Selena Robins, Author

What do fluffy socks, fleece-wear, a page-turning book and the scent of freshly baked bread have in common?

They are all guaranteed to dissolve the January blah’s, blues, chills, and early dark skies.

This warm, cozy, crusty bun recipe is guaranteed to gain you much-deserved baking praise.

Cozy Crusty Buns

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

1/2 cup + 3 TBSP water (tepid at 100 – 110 F)

3/4 tsp. honey

2 cups bread flour (if you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour)

1/2 tsp. salt

3 TBSP. olive oil (plus more for brushing)

Directions:

Add water and honey to a small bowl, and stir so that the honey is incorporated with the water, then sprinkle the yeast on top of water, and let set for 5 minutes (or until yeast has foamed). Stir well.

Add flour and salt into the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk together, then make a well in the middle. If you don’t have a stand mixer, do the exact same thing, using a large bowl.

Add the water, honey, yeast mixture to the middle of the flour mixture.

If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment and turn on medium, and let it knead until the dough forms a ball. If there is dough on the sides, simply scrape it off and let it continue kneading for 10 minutes.

If you are not using a stand mixer, then knead with your hands on a floured board. Knead for 15 minutes.

NOTE: Here is how you can check if your dough needs more kneading.

Indent the dough with your fingertip, if the indentation fills back quickly, you’re dough has been kneaded enough and you’re ready to let it rise.

If it stays looking like a deep dimple, continue kneading.

Lightly oil (with olive oil) a large bowl, then form the dough into a ball, then roll the dough in the bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm draft-free area for 1.5 – 2 hours, the dough should be doubled in bulk.

NOTE: I let the dough rise in the oven with the oven light on.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then punch down the dough, form the dough into 12 balls, keeping the rest of the dough covered as you form the balls

Place dough balls on the baking sheet, cover, and let rise in a warm draft-free area for 1 hour (or until doubled in size).

Preheat oven to 400F

Brush each dough ball with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes. The buns should be golden, and you can tell if they are cooked by tapping the bottom of the bun—it should sound hollow.

Once baked, remove from oven and put on a cooling rack. Can be enjoyed cooled or warm

Suggestion:

Besides using this delicious buns for sandwiches or as a side for soup, they are delicious for sopping up tomato sauce.

You can find my recipe for authentic Italian Marinara sauce by clicking HERE.