Twisted Spiral Bread Buns with Mediterranean Spices (Video)
These twisted spiral bread buns are my husband’s favorites. I prepare them very often at home. He loves how flavorful and buttery they taste. He also enjoys how crispy the crusts are. If you like crunchy bread crust you will love them. The middle of the buns is soft and pillowy and filled with aroma from the herb blend. This special mixture of Mediterranean spices makes these bread buns irresistible.
Why should you make this recipe?
It is totally worth making your bread from scratch. First of all, nothing can beat the flavor of homemade bread. It not only tastes way better than store bought but it is also less expensive to make it at home.
The aroma that comes from a freshly baked bread turns every house into a home. It creates that cozy feeling that makes your home the best place on the planet.
When you make bread, you know exactly what you add in the dough, and you can adjust it to your preference. Once you master how to make a basic bread dough you can improvise and add all kinds of ingredients to it.
Store-bought bread has an impressive list of ingredients. Most bread has way too much sugar, unnecessary dough conditioners and preservatives. Do you really want to consume that? I don’t. I also don’t want to feed my family with it. That is the main reason why I prepare my bread from scratch.
Helpful tips
How to measure flour? Always scoop more flour than you need in your cup and use a knife to level it off. If you have a scale use it, because measuring ingredients by weigh is always more accurate. One cup of flour contains exactly 4 oz or 125 grams of all purpose flour.
When you make the dough, you might need more or less flour. It depends on the type and the brand of flour that you use.
It is very important to add the flour gradually until you have soft and stretchy dough. If it is sticking to your hands and you cannot form it to a ball, then you need more flour.
If you want to make this recipe vegan you can replace the butter with olive oil (or oil that you prefer). I’ve done that in the past and it works well.
These twisted spiral bread buns might look hard to prepare but they are not. Look at the video before you start making them and you will see that.
You can add whatever spices you like. I often improvise with the spices I put in them depending on what I have and what I crave.
Twisted Spiral Bread Buns with Mediterranean Spices
Ingredients
- 1½ cups water lukewarm
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp softened unsalted butter
Spice blend: combine 1 teaspoon of the following dry herbs and spices – parsley, oregano, basil, paprika, summer savory, thyme and ½ teaspoon of salt
Instructions
To prepare the dough
- In a large mixing bowl add the water, sugar, yeast, one cup of flour and the salt. Using a stand mixer or a spatula mix the ingredients until you have a wet dough. Gradually add more flour and continue mixing on low until your dough forms a ball and it is no longer sticking to your hands or to the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and put it in a warm spot (away from vents) to proof for 40 minutes.
To prepare the spice mix
- Add 1 teaspoon of the following dry herbs and spices in a bowl: parsley, oregano, basil, paprika, summer savory, thyme, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Stir well and set aside.
To shape the buns
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Once your dough is double in size. Take it out of the bowl on a floured flat surface and cut it to 8 equal pieces.
- Roll one piece to an imperfect rectangle (about 9 inches long) and spread some softened butter on top.
- Then add some of the spice mix on top and spread it along the dough. Cut several vertical lines in the middle of the dough by leaving half an inch on top and bottom uncut.
- Then lift the dough off the surface and roll the long ends in opposite direction to get a twisted rope.
- Finally make a spiral from the rope by tucking the end in the middle of the spiral. Place your twisted spiral dough on the baking sheet.
- Repeat the same steps with rest of the dough.
- Once you formed all eight buns put them in a slightly warm oven 110-115F to proof for 30 minutes.
To bake the buns
- Remove the buns from the oven and preheat it to 380F
- Once the oven is preheated return the buns in the oven and bake until ready (for about 30 minutes).
- Allow them to cool off rot 5-10 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in a bread box for 2-3 days.
