Oatmeal Buns

White Flour Oatmeal Buns

This is another recipe that I cannot take credit for except for the fact that I swapped out the sugar & oil for honey & coconut oil.  My friend  Jamie shared this recipe with quite some time ago and I finally made them today.  Buns are not something I have made in almost a year since I changed my eating habits to live a more paleo lifestyle.  I do believe, however, that if you're going to have bread or buns, they should at least be homemade!  No preservatives. Just real ingredients mixed with love.  :)
These buns are WONDERFUL!  I so appreciate Jamie sharing this recipe with me and I know others will enjoy them as much as we do!  Don't be freaked out by the fact that they are oatmeal. They are soft and fluffy to bite into and you don't even notice the oats. 
I love a good old fashioned oatmeal.  Something that is not stripped of all its nutrients.  When using oatmeal for this recipe, try and find one as whole as you can get.  I used Old Fashioned Rolled Oats, steel cut would also be great!  Just don't use minute oats - those are almost completely stripped of all nutrients.
This recipe can be made as white buns or wheat buns.  If you make wheat buns use half white flour and half wheat flour, just make sure the dough is a bit sticky.  I have tried to write quite detailed instructions because not everyone is a bun baker, but if you are, then you only really need to read through how the ingredients are mixed and how many times to let the dough rise.  I also know some people really prefer detailed instructions.  :)

If you're looking for a recipe for regular white flour buns here is one:  Buns

Oatmeal Buns

Ingredients:
2 cups boiling water
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
7-9 cups bread flour (the amount you use will just vary on any given day)*

Instructions:
I use a Bosch machine - you can use whatever you like for buns but I will give directions the way I make buns.
In the bowl of Bosch add the 2 cups of boiling water and oats.  Let sit in the bowl until cool to the touch.  In a smaller bowl combine honey, molasses, coconut oil, beaten eggs & salt.  In another bowl (I usually do this in a glass measuring cup) combine the 1/2 cup warm water, yeast & sugar.  After the oats have cooled add the sweet mixture and combine with your dough hook.  Then add the yeast mixture and combine.  Then add the flour - *here is how I add flour to my buns.  Add half of the flour you expect to use and then put the lid on the mixer and combine well.  Then add the rest of the flour minus probably a cup or two and combine again.  Then add another cup of flour at a time until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl and it comes clean.  Stop the machine to check to make sure the dough is tacky to the touch.  Then turn your machine back on and keep it mixing your dough for about 10 minutes.

Wheat Flour Oatmeal dough in my mixing bowl.



In a large bread bowl add about 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil.  Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and put into the bread bowl, flip it around in the coconut oil so it's coated all around.  Cover with a flour sack cloth and let rise. I do a fast rise method where in I will heat my oven to 200 degrees.  I then shut it off before I put the dough in.  It will cut your rising time in half.  Let the big ball of dough rise once, then pan your buns (I put my bun dough on parchment paper to bake - super easy cleanup), cover with cloth and let them rise again. If you need to, you can reheat your oven again to rise the buns, just be sure to shut it off before you put the dough in.

Wheat dough after it's risen in my oven for about an hour.

Wheat Flour Oatmeal Buns panned up and ready to rise again in the oven.

My pans of buns rising in the oven.

Once the buns have doubled in size you can bake them at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 11 minutes was the perfect time for the size of buns I make.  Typically bigger than golf ball size when I pan them and then doubled when ready for baking.

After removing from the oven, remove the buns from your pan (and parchment paper if you use it) to your counter top and immediately brush with butter.  Keep covered with a flour sack cloth while they cool.  Once they're completely cool you can put in gallon Ziploc bags to either store (for a few days on your counter top, couple weeks in the fridge or freeze in your freezer for later use).
This makes approximately 3 dozen larger buns or 4-5 dozen smaller buns.  A lot of times I will make both sizes so the little kiddos can have their own size.