Soft Sweet Bun Cluster

Nothing beats a cluster of freshly baked homemade buns.  These buns are amazingly soft, and delicious.  Slightly sweetened, these buns can be eaten independently, without the extra serving of butter or jam. They can be eaten for breakfast with a cup of hot caffeinated drink (mocha, cappuccino, or just coffee with cream) or just eaten plain, as a snack.

These buns are made with yogurt instead of the traditional water and/or milk, which I think gives it a very good flavor and texture. The amount of sugar used can be altered to your liking but, I think that the amount of sugar in the recipe gives the buns a perfect amount of sweetness.  To make them a little healthier there are a few things you can do to the recipe. You can replace the milk with low fat milk or soy-milk, use low fat yogurt, and use sweetener instead of sugar.  I have only tried using soy-milk and low fat yogurt, as for the sweetener, you could go ahead and try it out and tell me how it turned out.

Soft Sweet Bun Cluster Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 4 tablespoon butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg for egg-wash

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and sugar.
2. In a small pot over low heat, combine yogurt, milk, butter, and yeast.  Cook on low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is luke warm (warm to the touch, just enough for the yeast to activate) and the butter has completely dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and crack in egg, stir until the egg is completely incorporated with the yogurt mixture.
4. Pour the yogurt mixture in with the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon.
5. Transfer dough onto a clean surface and knead for 8-10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth.
6. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled its size
7. Preheat oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit 
8. After an hour, punch dough down and divide into 9 pieces.  Form into round smooth balls, and place in 8 x 8 square cake pan, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
9. With a pastry brush, brush egg-wash onto each ball of dough and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.