Flower Hot Dog Buns

 

I made the flower hot dog buns from The Woks of Life recently. I had been hearing about them often on Spilled Milk, and they are for sure one of the best things to come out of my kitchen! Plus, they are gorgeous!

The recipe makes 16 buns, and they freeze very well. These were a big hit with both of my kids, for lunches at home as well as at school. I also took some with me on the plane recently (frozen solid upon departure from home, and they were fine for an early lunch on the plane). I’ll be adding these to the rotation!

2/3 cup lactose-free heavy cream – I used vegan cream (at room temperature)
1 cup lactose-free milk (at room temperature)
1 large egg (at room temperature)
1/3 cup sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 ½ tsp. salt
16 hot dog sausages
egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. water)
2 scallions (chopped)
simple syrup (1 Tbsp./12g sugar dissolved in 1 Tbsp. hot water)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the room temperature heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, flour, yeast, and salt (in that order).

Turn on the mixer to “stir.” Let it go for 15 minutes. You may want to stop the mixer once to push the dough together, though this isn't always necessary. The dough should stick to the bottom of the bowl, but not the sides – I did add a bit more flour. (Alternatively, you can knead the dough by hand. Just keep your hands lightly floured, but avoid adding too much additional flour to the dough, or it may become dense. The high amount of fat in the dough from the heavy cream should prevent it from sticking too badly to your hands.)

Cover the bowl with an overturned plate or kitchen towel (I actually use a freshly oiled bowl for this). Place it in a warm spot for 60-90 minutes, or until almost doubled in size.

After the hour of proofing, put the dough back in the mixer and stir for another 5 minutes to remove air bubbles (I skipped this step). Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut it into 16 equal pieces.

Roll each piece of dough into an oval that's about 4 inches wide and the same length as your hot dogs. Place the hot dog on one end of the dough and roll it tightly in the dough – you will get something that looks roughly like an oversized pig-in-a-blanket.

Use a metal bench scraper or knife to cut 6 slits crosswise into the dough/hot dog (creating 7 equal sections), without cutting all the way through. Then lay the hot dog pieces cut side up, and arrange the pieces alternately on either side of the central uncut part of the dough, or arrange the pieces in a rounder flower shape.

Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel and allow the buns to rise in a warm place for another hour.

When the buns are almost done proofing, preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Mix your egg wash together by beating with 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Add the scallions to your egg wash. (Submerging the scallions this way will ensure that they stick to the buns.)

Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the buns with egg (brush only the dough, and not the hot dog pieces). Make sure to also get the scallions evenly onto the bun. Use the brush to gently spread out any pooling egg wash in the crevices of the buns.

Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.

Remove from the oven and immediately brush the buns with the simple syrup. This last step gives them that signature Chinese bakery shine.