Friday Foodies: Whole Grain Sandwich Buns!

Good Morning!

VOMD eats a LOT of sandwiches. He takes two for lunch every day, and even though bread isn't really that expensive, it adds up. We use probably  two loaves a week. So, I've started making it myself sometimes.

I usually don't make wholegrain bread, because I can never seem to make it fluffy, but I decided to give some buns a try.

How yummy do these look!?

I started with this recipe from Holy Cow Vegan, but being the type of person who doesn't take direction well I obviously made some tweaks.

Ingredients:
 6 cups whole wheat flour
 1/2 cup  unbleached white flour
 4 tbsp vital wheat gluten (optional...but it will be worth it)
 3 tsp active dry yeast
 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
 2 tsp salt
 2 3/4 cups warm water
 2 tbsp maple syrup
 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl mix maple syrup, warm water (not too hot, but definitely not cold) and yeast gently and set aside. It will start to get foamy, and that's when you know its ready to go. 
2. In a separate bowl combine whole wheat flour, wheat gluten, salt, and baking powder. Be sure that all the ingredients are mixed well. 
3. Begin to slowly combine dry ingredient mix with the yeast mixture about a cup at a time. Mix slowly and make sure it is thoroughly  combined before adding more. Once it gets too thick  to mix with a wooden spoon, use your hands. It will form a sticky but somewhat smooth dough. Now add the oil and mix until it is combined in the dough 
4. Sprinkle a clean board with white flour and begin to kneed the dough on the board. Kneed for about 5-8 minutes. The dough should be very soft, and a little sticky still when you are done kneading, but little bubbles may begin to  form beneath the surface. Form a smooth ball.
5. Oil a bowl (I used the one I had the dry ingredients in) and turn the dough over in the oil to coat the whole ball. Cover with a verylightly dampened towel and set aside to rise. It may take about 1.5 to 2 hours to double in size. If it is cold, or you have aggressive air conditioning, put it in your oven (don't turn it on) to rise.
6. Once it's doubled, punch it down lightly, then form it into 12 smooth balls (or six balls and one loaf, if you want)
7. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper over top. You can add a little flour to the bottom of the balls, or corn meal if you'd like, to make extra sure they don't stick.
8. Let rise again until about doubled in size (this time not in the oven, because you have to preheat it). I can fit six balls per pan, with an inch or so between them. 
9. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 
10. Once the dough balls have risen, place them in the oven, on the centre rack, and bake for about 5 minutes before turning the oven down to 350 degrees. If they are getting brown too quick, a trick is to spray them lightly with a mist of water. Then continue to bake for about 20 more minutes. They will be a nice golden brown when they are finished. If you are making a loaf, then leave it in for about 5-7 minutes longer. 
11. Take them out of the oven and, if you want them to stay super soft and look nice and shiny like the ones in the picture, coat them really  lightly with vegan butter (like Earth Balance) or even a mild olive oil. You can sprinkle sesame seeds on top like I did, or just let them be.
12. Put  them on a rack to finish cooling, but don't pull them apart yet, and then when cooled down a bit put them in your face. I ate one still a little warm with Earth Balance and fresh tomato and daaammmn was it good. 

These things are so soft and delicious. I'm glad I added the wheat gluten like Vaishali from Holy Cow Vegan suggested because it makes them the perfect mixture of fluffy and chewy. These buns won't stay fresh as long as the stuff you get from the store, so if you don't eat a ton of bread, put  some in the freezer and just take them out as you need them. If you want them to taste fresh after freezing them, you can do what my mom does: put them in a paper bag (like the ones you get from the liquor store, or when you  buy mushrooms), and spray the bag lightly with water, and toss them in the oven for a couple minutes at 325. Don't leave them too long, though, because there is a risk of burning! Watch them closely.

Yum!

Happy Friday!

-J