Most of us buy bread, usually for ease & because quite frankly, we all lead busy lives & don’t always have the time to make our own. There’s definitely no shame in that! All the hard work has been done by some kindly, experienced baker & it’s even been sliced for us. Personally, I like to have a bit of both – bake my own & buy some for convenience too. I find making bread a relaxing experience, a chance to lose myself in thought (that’s when I get all my best ideas) & tone up my arms at the same time – bonus! No fancy machines, equipment or unpronounceable ingredients, just good old fashioned elbow-grease & a bit of flour, water & yeast.
Having baked my own bread for a few decades now (who’s counting?!), I know it can be quite daunting to those who haven’t tried it. Sometimes the mere thought of baking bread can send people into a tizz. “Isn’t it messy?”, “don’t you need special equipment?” & “doesn’t it takes hours to make?” are some of the questions I’m often asked. The answers are yes (getting messy is part of the fun), no, you don’t need special equipment & no, it doesn’t take hours. Also, you don’t need to sit & watch over it – I make the dough, get on with other things while it’s proving & then go back to it.
This recipe is for my Dunn Buns & they take less than a couple of hours to make, from start to finish. Plus, you can bake them in advance (they freeze very well & retain their fluffy interior). These gorgeously glossy topped buns are made with an enriched dough, meaning they don’t fall apart when crammed with a filling & hold their crumbs when sliced, making them perfect for burgers, breaded chicken & of course, bacon & eggs too. They are pillowy soft with a smooth golden top & retain their shape as you eat (there’s nothing worse than when your bun goes flat & doughy).
Let’s get those beautiful buns baked & bronzed. Ready to bake it happen? Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
What you need:
500g Strong White Bread Flour (plus extra for kneading, etc)
10g Fast Acting Yeast
1 large Free Range Egg
300ml Lukewarm Water
1 large tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (keep the bottle handy for later)
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
A little melted butter for the tin (or a butter wrapper will do)
For the topping:
2 heaped teaspoons Sesame Seeds
1 large Free Range Egg, beaten with a pinch of Sea Salt
What to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 220*C & line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper. Brush the greaseproof paper with the melted butter or give it rub all over with a butter wrapper (I always keep a few wrappers in the fridge, ready for greasing baking tins & such). You can go without the greaseproof layer if you like. I find it helps keep the bun bottoms soft, while still giving them colour.
Mix the flour, sea salt & yeast into a large mixing bowl.
Crack the egg into a measuring jug & top up with the lukewarm water to just about 400ml. Give everything a whisk with a fork to break up the egg & blend it into the water. If it gets a little frothy on top, that’s fine.
Tip the egg & water mixture into the flour, along with the olive oil. Give everything a good mix with the fork, making sure you get right to the bottom of the bowl.
Once it’s all gathered into a sticky dough, tip it onto a lightly floured worktop. I use a pastry scraper to make sure I get all the dough out of the bowl. You will need a bit more flour as you go along, as it will be quite sticky to start. Set your mixing bowl aside, you’ll need it later.
Knead firmly for about 8-10 minutes, stretching the dough away from you with the heel of one hand & pulling it back towards you. Try not to tear the dough as you do this. Repeat & keep going until the dough is a smooth & supple ball. If you need a bit of flour as you knead, sprinkle a little onto the worktop & use the pastry scraper to loosen the dough if it gets sticky.
When you’re finished kneading, dust a little flour into the bottom of your original mixing bowl & place your dough inside, sprinkle a little flour on top & cover with either clingfilm lightly coated in olive oil or a dry tea-towel/cloth.
Leave the bowl in a draught-free, warm place to prove for about an hour, until you can see a little dome on the top where it’s risen & grown to almost twice the size.
Once your dough has proved, tip it out onto a lightly floured work surface (keep the oiled clingfilm/cloth from the bowl, you’ll need it again in a moment). Give the dough a quick knead for a moment to knock out any big bubbles (don’t over-do it though, just a few seconds is fine).
Divide into eight equal pieces & gently roll into balls. Set them onto the greaseproof-lined baking tray, spacing them a few inches apart (they will need room to grow). Cover lightly with the clingfilm/tea-towel again & leave them to 
prove for another 20 minutes, until they have doubled again.
Remove the cling film, delicately brush the tops with the beaten egg using very light strokes (they will be a bit squishy & jiggly, so be gentle) & scatter the sesame seeds over them.
Bake in the centre of the oven for about 12-15 minutes, until beautifully bronzed on top & the sesame seeds are all toasted.
To check if your buns are baked, pick one up & tap the bottom – if it sounds hollow, they’re ready.
Remove from the baking tray & place on a cooling rack. Let them cool completely (I know it’s hard to resist, but it will give you tummy ache if you don’t let them cool). That’s it, your buns are done! Slice, sandwich & serve! They will keep for a day in an airtight container or you can always pop a few cooled buns into airtight bags & freeze on the day you bake them.
They are perfect packed with bacon, sausage & eggs for breakfast or even better, layered with burgers, cheese & salad for a weekend treat. Sometimes, I make miniature versions of these with smaller fillings (perfect for picnics).
If you do have any leftover buns, try making my mini “Dunn Bun” pizzas! Slice a bun into three generous slices, rub half a garlic clove onto each & 
top with a spoon of squished tinned tomatoes (tip them in a bowl & get your hands in). Then add slices of mozzarella or whatever cheese you like, a few mushrooms or peppers & maybe some ham. Sprinkle with a little Basil, Oregano & black pepper, dust with Parmesan & bake for 8 minutes in a hot oven (220*C) – easy mini bun pizzas! They’re perfect as a light lunch, swift supper or a simple cheesy snack.
However you eat them, these bronzed & bun-tiful glossy buns are always a fabulous treat! Stay hungry! Aimee 😉 x
It’s been a proper soggy start to Summery June, especially this week (it’s been raining since Monday morning & barely stopped). The weekend gave us some glorious sunshine & the opportunity to mow the lawns, pot some plants & generally have a tidy up around the garden. The plants are loving the damp weather, flourishing & flowering all around (especially the peas who have pods on their vines!). Although we all moan about it, the gardens need a proper downpour every now & then to keep them hydrated & healthy.
On days like these, I like to make my own sunshine & bake some beautiful treats! Lusciously light sponge cakes, peachy fruit-packed pastries & velvety chocolate chip cookies all do the trick, especially with their heady perfume wafting through the house & the anticipation of tasting them later. Recently, I rediscovered a treat that we have not made for quite some time: the gorgeous grissini! These spindly, slender sticks of crisp, handmade bread are delicious with a few juicy olives, sundried tomatoes & of course a pan of my homemade tomato sauce for dunking. After a long day at work or as pre-dinner nibbles for your guests, these make the perfect carpet-picnic fayre to tide you over until dinner is ready – substantial enough to take the edge off being hungry, but light enough to not affect appetites too much.
Now I’m not going to give you false hope here – they are one of the easiest & tastiest treats to make, but you will need to set aside a whole morning or an afternoon (which is perfect for soggy days!). As each breadstick is handmade, there is a degree of patience required – you can’t rush this & I personally find it quite relaxing, therapeutic almost. No machine required, this is all done by pure elbow grease – in fact, the only thing I will recommend is a pastry scraper (an inexpensive flat, flexible piece of plastic that will multi-task in a number of baking jobs, including wiping up worktops afterwards). If you’re doing this alone, it can take a couple of hours to make a whole batch, so I would highly recommend getting the whole family involved (especially the children – this is great for helping them learn a basic life skill).
This recipe makes about 80-100 grissini, depending on how thin you roll them & I will tell you that the thicker ones have the most deliciously chewy texture, with just enough exterior crispiness too – these taste amazing dunked in a little aged Balsamic Vinegar & olive oil. Grissini are definitely a ‘prepare in advance’ snack, not for those requiring instant gratification, but the results of your hard work will be rather satisfying. Ready to get started? Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
Optional toppings:
Start to knead the dough by placing it in front of you, pushing down & away from you with the heel of your hand. Then pull it back onto itself, give it a half turn on your worktop & repeat. Try to get into a rhythm, working at a nice pace & keep the dough moving (if you’re moving too slow here, the dough will stick to the worktop, so just slide the pastry scraper underneath & flip it back).
Dust the inside of your bowl with a little flour & place the dough inside, giving a little dust of the fine semolina or flour on top. Smudge a little olive oil onto a sheet of cling film, cover the bowl loosely oil-side down & place in a draught-free, warm place for an hour (warm airing cupboards are brilliant if you have one). If you don’t have cling film, use a sheet of greaseproof paper oiled in the same way & cover with a tea towel.
Once proved, your dough will have risen to at least double in size & will be slightly domed on top. Remove the clingfilm & pull the dough out onto a lightly floured worktop.
your grissini to look rustic, handmade & not just squished out by a machine. Personally, I like to twist & twirl them to get a nice bobbly sort of texture when they’ve baked, but it’s up to you how you do it. Lay each one about half an inch apart, as they grow a little during baking.
Remove & lift your grissini onto a cooling rack until ready to serve. Usually, I tend to bake them on a constant rotation of two trays in the oven while I’m prepping another two trays, until all the dough is used up.
oil & generously shower with sesame seeds or the Rosemary (or both, which is very tasty). Bake as above. One of the best bonuses of this is when all your grissini are baked, there will be a tray of toasted sesame seeds & Rosemary leftover. These are truly splendid scattered over salads, cheese bakes, roasted tomatoes & even just for dunking a delicious tomato-sauce smothered grissini in. Keep leftover ones in a little ramekin or glass jar for this purpose.
tomatoes in a saucepan & squish into smaller pieces (get your hands in there, you’ll wash). Add a good squeeze of tomato puree, a couple of cloves of freshly chopped garlic, a few fresh Basil leaves (roughly shredded) & a pinch of sugar, along with a few firm twists of black pepper (freshly ground is best) & a pinch of sea salt. Stir everything together with a glug of olive oil & reduce on a medium heat for a few minutes. Once it’s all bubbling like glossy hot lava, it’s done! Turn off the heat, give it a good stir & let it cool for a couple of minutes (as with most hot lava-like sauces, let it rest). Taste it & adjust the seasoning if you need to, then serve!