Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns

I've been in California for the last month thoroughly enjoying myself with a couple of angels.

Kayla (5) and Emily (15 months)

Emily likes to do everything herself...

... which, of course, includes feeding herself!

And she *loves* books. If I read Yellow and Yummy once, I read it 1,000 times! I'd no sooner finish a book and she'd sign "more".

Kayla loves to be in the kitchen. Here she's making cinnamon rolls. We also made Snickerdoodles, Chocolate Chip Cookies and French Bread.

She was good at cleaning up in the kitchen, too ;)

And when she's not busy in the kitchen or with riding her bike (without training wheels, thankyouverymuch), she loves to dress up and be pretty.

And I can't forget to post a picture of my wonderful daughter and son-in-law, Cameo & Justin. They put up with me for 31 days and I came out with nary a scratch! This picture was taken at Lower Yosemite Falls. We met my nieces and nephew there and took a 3 hour bike ride along many of the trails at Yosemite. So pretty!

And this is Wrigley. He's a good boy. Every time I went to the pantry, he'd follow me, because he knows that Gramma's are good at handing out treats.

Yes... yes, I do have a recipe for you today. For anything bread, I find myself headed to the King Arthur Flour website. They have lots of recipe tutorials and an active blog where they actually answer comments and give baking advice to people who visit their site with questions. You can also choose to view their recipes by volume or weight. I find myself liking to bake bread by weight these days.

I liked these buns... they were soft and tender on the inside with buttery goodness on the top. Perfect for a dinner roll or sliders. A recipe makes 16 rolls, so you could double the recipe for Thanksgiving dinner and have mini-turkey sandwiches for leftovers!

PRINT RECIPE

Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns from King Arthur Flour

Buns:

3-1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

2 tsp instant yeast

2 T potato flour of ¼ cup instant potato flakes

3 T Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk

2 T sugar

1-1/2 tsp salt

4 T soft butter

2/3 cup lukewarm water

½ cup lukewarm water

Topping:

2 T melted butter

Directions:

1) Combine all of the dough ingredients in a large bowl, and mix and knead — using your hands, a stand mixer, or a bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a soft, smooth dough.

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased container — an 8-cup measure works well here — and allow the dough to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until it's just about doubled in bulk.

3) Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.

4) Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, by dividing in half, then in halves again, etc. Round each piece into a smooth ball.

5) Lightly grease two 8" round cake pans. Space 8 buns in each pan. Can you use 9" round cake pans, or a 9" x 13" pan? Sure; the buns just won't nestle together as closely, so their sides will be a bit more baked.

6) Cover the pans, and allow the buns to rise till they're crowded against one another and quite puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

7) Uncover the buns, and bake them for 22 to 24 minutes, until they're golden brown on top and the edges of the center bun spring back lightly when you touch it. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the center bun should register at least 190°F.

8) Remove the buns from the oven, and brush with the melted butter. After a couple of minutes, turn them out of the pan onto a cooling rack.

9) Serve warm. Store leftovers well-wrapped, at room temperature.

Yield: 16 buns.