Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns

By tjanddj

Ingredients

• Mix together the following:
• 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons potato flour or 1/4 cup instant potato flakes
• 3 tablespoons Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 tablespoons soft butter
• 2/3 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk

Details

Adapted from kingarthurflour.com

Preparation

Step 1

Mix everything together to make a rough dough…
then knead for about 7 minutes at medium speed, till relatively smooth, but still rather sticky.
Gather the dough into a ball, and put it in a greased container to rise.
Let the dough rise till it’s doubled; this’ll probably take 60 to 90 minutes
Once the dough is risen, gently deflate it. You’re going to divide it into 16 pieces, which you can easily do simply by dividing it in half, then in half again, etc
Next, shape each piece into a ball
Lightly grease two 8” round cake pans, spacing eight balls in each. Can you use 9” round cake pans, or a 9” x 13” pan? Sure; the buns just won’t nestle together as closely, so their sides will be a bit more baked. And they’ll be a bit shorter in stature.
Cover the pans, and allow the buns to rise till they’re crowded against one another and quite puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes.

Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake the buns for 22 to 24 minutes until they’re golden brown on top and the edges of the center bun spring back lightly when you touch it. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the center bun should register at least 190°F.
Remove the buns from the oven, and immediately brush with melted butter. You’ll need 1 to 2 tablespoons melted butter, depending on how generous you are. Trust me; this is a time for generosity.