Serves: 6

Prep time: 15 minutes or less, plus 2 hours of resting and proving.

Cooking time: 18-25 minutes

So after reading a bunch of recipes for ciabatta and learning a little of a process called autolysation (or the power of the pause, one process in which gluten forms and flavour develops along with many other benefits for no effort) I thought I would experiment with a different approach to bread making. This recipe uses quick yeast though I intend to start a sourdough in the near future and will share as I get to grips with it.

I based my recipe on a burger bun recipe I have used for a while and simply took out almost all of the kneading. The end product had less height than the more worked dough I have made before but still had a lovely texture, flavour and chew to it. The buns also held up well under a loaded and juicy burger.

You will need:

575g strong flour

1/2tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

25g softened butter

365g warm water

55g milk

1 tbsp quick-yeast

oil for greasing

1 beaten egg with 1 tbsp milk for glazing or just a little water if you don’t want a glaze

25g sesame, black sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Making it:

Mix the flour, sugar and yeast together and then stir in the butter, milk and water until just combined.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm or a damp oven cloth and leave it be. Come back in an hour add the salt and stir a little to mix it in. With oiled hands transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl and cover. Allow the dough to prove until doubled in size. Then cut it into 6 equal pieces.

Shape the pieces into rolls.

With this no knead recipe I’m not looking for perfect round buns so I quickly shaped them using the method shown in the link below.

shaping bread buns

Once you have your buns, gently place them onto a lightly oiled tray with a bit of space to grow (they should double in size) and then cover and allow to prove until almost doubled in size again. Heat your oven to around 180°C.

When the dough is ready either egg wash or brush gently with water then sprinkle with the seeds and bake them. Spin the tray after 15 minutes and bake until golden brown and the buns sound hollow when tapped or flicked on the base.

I got distracted painting the garden fence and probably let mine prove too long so I quickly spritzed them with water, sprinkled them with poppy seeds and got them baking as quick as possible – no time for photos.

When you take the buns out let them sit on the tray for just a minute or two before removing them to a cooling rack. Those 2 minutes on the tray will usually unstick any stuck buns (if any) or at least make them easier to come off.

Despite the slight over-prove I’m happy with the result. Not bad for first attempt.

Variations :

If you want to try my original recipe just reduce the rest period to 20 minutes and then add the salt and knead the bread by hand or with a mixer for 7-9 minutes until smooth and elastic. Prove, portion and finish as above.