The dough for this recipe is made by a bread machine but you may certainly use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook instead. I love how pretty these buns turned out and they were not too sweet and goes really well with a hot cup of green tea as a snack or grab-as-you-go breakfast.
Ingredients:
Dough:
Bread flour 330 g
Sugar 30 g
Salt 1 tsp
Milk Powder 10 g
Egg yolk 2
Yeast 1 tsp
Butter, softened 25 g
Milk, warmed 200 ml
Filling:
Lotus bean paste 320 g
Matcha powder 1 tsp
Strawberry powder 1 tsp
Egg wash - 1 egg yolk + 1 Tbsp milk
Melted butter - 1 Tbsp for glaze
Into pan of bread machine, add bread flour, sugar, salt, milk powder, yeast, butter and milk in the above order.
Run dough mode on your bread machine according to manufacturer's instructions.
After first proofing, remove dough and divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover and let rest for 15 mins.
Prepare filling - Divide lotus paste into 2 portions of 160 g. Add matcha powder to one portion and strawberry powder to the other. Knead well and divide into 4 portions of 40 g each and roll into balls.
Flatten and roll dough ball to a 10 cm diameter. Put a bean paste ball into the middle of the dough. Wrap tightly and pinch to seal completely.
Flatten dough slightly with palms of your hand to 10 cm diameter. With a bench scraper, cut 10 slits evenly 3/4 way into the dough.
Twist 2 of the petals upwards in opposite directions and repeat with the other 4 sets of petals. Repeat till all the dough balls have been shaped. Cover and let proof for 30 mins.
Preheat oven to 176C.
Brush tops of each bun with egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds in the middle of the bun.
Bake for 25 mins. Remove from oven and immediately brush each bun with melted butter.
As long as you know how to bake bread, life is sure to be sweet!
