Sourdough Oat Burger Buns #BBB

I love oats and yet seem to have a hit or miss record when incorporating them into bread.  Fortunately, this was a successful time!  Our challenge was these wild yeast adapted burger buns that were originally a bread and also could be a dinner roll.  As is typical of the Babes, I kinda did my own thing with my bake, although it ended up being pretty close to the recipe of origin and not too far off from the adaptation.

We did get a couple cooler days in which to bake so I did turn on the oven.  I love brushing melted butter over my finished breads, straight out of the oven.  It provides a nice finish, extra flavor, and a softer crust.  We would love to have you try out these hearty buns with us this month and share how they turneout!  Check out our Facebook group to see the participants' baking results.  If you would like to post your results with a Buddy badge on a blog, let us know in the comments or on the Facebook page.

The following is how I made my oatmeal buns, a slightly less sourdough take.  Do check out the host kitchen and the other versions! 

Oatmeal Burger Buns
makes 8 buns 

1 cup boiling water
1 cup rolled oats (I used sprouted rolled oats*) *not an affiliate link
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp yeast (scant) 
1 small spoonful sourdough starter
¼ cup lukewarm water
2 tbsp brown sugar 
1 egg yolk
1¾ cup unbleached white flour 
¼ cup red whole wheat flour (home ground and sifted)
1 tsp salt 

Buns may be topped with oats, sesame seeds, or brushed with butter after baking 

Soak the oats: 

Pour boiling water over oats and butter and stir until the butter has melted. Set aside to cool to lukewarm. 

Make a sponge: 

Activate the yeast in the ¼ cup lukewarm water with just a pinch of sugar. Let stand until foamy, around 5 minutes or so.  Stir the yeast into the cooled oats.  Add the spoonful of starter, the remaining sugar, and ½ cup of flour.  Stir to thoroughly mix, then cover and let rise in a warm place until bubbly.

Making the dough:

Add the salt and the rest of the flours, mixing well. Knead until the dough is fairly elastic. (Although the dough had a reputation for being sticky, mine was a nicely firm dough.  I decided to add two more tbsp water and work it in until the dough was slightly tacky.)

Once the dough has been developed, cover and let rise until double. This should take about an hour depending on the temperature in the kitchen.

Divide the dough into 8 equal parts.  (I had 8 buns around 97g each.)  Shape the dough into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet to rest for a few minutes.  Press the balls down to flatten slightly.  Cover the buns with plastic or a damp towel and leave to rise until noticeably puffy, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375º F.  Bake the buns for about 15-18 minutes, or until golden.  Brush tops with melted butter if desired.  Cool on racks before slicing or storing. 

The rest of the Bread Baking Babes

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
  
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
• My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
• Bread Experience - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories - Karen