Instructions
- If you use instant yeast, you can skip this step. To activate the yeast, place the yeast, warm water (make sure it's comfortably warm so it doesn't kill the yeast),and 1tsp sugar in a bowl. Let it sits for 10 minutes to dissolve the yeast. It will turn foamy
- Place all the ingredients for the dough in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Use a dough hook attachment and knead the dough at speed 2 until you get a rough dough, about 5 minutes. Add the softened butter, one part at a time
- The dough will turn into a sticky mess. Do not add any flour. Once all the butter is in, increase to speed 4 and keep kneading until the butter gets absorbs by the dough, it may take somewhere from 10-15 minutes or so. You may need to stop the machine halfway and scrape the side of the bowl several times. The dough should be soft, stretchy, shiny and just slightly sticky to the touch. If you gently and slowly stretch the dough thinly, it won't break. This is what we call a window pane stage.
- Cover and let the dough proof at a warm place. Let it rises until double in size. It may take an hour or so depending on the temperature.
- Once the dough is proofed, punch the air out and knead a few times. Divide the dough into 24 smaller doughs.
- Using a 6-inch round cake tin, this makes 3 batches. Cooking in separate batches ensures an even, soft bake.
- One ready in the tin, let the dough proof again and double in size, this should take about 40 minutes.
- Preheat the air-fryer at 160C for 5 minutes. Place the bun-filled tin into the air-fryer and bake for 5 minutes. If the top browns too quickly, loosely add foil on top.
- Pop back into the air-fryer for approx. 10-15 minutes, check to see if cooked through.
- Add the next batch into the air fryer, or freeze the dough for another time.
- Brush the warm buns with St Helens Farm Goats Butter, before putting them onto a cooling rack.
- Once cooled, they should stay soft for 2-3 days.