Rose buns – tangzhong (vegan friendly)

It’s that time of year again…Valentines! Well even if it’s not Valentine’s day, these rolls will satisfy your carblicious cravings. I’ve been making a great deal of heart shaped dessert treats lately so I decided to make something savory and “rose” shaped today. This Rose buns recipe was actually inspired by the onion flower bao I had the other day!

Bun recipe

Ingredients (makes 8):

2 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg (or 2 tablespoon more coconut oil)
1/2 cup milk (or soy/almond milk)
2 tsp instant yeast
3 tablespoon coconut oil (or butter)

1/4 cup cookie butter or chocolate spread or jam

Tangzhong:

40 mL flour
1/2 cup water

Let’s get cooking:

1. Make the tangzhong by putting the 40 mL bread flour and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the tangzhong until it thickens and swirls form. Then remove from heat and stir it for another 30 seconds so it can thicken a little more.

2. In a measuring cup mix the yeast, warm milk and a sprinkle of sugar together; set aside until foamy. Then, put the sugar, salt, bread flour,and coconut oil in a large bowl.

3. Whisk in an egg then our the milk mixture and the cooled tangzhong into the flour mixture.

4. Stir everything together to form a dough (if it still feels sticky you may need to add a bit more flour).

5. Knead the dough for 15 – 25 minutes until smooth and elastic and then let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

6. When the dough is done rising, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll them into balls (it takes 3 dough pieces to make 2 buns).

7. Roll each ball out into a 5″ circle and spread cookie butter/chocolate spread on it. Roll it up tightly and pinch the edges to seal.

8. Place the rolled dough seam side down on another piece of flattened dough. Roll it up again and pinch the end to seal. Repeat this with one more piece of flattened dough.

9. Cut the roll into two equal halves. Place cut-side down on a lined baking tray and let rise for 30 minutes.

10. Bake at 350 F for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown.

Thoughts

I think absolutely adored these rose buns, not only were the pretty to look at but they tasted delicious too! Oh and since we used the tangzhong method for the dough, they were irresistibly soft. Of course if you’re not a fan of using the tangzhong method or it’s not something you’re ready for yet (understandable, it took us a while too!) then you can use a regular loaf bread dough to achieve the same effect.

Although, I must highly recommend you to try the whole tangzhong thing asap because you’re really missing out. Anyway, we both realllyyyyyy reaaaalllyyy hope you all can fall in love with these buns the same way we did.