in preparation for lunch this week, i made light whole wheat brioche buns. sadly they didn’t work out quite as well as i had hoped. the plastic wrap that i used to cover the dough for the second rise got stuck on the dough. then when i took off the plastic wrap, the buns just deflated. fail. so they weren’t quite as light and fluffy as they should be. oh well, lesson learned and i guess this is why these are my baking adventures.
even though they didn’t turn out exactly as i expected, thankfully they are still good enough for sandwiches for lunch.
Light Whole Wheat Brioche Buns
adapted from smittenkitchen
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons warm milk
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 2 large eggs
- 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- Sesame seeds (optional)
Directions
- In a glass measuring cup, combine one cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Meanwhile, beat one egg.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs.
- Stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms.
- Knead dough with dough hook for 8-10 minutes. The dough will be on the sticky side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the buns will get. Try to leave them tackier than you would a round loaf.
- Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
- Divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet.
- Allow to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours (original instructions: Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm place for one to two hours).
- Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center.
- Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using.
- Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
