie sheet into the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot (not boiling) tap water into the broiler tray - be very careful here, the tray is hot there will be a lot of steam.  Avoid splashing the water on the oven glass door (the glass might crack).
8. Close the oven door as soon as possible to trap the steam inside. Bake for about 25 minutes until the buns are nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack. You can also brush the tops of the hot buns with soft butter for a glossy finish. 
Afterthoughts
Ever since I tried the Barley Apple Bread from the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, I was in love with the amazing apple flavor. The original recipe turned out a little too rough for me, so I came up with the softer Apple Buns. They are my favorite comfort food at the moment. 
Yesterday I was on the way of mixing a new batch, when I saw the Soft Fluffy Japanese Style Sweet Rolls post, and the water roux in it caught my eye. So I tried adding it along with the grapes to the Apple Buns recipe. It did become much softer, don’t know if it’s the roux or larger amount of fruit, but it’s really really really good! The roux is also supposed to keep the bread fresh over time, but I guess I have to wait a couple of days to see how that works.  

18 comments:

Tuty @Scentofspice said...

Great job with your Apple Grape Buns. They're very hearty and healthy bread (from the list of ingredients). You may want to try my Honey Molasses Cocoa bread too. They're our favorite as well.

One correction though... my website/blog's name is Scent of Spice :-)

Cheers

Lazaro Cooks said...

I've never tried apple grape buns. Sounds like a wonderful idea. Thank you for sharing.

marla@familyfreshcooking.com said...

Your Apple Grape Buns sound mighty yummy. I get why you say it must be love!

denise @ quickies on the dinner table said...

I've been hearing and reading so much about the water roux method for breadmaking that my curiosity is piqued!

I have to try it soon. Your fruity buns look very good and I like the sound of them. Thanks for sharing :)

C and C Dish said...

Wow...your BUNS look good...lol Seriously, though they do look delicious!

turmericnspice said...

Wow !! these buns look good!! never tried an apple grape...!!

Scott K said...

Looks like a wonderful healthy recipe

MaryMoh said...

Beautiful buns...so full of wholesome goodness. I loev them. Must be very delicious.

Marysol said...

Those Apple Buns look awesome! This sounds like a great recipe.

I've made the sweet version of Schiaciatta, that's very good. Unfortunately not the healthiest, as it's loaded with butter and brown sugar.
But your recipe would satisfy both, my sweet tooth and waistline.

Brittni said...

What a great recipe! It's funny...just the other day I was staring at a bowl of grapes on my counter and wondering what to do with them...problem solved!

My Man's Belly said...

Never thought to put grapes into bread. But I too really like apples in bread. Definitely something to try.

sweetlife said...

great buns..with grapes..a must try

sweetlife

Emily Malloy said...

Fantastic recipe. I adore it!

Unknown said...

these look so good, i'm going to make them this week.

eatme_delicious said...

Oh wow I love that there's grapes in these!! How fun. They look so yummy.

bestfriend said...

this is good!
hw57i

DRP78 said...

cool!

Bong Hardy said...

Shio Kerbau