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Spooky Halloween Buns Recipe

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Joining the Halloween bandwagon! This is one of my favorite ways of eating buns… with loads of fillings! This time, I used cream cheese to get a firmer filling and it is just yummlicious!

Recipe yields 10 buns

Sweet Stiff Starter

  • 30g sourdough starter
  • 90g bread flour
  • 40g water
  • 15g sugar

Dough

  • 230g bread flour
  • 20g sugar
  • 4g salt
  • 165g milk
  • 20g unsalted butter
  • All of the sweet stiff starter

Crust Dough

  • 70g unsalted butter
  • 50g icing sugar
  • 30g egg
  • 120g low protein flour
  • 15g milk powder
  • 12g pumpkin powder OR 5g matcha powder

Method

  1. Use a hand whisk to mix butter and sugar.
  2. Add egg and mix well.
  3. Add sieved flour and fold to combine.
  4. Split into two equal parts.
  5. Add pumpkin powder to one part and matcha powder to the other.
  6. Divide each flavored crust dough into 5 equal parts and round into balls.
  7. Cover and chill in the fridge.

Cocoa Fillings

  • 180g cream cheese
  • 45g sugar
  • 15g cocoa powder
  • 15g milk powder

Pumpkin Fillings

  • 180g cream cheese
  • 45g sugar
  • 15g pumpkin powder
  • 30g milk powder

Method

  1. Beat cream cheese with sugar until smooth.
  2. Add cocoa/pumpkin powder and milk powder.
  3. Fold until smooth.

Main Dough Method

  1. Prepare sweet stiff starter and use when it triples, about 7-8 hours at 27-28°C.
  2. Mix everything except butter until the dough comes together and is strong.
  3. Add butter in 2-3 batches and knead until fully incorporated and the dough achieves the window pane stage.
  4. Bulk proof the dough for 2 hours at 28°C.
  5. Punch down the dough and split it into 10 equal parts.
  6. Roll into smooth balls.
  7. Roll out crust dough in between cling wrap.
  8. Brush the dough top with egg whites, then place the crust dough on top.
  9. Coat with sugar and cut lines on the crust.
  10. Final proof at 28°C for 3-3.5 hours or until the dough rises 1.5x.
  11. Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes (cover with foil if the crust starts to brown).
  12. Cool buns on a rack.
  13. Slice in half and pipe your favorite cream fillings.
  14. Decorate the buns and serve fresh.

Enjoy your spooky Halloween buns! For a visual guide, visit my YouTube channel to watch the full process.

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