Flourless Buns

Weird huh? All this time I have been trying multiple flours trying to capture the 'real' taste and the best bun recipe I have come across is a flourless one! They have a bit of a different texture, kind of a cross between a popover and a biscuit, but they actually behave like real buns, and by that I mean you can TEAR off a piece rather then crumble off a piece!

I was very skeptical when I came across this recipe at Food.com, but there were enough good reviews that I thought I would give it a shot, and I'm glad I did :)

Ingredients
4 Tbsp. Shortening (Butter works too)
3 Tbsp. honey
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp. Yeast
1 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Potato Starch (or Tapioca Starch)
1 Cup Cornstarch
1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
2 Tsp. Xanthan Gum
1/2 Tsp. Salt
3/4 Tsp. Vinegar


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine all ingredients and mix well to remove any lumps.
The dough will be more of a sticky batter-like mess. Wet your hands to handle it. To make buns shape into balls or use an ice cream scoop to make them even. Place on greased baking tin, muffin tin or popover tin. OR if you want to make hot dog buns (which is what I did), shape into rectangle-ish shapes on a greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper).
Bake for 18-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Let cool, they will fall a little bit as they cool.

I think I'm going to see if I can get this to turn into some sort of pizza dough since it's something I will actually eat! (I just haven't been able to convince myself to eat gf bread/buns on a regular basis, but these are good!)
I'm also hoping the dough might substitute for my Deep Fried Cheese Balls that I used to make! I think this recipe is definitely worth some experimentation, plus it's a really economical recipe as well requiring things you can find in pretty much any grocery store!

Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns

BBQ season is upon us and that means for many of us a steady diet of grilled food! I have been pretty good about not buying anything in the bakery section for a long time (except the odd loaf of bread when I forgot to bake some!). I don't want to ruin this wonderful new trend by buying buns. So I found this recipe on Blisstree and it works wonderfully!
Ingredients
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Butter
1 Tbsp. Honey
1 Pkg Instant Yeast
1 Tsp. Salt
4 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Egg, Room Temperature


Heat the milk, water honey and butter in a small saucepan just until the butter melts. Remove from heat and let cool to at least 120F. This is important or your egg will cook when it hits the mixture!
Carefully beat in egg.
Mix together 2 cups of the flour, the yeast and the salt. Pour liquid ingredients into dry. Add the rest of the flour 1/2 a cup at a time until the dough forms a soft ball.
Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
Form into buns. Personally I dont care if they are round so for hamburger buns I roll it out to the thickness I want in a square (remember they will rise) and then I cut them into appropriately sized smaller squares. For hot dogs I do rectangles..roll out into a large rectangle and slice. Its very easy and you end up with consistent sizes.
Let rise for approx. 30 minutes or until about double in size. Let rise with sides touching for soft sides. Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes. Cool and enjoy!