Sesame Butter Buns
I have a gripe. A gripe with dishes that use a tiny amount of an ingredient in it, and proudly parade themselves around with that component in its name. Think seafood marinara with just a single limp prawn and three soggy squid rings. Or garlic fried rice with a few stingy morsels of garlic in it. Or strawberry shortcakes that are more cream than strawberries, or more cream than cake for that matter.
One of the biggest offenders of them all though, are bread buns with a pinch of sesame on top, that touts themselves as ‘sesame buns’. Let’s be honest, those 14 seeds of sesame aren't going to give the bun any sesame flavour. If anything it’s just more aesthetic nuttiness and flavoured nothingness. So, let’s change that.
For these sesame butter buns, the buns are going to have sesame. Definitely more sesame seeds that I can count. In fact, for these sesame buns, the whole outer surface is going to be covered with sesame on all sides, from every angle — a sesame crust if you will. (If you’re familiar with Chinese dim sum, these will end up looking like an oblong jin dui or sesame ball.)
And since I called these sesame butter buns, you best believe they’ll have a lot of butter in it too. For these bun babies, I use the shio pan technique of rolling a log of butter into the centre of the bun itself, which will melt as the bun bakes, buttering up the insides of the bun even more. You can even add more toasted sesame seeds inside along with the butter to really drive home that sesame flavour. (Told you I wasn’t skimping.)
So, get your dough ready, roll it up into buns with a log of butter and some sesame within, then let it proof, dip it in water (to help the sesame crust stick), and roll it in all. that. sesame. before baking.
It’ll turn out super buttery, very sesame, and a true rallying call to more accurate dish names!
Sesame Butter Buns
Serves: 16-18 buns
Total Cook Time: 3 hours
Ingredients
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
1 tbsp (12g) instant dry yeast
1 large egg
3/4 cup (180ml) water
2 1/2 tbsp (30g) granulated sugar
6 cups (720g) strong bread flour
1/4 cup (60g) salted butter, cubed and softened
2 1/4 cups (300g) salted butter, to fill the buns
1 cup (140g) untoasted white sesame seeds
¼ cup (35g) toasted white sesame seeds (optional)
Method
Heat the milk in a saucepan or a medium bowl in the microwave until just warm to touch (around 105°F (40°C)). Add the instant dry yeast to it, stir and leave it for 2-3 minutes to let the yeast activate. Then add the egg, water, granulated sugar, and salt to the milk and yeast, and whisk to combine. Transfer this into the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl if kneading by hand. Then, add the bread flour and knead with a dough hook for 5 minutes until a rough dough forms (or 8-10 minutes if kneading by hand). Add the cubes of softened butter to it, and knead for 6-8 more minutes, until the dough is smooth. Shape the dough into a large balland leave it to proof in a large bowl or the countertop, covered with a cloth, for 60 minutes or until doubled in size.
While the dough is proofing, cut the block of butter into rectangular logs approximately 3 inches long and 1/2 inch wide and tall. Arrange the butter logs neatly on a small tray or plate, leaving a small gap in between each piece, and put the whole tray in the freezer.
When the dough is proofed, punch it down, give it a few folds to combine evenly, and divide the dough into 2.6 oz. (75g) pieces. You should get 16-18 pieces this way. Roll all the dough pieces into round balls. Working with one dough at a time, shape each dough ball into a teardrop shape approximately 6 inches long. This can be done by rolling the dough just like how you would roll it into a log, then shifting the weight on your palms to one side so the dough tapers out into a sharp point. When done, cover the dough with a kitchen towel or cloth, and let them rest for 30 minutes.
Using a rolling pin, flatten out each dough into a long triangle roughly 3 inches wide at the base and about 1 foot (30cm) long. Put one log of the half-frozen butter on the wide end of the dough triangle, and give it one roll so all sides of the butter is wrapped in dough. (This is optional, but you can add ¼ a teaspoon of toasted sesame seeds into the dough together with the butter for even more sesame flavour.) Gently pinch the ends of the dough so the butter is completely sealed within, then continue rolling until the sharp end of the dough triangle, kind of like how croissants are rolled and made. Transfer this onto a lined baking tray, and repeat for the rest of the dough and butter, making sure that you leave at least a 3-inch gap in between each rolled dough on the tray. (You might need two trays for this.) When done, cover the buns with a kitchen towel or cloth, and let them proof for 90 minutes, until they are at least double their size.
Heat an oven to 375°F (190°C) on convection.
Ready two medium bowls, fill one with water and the other with the untoasted white sesame seeds. When the buns have proofed, working with one bun at a time, gently pick the bun up with your hands and give it a quick dip into the water, submerging it for just a split-second to wet its surface. Immediately lift the bun out of the water, let the excess water drip off, then drop it into the bowl of sesame seeds. Wipe your hands dry, then toss the bun around the sesame seeds (you can use a spoon to scoop sesame seeds onto the top of the bun too) until the buns are fully covered. When done, transfer the bun back onto the baking tray, and repeat for the rest of the buns.
Bake the buns in the oven for 18-20 minutes, until perfectly golden brown.
When done, take the buns out of the oven, and transfer the buns onto a wire rack to cool down for 10 minutes. The buns are best when they’re fresh out of the oven, but if you’re keeping it for the next day, store them in an airtight container, and reheat them in a toaster or oven for 3-5 minutes at 320°F (160°C) whenever you’re hungry for some!
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