Matcha sesame swirl buns

These matcha black sesame swirl buns are super soft as a result of using an Asian milk bread dough for it’s base.

The nuttiness of the black sesame paste on the inside pairs well with the earthy matcha and is wonderful enjoyed with a cup of tea or latte. Topping it with icing is definitely encouraged as well.

I’m obsessed with matcha bread!

I’ve been making my Matcha red bean swirl buns for quite a few bakes in a row now because they are just too yummy not to make but mother deer was getting a little tired of eating them and suggested that I put a new spin on my Matcha bread dough.

I thought about it for a while and figured I could simply put chocolate spread in it instead since, let’s be honest, chocolate goes well with everything, but mother deer didn’t want anything sweet.

She can be quite hard to please sometimes but a mother always gets what she wants so I thought about it some more.

Nothing ended up coming to mind to mind that would mix well with Matcha and I really couldn’t come up with something savory to put inside.

So, I relied on the next best thing, Pintrest! To be honest, I’m not the most avid pinner and I should really be more active on Pintrest but currently my time is being taken up by school work so I guess I won’t be pinning much for the time being. Although, if you have a Pintrest account, I would love to follow you so leave your links below 🙂

Anyways, through Pintrest, I found so many recipes suggesting the combination of Matcha and black sesame. At first I was skeptical but after a while I decided to trust all the bakers out there and tested the combination out myself!

And goodness were those bakers right! The nuttiness of the black sesame really complimented the earthy almost bitter Matcha powder. So this is definitely going to be a flavor combination that I keep in my baking repertoire.

Question of the post: What’s your favorite flavor combination?

Matcha sesame swirl buns recipe

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup water
• 5 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoon matcha powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup whole milk
• ¼ cup butter
• 3/4 cup ground black sesame
• 1/3 cup honey

Instructions

1. Create the tangzhong starter dough by whisking the flour and water together in a medium pot over medium heat. Make sure you add the flour in first or it may get clumpy. Cook this on the stove top for 3 – 5 minutes until the mixture thickens making sure to stir often to prevent burning. Set aside to cool.
2. Bloom your yeast by combining the sugar, yeast and warm milk together in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes until foamy.
3. Prepare the dough by combining the dough starter, 5 cups of flour, matcha powder, the yeast mixture, and egg in a large bowl. Using a dough hook attachment, knead the dough on low speed for 5 minutes or knead with hands for 10 minutes.
4. Knead in the softened butter until incorporated and the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, or until dough is doubled in size.
5. Combine the honey and ground black sesame together to form a paste. It should be as thick as peanut butter. If it isn’t, add more honey.
6. Punch the dough down and roll it out into a rectangle and the black sesame mixture on each rectangle. Then roll it up length-wise into a log and pinch the seam to seal.
7. Slice the log into 2″ thick slices. Place the rolls into your prepared baking panpans and let rise covered in a warm place for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F
8. Brush the top of the buns with milk or egg wash if desired. Bake at 350F for 20 – 25 minutes or until the top of the bread is golden brown
9. Let cool in loaf pan for 5 minutes before removing. Allow the loaf to cool for another 8 – 10 minutes before consuming.

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