Filled breadbuns

I was inspired to make this by watching the Great British Bakeoff Masterclass on TV, and so I dug out my ‘How to bake’ cookbook by Paul Hollywood and gave it a go. Of course I didn’t follow the recipe to the letter – I never do. But they are a pretty good approximation, I think. It was certainly popular when served as a birthday breakfast, with tzatziki and a mixed leaf salad.

I have written it here to be made in one go, but I actually made the vegetable filling and the dough the night before, and then made the buns in the morning, because I wanted a quickly made breakfast.

Makes 9 breadbuns

For the dough

500g gluten free flour mix

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

14g dried yeast

30g butter (at room temperature)

1 egg

350ml water

For the filling

1 tablespoon butter

1 escallion shallot (or any other type shallot)

1 clove of garlic

10 cherry tomatoes

1 yellow pepper

½ small courgette

a few sprigs of fresh thyme

a few leaves of fresh basil

50g cheese (I used a mixture of Boursin & Applewood smoked cheese)

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and use your hands to crumble in the butter. Add the egg, and carefully mix it in with your hands. Finally add the water a little at a time, using your hand to stir it in. You may need to adjust the amount of water, but you should end up with a sticky dough. Use your hands to press it together into a ball, and place it back in the bowl. Cover it with clingfilm and place somewhere nice and warm, like next to a radiator or in an airing cupboard. Leave it to rise for about 2 hours, or overnight if you are making the buns for breakfast. If you are leaving the dough overnight; take it away from the heat source after the 2 hours and leave it to rest at room temperature.  

To make the filling; finely chop the shallot and sweat it in a little butter.  Crush and finely chop the garlic, and add to the onion. Leave it to sweat for a few minutes until the shallot is soft. Meanwhile, chop the remaining vegetables, and add them to the pan. Remove the thyme leaves from the stalk, and chop the basil leaves. Add these to the mixture. Leave to cook gently until all ingredients are soft. Take away from the heat and let the mixture cool for a little while.

Chop or grate the cheese into small pieces.

Divide the dough into 9 pieces. Roll them each into a ball, and press flat into the shape of a disc. Place some of the filling in the middle of the disc, add some cheese, and gently fold the sides of the dough-disc over the filling so that you have a ball-shaped bun. Press it slightly flat, so that it will be easier to bake.

Once you have made all the buns, get a frying pan out, butter it, and bake them on gentle heat - about 4 minutes on each side (just like making pancakes). 

Serve with a dip or a light salad.