This recipe is a variation of our existing hot dog bun recipe, using the same dough, but crafted into the shape of a flower. Hence the name, flower hot dog buns!
Flower hot dog buns have grown more popular in Chinese bakeries in recent years.
Instead of having the hot dog running through the middle of the bun, it is distributed throughout the bun. We also dot the top of these buns with scallions for extra flavor and color.
A Surprisingly Easy Method
While these hot dog buns are more visually striking than the traditional version, there’s also a practical reason to make them.
The hot dog is sliced into several pieces and gets distributed throughout the hot dog bun!
While in our other hot dog bun recipe, we lightly fry the hot dogs before putting them into the dough, there is no need for that with this recipe, since the hot dog is divided into smaller pieces and exposed during baking.
It’s a lot simpler than it looks to make. You simply roll the hot dog into the dough, and then make cuts in it (without cutting all the way through).
Then you flatten and fold out the pieces to make either a round floral shape, or a more vertical shape. We have step-by-step photos below to show you how it’s done!
Note ON THE DOUGH RECIPE:
We are again using our go-to Milk Bread recipe to make these flower hot dog buns. If you’ve made that recipe before (or the dough for any of our other Chinese Bakery bun recipes), you know it calls for a mix of bread flour and cake flour.
Of course, many of you have asked if you can substitute all purpose flour in that recipe. After much experimentation on our end, we have found that using 100% all purpose flour also yields great results. To streamline this recipe, we have included the 100% all purpose flour version.
Recipe Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the room temperature heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, flour, yeast, and salt (in that order).
Turn on the mixer to “stir.” Let it go for 15 minutes.
You may want to stop the mixer once to push the dough together, though this isn’t always necessary. The dough should stick to the bottom of the bowl, but not the sides.
(Alternatively, you can knead the dough by hand. Just keep your hands lightly floured, but avoid adding too much additional flour to the dough, or it may become dense. The high amount of fat in the dough from the heavy cream should prevent it from sticking too badly to your hands.)
Cover the bowl with an overturned plate or kitchen towel. Place it in a warm spot for 60-90 minutes, or until almost doubled in size.
After the hour of proofing, put the dough back in the mixer and stir for another 5 minutes to remove air bubbles. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, and cut it into 16 equal pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into an oval that’s about 4 inches wide and the same length as your hot dogs. Place the hot dog on one end of the dough…
…and roll it tightly in the dough.
Use a metal bench scraper or knife to cut 6 slits crosswise into the dough/hot dog (creating 7 equal sections), without cutting all the way through.
Then you can lay the hot dogs cut side up, and arrange the pieces alternately on either side of the central uncut part of the dough to achieve this shape:
Or you can bend the pieces into a round flower shape:
Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel. Allow the buns to rise in a warm place for another 1 hour.
When the assembled buns are almost done proofing, preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
Mix your egg wash together by beating with 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Add the scallions to your egg wash. (Submerging the scallions this way will ensure that they stick to the buns.)
Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the buns with egg (brush only the dough, and not the hot dog pieces). During this process, also be sure to scoop up the scallions and get them evenly onto the bun.
Use the brush to gently spread out any pooling egg wash in the crevices of the buns.
Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
Remove from the oven and immediately brush the buns with simple syrup. This last step gives them that signature Chinese bakery shine.
Enjoy!
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Recipe
Flower Hot Dog Buns
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup heavy cream (at room temperature)
- 1 cup milk (at room temperature)
- 1 large egg (at room temperature)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 16 hot dogs
- egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon/15 ml of water)
- 2 scallions (chopped)
- simple syrup (1 tablespoon/12g sugar dissolved in 1 tablespoon/15ml of hot water)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the room temperature heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, flour, yeast, and salt (in that order).
- Turn on the mixer to “stir.” Let it go for 15 minutes. You may want to stop the mixer once to push the dough together, though this isn't always necessary. The dough should stick to the bottom of the bowl, but not the sides. (Alternatively, you can knead the dough by hand. Just keep your hands lightly floured, but avoid adding too much additional flour to the dough, or it may become dense. The high amount of fat in the dough from the heavy cream should prevent it from sticking too badly to your hands.)
- Cover the bowl with an overturned plate or kitchen towel. Place it in a warm spot for 60-90 minutes, or until almost doubled in size.
- After the hour of proofing, put the dough back in the mixer and stir for another 5 minutes to remove air bubbles. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut it into 16 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough into an oval that's about 4 inches wide and the same length as your hot dogs. Place the hot dog on one end of the dough, and roll it tightly in the dough.
- Use a metal bench scraper or knife to cut 6 slits crosswise into the dough/hot dog (creating 7 equal sections), without cutting all the way through.
- Then lay the hot dogs cut side up, and arrange the pieces alternately on either side of the central uncut part of the dough, or arrange the pieces in a flower shape.
- Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel and allow the buns to rise in a warm place for another 1 hour.
- When the buns are almost done proofing, preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Mix your egg wash together by beating with 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Add the scallions to your egg wash. (Submerging the scallions this way will ensure that they stick to the buns.)
- Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the buns with egg (brush only the dough, and not the hot dog pieces). Make sure to also get the scallions evenly onto the bun. Use the brush to gently spread out any pooling egg wash in the crevices of the buns.
- Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
- Remove from the oven and immediately brush the buns with the simple syrup. This last step gives them that signature Chinese bakery shine.
