Description
Easy to make savory rye buns that are the perfect base for meaty sliders.
Ingredients
- Cooking spray for the pan
- 3/4 cup warm water (177 mL)
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1/4 cup pickle juice (from good dill pickles with no preservatives)
- 2 Tablespoons butter (28 g)
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt (75 g)
- 1 and 1/2 cups dark rye flour (195 g)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (260 g)
- 2 tsp caraway seeds, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg white for brushing
Instructions
- Whisk the warm water, yeast and honey together in a small cup. Set aside for about 5 minutes.
- Melt the butter, then mix it with the yogurt.
- Measure the flours into a large bowl.
- Pour the pickle juice, yogurt and yeast mixture over the flour.
- Use a flexible dough scraper to mix everything into a rough dough.
- Scrape under the dough with the dough scraper, then fold the dough over on itself to knead the dough. Continue this until the dough is noticeably smoother, about 5 minutes.
- Flatten the dough in the bowl, then pour over the 2 teaspoons of caraway and salt. Squish the seeds and salt in with your hands, then fold the dough about 20 more times to distribute the seeds well throughout the dough.
- Fold the dough back on itself to form a ball, then sprinkle the dough with a little extra all-purpose flour.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place the bowl in a warm place for about 1 hour. The dough will be noticeably puffy when it’s ready.
- Spray a rectangular pan (8×12 or 9×13) with cooking spray, then line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter, then divide the dough into 20 equal pieces. Use a gram scale to weigh out your dough to help you get even dough balls.
- Roll the dough in your hands to make round dough balls. Place the balls in the prepared pan no more than 1/2″ apart.
- Cover the buns to rise for about 30 minutes. By then, the sides will be all connected together and the buns will be noticeably taller and puffy.
- Towards the end of the 30 minutes, turn on your oven to 375 F (190 C).
- Brush the tops of the buns with egg white, then sprinkle them with more caraway seeds.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the sides are crusty.
- Allow the rolls to cool for about 20 minutes before you attempt slicing them.
- Buns are best the day they’re made, though you can freeze them for up to 2 months. To do so, let them cool completely, then place the rolls in an airtight plastic bag. Freeze them flat.
Notes
Pan size: I use a 8×12″ cake pan here, but feel free to use a 9×13″. If you do so, place the rolls no more than 1/2″ apart. This way as they rise, they’ll bake into each other. This will make for soft sides but also let you cut the rolls in one sheet for easy sandwiches.
Fresh milled?: I used my grain mill to mill 195 g of whole rye. I like the richer taste of the freshly milled flour, but if you don’t have a grain mill, Bob’s Red Mill makes very nice dark rye flour.
Less salty?: I’m using Grillo’s Pickles here for my pickle juice. Their brine is not overly salty and has no preservatives. If you make this recipe and find the buns too salty, it’s likely because your pickle juice was more salty than mine. Make them again and use less a little less salt in the dough and see what you think.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Additional Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breads
- Cuisine: Jewish, Czech
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 roll
- Calories: 73
- Sugar: 1
- Sodium: 215
- Fat: 1
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Unsaturated Fat: 1
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 13
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: 2
- Cholesterol: 3