Apricot Yeast Buns

This is the recipe, out of all the apricot recipes we tried for the Apricot Tsaqwem Festival, that was my least favorite. 

Don't get me wrong, it was good. Tasty, even.

But it just wasn't oh-my-goodness-that's-amazing like some of the other apricot recipes were. 

I think it had a lot to do with using whole wheat flour in with the all purpose. When I make my own bread I just prefer it made with all purpose flour. Perhaps those of you who enjoy the half AP and half whole wheat will enjoy these more than we did. 

They certainly look pretty...and smell crazy good too. 

Apricot Yeast Buns

Ingredients

Buns

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (110 - 115 degrees)

2 cups warm buttermilk (110 - 115 degrees)

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 - 4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup dried apricots, finely diced

Filling

1 1/2 cups apricot jam 

Topping

1/2 cup apricot jam

2 Tbsp ground almonds, toasted

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Wait 5 minutes. 

Stir in warm buttermilk, salt, whole wheat flour, and 1 cup all purpose flour until well mixed. Stir in the finely diced, dried apricots

Stir in enough remaining all purpose flour to form a soft dough. .

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 - 3 minutes. 

Place into a bowl sprayed with cooking spray, spray top of dough very lightly with cooking spray. 

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

After rising, punch dough down. Turn onto floured surface and roll into approx 15 inch rectangle. 

Spread the apricot jam generously to within 1/2 inch of edges (you may or may not need the full 1 1/2 cups)

Roll up, jelly roll style, pinching seams to seal.

Cut into 12 equal pieces.

Place into a 9 X 13 pan that has been lined with parchment paper. 

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 - 40 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350.

Bake approximately 30 minutes, until buns are golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes in pan before inverting onto wire rack.

Warm the 1/2 cup of apricot jam in the microwave for about 20 seconds, just enough to thin it out a bit. Using a pastry or basting brush, brush the jam over the tops of the buns to thoroughly coat.

Sprinkle with the toasted, ground almonds.

I would like to try these again using nothing but all purpose flour just to see if I like them any better. 

Like I said above, it's not that these weren't good...they just weren't my favorite. 

They were, however, apricoty!

 

Check out these blogs for tons of fun links! -- Mandatory Mooch and Adorned From Above