Banana Rolls

I am enamored of the Mangalorean banana buns I've devoured at a restaurant in Pune. Traditionally deep-fried, these breakfast beauties puff up golden brown. So when I come across a baked bun recipe I jump in headlong. 

This yeasted version has the usual suspects...flour, leavening, milk, sugar, butter and of course ripe bananas. Banana buns are usually flavored with cardamom or cumin, but I look the other way. Proofed buns, glazed with egg wash, bake till golden brown. Patience is a virtue that eludes me most times, I tear into hot buns. Steam rises as I break them. Fingers burn but my mouth is happy. Not quite the buns I remember, nevertheless this healthier version pleases immensely.


BANANA ROLLS
Loosely adapted from Fresh India by Meera Sodha
Makes 12


2 cups AP Flour
1 teaspoon dried Yeast
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
3 tablespoons Sugar
2-3 ripe Bananas (about 3/4 cup mashed bananas)
1/2 cup Milk
2 tablespoons salted Butter
Egg Wash (1 Egg whisked with a large pinch of Kosher Salt)


Put flour, yeast, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes.

Heat milk and add butter to warm milk. Do not let the milk boil. It should be warm enough to drop onto your palm without feeling the burn. If the milk is hot it will kill the yeast, resulting in a flat dough.

With the mixer running on low, pour the warm milk.  Increase the speed and knead the dough for 5 minutes. The dough will go from shaggy to sticky.  Scrape the dough off the blade. 

Add mashed banana to the dough.

Cover dough with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 2 hours till dough has doubled in size. The risen dough will have bubbles on the surface.

Dust the counter with a little flour and scrape the dough onto the flour.

Pat the dough out into a 6 x 4 rectangle.

Use a bench scraper or knife to divide the dough in half. Divide each half into three. Then divide each piece in half.

Roll each piece into a smooth ball and place them  2 inches apart on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.

Cover with a towel and leave in a warm place to proof for 1 hour. 

Heat oven to 375F.

Use a brush to paint the buns with the eggwash.

Bake for 40 minutes till golden brown. 

Cool slightly and enjoy them warm. With a pat of butter if you must!


NOTES

I used a stand mixer. If that is not an option use a freestanding bowl and lots of muscle power to mix the dough!

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