Is there anything better than a bun that's fresh out of the oven!? Try adding some fresh herbs, garlic, and butter and you have a recipe for perfection! These buns are super soft, "pillowy" in texture, and pack a punch for comforting flavours. Serve these with stews, roast beef or chicken.
Garlic Herb Buns
Ingredients
1 cup whole milk, warmed to 110-115 degrees F
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (equivalent to a 0.25 oz package)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus 1 teaspoon
2 large eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped and patted dry
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour, plus more as needed
Garlic Herb Butter
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
Pour warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F) into the bowl of stand mixer. See Notes below. Stir in 1 teaspoon granulated sugar and yeast, and let it sit for 10 minutes until frothy. This means that the yeast is good. If it does not get frothy, start over with fresh yeast.
Set up the dough hook attachment in the stand mixer. With the mixer on medium speed, beat in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, eggs, melted butter, garlic powder, and salt until evenly combined. You may need to break up the eggs with a whisk. Note: If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can also follow steps 2 and 3 by hand - I’d recommend using a wooden spoon to mix everything.
With the mixer on medium-low speed, mix in 3 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining flour in 1/4 cup increments as needed. I ended up using about 4 cups of flour. Increase to high speed and mix until a dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be slightly sticky, moist, and manageable. Then, on low speed, add the rosemary, parsley, and oregano until evenly incorporated.
Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead by hand for about 3-4 minutes, sprinkling more flour as necessary. The dough should be moist, slightly sticky, and should spring back slowly when poked. Do not over-knead.
Form dough into a ball and place on a lightly oiled bowl (I used olive oil), making sure to coat the dough with oil as well. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm environment for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.
After the dough has risen, punch it down and transfer to a clean non-floured surface. Form into buns by taking a small amount of dough, push some up between your thumb and pointer finger, and pinch it off by squeezing your thumb and finger together. Arrange in a greased 9x13 baking pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let it rise for another hour in a warm environment or until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, combine the garlic herb butter ingredients, and brush all over the risen buns. Bake 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool slightly and serve. Enjoy!
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