These hearty trail mix brioche buns make for a great sweet or savoury snack. You can butter them, pair them with cheese and jam, or with some nut butter or chocolate spread. They are high in fiber and will keep you full and satisfied. Bring them to a picnic, or munch on them on your next hike.
To give the buns a nice flavor, texture, and most of all, fiber, I added some quick cooking oats, walnuts, and sunflower seeds to the flour mix. I also sprinkled some almond shavings over the surface for extra crunch and nutrients. Since I wanted my buns a little sweeter, I added some chocolate and raisins. However you can skip these two ingredients if you want your buns more savoury.
Speaking of adding oats to the dough, you may think that 1 cup of oats might be too heavy. But it really isn’t, as you can see from the picture, the buns rose nicely despite all those oats.
This recipe is not difficult to make, but as with all yeast leavened goods, it can be time consuming. You can make the dough in advance and leave it in the fridge overnight. I kept mine in the fridge for 7 hours. During this time gluten develops.
The next step is to knead the dough, divide it into equal parts and let it rise at room temperature for one hour. It only takes 25 minutes to bake the buns if you use a baking pan of 23 cm (9 inch) diameter. However, if you use a wider pan, the buns will spread out and bake faster, and if you use a narrower pan, the buns will bake slower. If you’re unsure whether the buns are ready, poke the one in the center with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, the buns are fully baked.
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And finally, this is how to make the trail mix brioche:
Trail Mix Brioche
Ingredients
- 2 cups (300 g/ 10 ½ oz.) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (100 g/ 3 ½ oz.) quick cooking oats
- 1 ¼ sticks (145 g/ 5 oz.) unsalted butter, room temperature and cubed
- ½ cup (120 ml/ 4 ¼ fl.oz.) milk, warm
- ⅓ cup (70 g/ 2 ½ oz.) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 4 tbsp. almond flakes
- 2 tbsp. vanilla sugar
- 1 pouch (8 g) instant yeast
- 1 tbsp. walnuts, chopped
- 1 tbsp. raisins
- 1 tbsp. sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp. milk chocolate, chopped
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2-3 tbsp. flour for dusting the work surface
- 1 egg, beaten for brushing the dough
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the flour, oats, salt, and whisk them together. Add the granulated sugar, vanilla sugar and instant yeast, and whisk again. Add the eggs, warm milk, and mix well. Add the soft butter piece by piece, mixing after each addition, until all butter is incorporated and mixture resembles a soft and sticky dough. Add the walnuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, and chocolate, and incorporate them into the dough.
- Transfer dough into a greased bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge for 7 hours.
- Grease a 23 cm (9 inch) round cake pan.
- Transfer the dough from the fridge to a lightly floured work surface. Fold the dough in on itself a few times to deflate it. Divide the dough into 9 equal parts. Shape each dough into a ball. Place one ball in the middle of the cake pan, and the rest around it. Cover the cake pan with a clean plastic bag. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Brush the dough with beaten egg. Sprinkle the almond flakes. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Once baked, let the buns cool in the cake pan for 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
