Savory Pumpkin Buns

Recipe:

Ingredient notes:

• Pumpkin puree. To make it, you need to puree the cooked pumpkin with a blender. There are three ways to do this: roast in the ovem, boil, or cook in the microwave oven. I usually roast the pumpkin – it gives the puree a more concentrated flavor and less excess moisture.
• Flour. The recipe calls for regular all-purpose wheat flour with 10% protein. If you use a stronger bread flour, remember that it will absorb more moisture, so you will need a little less by weight.
• Butter. You can use butter with a fat content of 72% or more. If you want to replace it with vegetable oil, add 40 g and 10 g more milk.
• Yeast. The recipe uses instant dry yeast. If you replace it with fresh yeast, add three times the amount of dry yeast to the dough.
• Milk. You can use either whole or low-fat milk here. A lactose-free option is also fine.
  To make a vegan version of these buns, replace the regular milk with a plant-based milk, such as soy or oat milk.
• Sugar. In addition to adding flavor, sugar is essential for the yeast to work. So it should not be excluded from the list of ingredients.
  You can use any type of sugar: ordinary white sugar, brown sugar or even coconut sugar.

Let’s start cooking.

Gently heat the milk. The temperature should not exceed 45°C (113°F) or the yeast will be destroyed.

Sprinkle the dry yeast over the surface of the milk and leave to stand for 3-4 minutes without stirring – this will gradually moisten the yeast and prevent it from forming lumps.

Stir until the yeast has dissolved. Add the salt, sugar, pumpkin puree and butter (once melted, let it cool to lukewarm).

Mix.

Add 80% of the flour called for in the recipe and begin to knead the dough. Add the rest of the flour as necessary. The dough should be soft and smooth. It will take about 10 minutes to knead with the stand mixer.

Cover the dough and leave to rise. The dough should double in size. Depending on the temperature in your kitchen, this will take 1-2 hours.

When the dough has risen, turn it out onto a surface dusted with flour or greased with oil. Divide into 8 pieces. Form each into a ball.

Place the balls on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for about 30 minutes. During this time, the dough should noticeably increase in volume. If the kitchen is cool, it may take longer.

Once risen, brush the buns with a mixture of egg yolk and milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or other seeds to taste. I sprinkled chia seeds on mine.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C (355°F) for about 20-25 minutes.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!