小麦胚芽面包(汤种法) Wheat Germ Bread Rolls with Pepitas & Sunflower Seeds(Tang Zhong Method)

1st of June has marked the 1st day of winter in Australia & since then the weather has been miserable.  Most of the photos that I’ve taken on my cookings do not look nice and I hope that the sun will come out very soon, hehehe!

All right, what do I have today? It’s the healthy “Wheat Germ Bread Rolls”(小麦胚芽面包) which I had made few weeks ago  using  the Tang Zhong Method(Water Roux Method). This was my 2nd attempt of making bread using Tang Zhong Method but 1st time of using the wheat germ & wholemeal flour!  The inspiration of making this bread rolls came from Bernice Kitchen’s “麦香合桃面包”(Wholemeal Walnut Bread).  Since my son is allergic to certain nuts, I had to think of other ingredients to replace with the walnuts, at last I decided to use the pepitas(pumpkin seeds) & sunflower seeds.

I would like to highlight a few ingredients in this recipe which make these bread rolls so special & healthy! The 1st ingredient is the honey! Honey is used in place of sugar! 2ndly is the wheat germ & 3rdly is the wholemeal flour.  Somehow, I don’t understand why not using 100% wholemeal but has to mix with normal bread flour? Is it something to do with Tang Zhong method?  If you are a bread expert, please kindly give me a good piece of advice, ok?

In term of the taste, the crust is hard but the bread itself is soft & I’m missing the smell & taste of these bread rolls very much!  This recipe only yields 5 bread rolls & if you have a big family to feed, please double up the ingredient, ok?

Tang Zhong Method: Wheat Germ Bread Rolls with Pepitas & Sunflower Seeds:

汤种法: 加了葵花子和南瓜子的小麦胚芽面包:
(Recipe Source: Bernice’s Kitchen)
Makes 5 Bread Rolls:
Ingredients:
(A) Tang Zhong:-
10g Wholemeal Flour
60g Water
1tsp Wheat Germ
(B):
100g Wholemeal Flour
150g Bread/High Gluten Flour, sifted
Pinch of Salt
4g Instant Dried Yeast
30g Honey
90g Water
15g Butter
(C):
30g Pepitas(Pumpkin Seeds)
30g Sunflower Seeds
Wheat Germ, to sprinkle

Method:

1. To prepare the Tang Zhong, place all Ingredients (A) in a saucepan, cook & stir constantly over low heat until the mixture becomes like baby rice cereal/glue.  Remove from heat & place the Tang Zhong in a small, clean bowl.  Very quickly, cover the bowl with a cling wrap.  Make sure that the cling wrap touches the top of the Tang Zhong.  Leave to cool down completely before use.  This yields about 55g of Tang Zhong.  

Note: 

Tang Zhong can be prepared on a day before & it is said can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days!

2. To prepare the bread dough, place Tang Zhong & all ingredients (B), except butter in the mixing bowl. Fit the electric mixer with the dough hook & use low speed to mix for 1 minute.  Increase to medium speed & continue to knead until a smooth dough is formed(I used Speed 2 for 5 minutes).  Add in butter & continue to knead for another 15 minutes or until the dough is smooth & elastic. 

Note: 

The dough won’t look as glossy as the white bread dough.

3. Add pepitas & sunflower seeds from Ingredients (C) & gently stir to mix well. Place the dough in a big clean bowl, spray with some water, cover with cling wrap & start proofing in a warm place until the dough is double in size.  

4. Remove air bubbles.  Divide the dough into 5 equal portions, about 100g each. Roll into balls, again cover with cling wrap & rest for 10 minutes.

5. Shape the dough balls into oval.  Spray with some water & sprinkle with some wheat germ from Ingredients (C).  Proof for another 25 minutes.

6. Make a few quick & decisive cuts on top of the shaped dough.  Rest for another 10 minutes. Bake in a 170C(or may be 165C) preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until cooked.

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I'm sharing this with Girlichef's BYOB June 2012
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I'm going to use 16-hour Poolish Version(冷藏液种法) to make my next bread! Looking forward to see the outcome!

~Happy Baking!~