A soft and fluffy bun dough encases the lip-smacking potato, caramelised onion and cheese filling. The buns are fun to shape and delicious to eat.

On weekends we make kids spend some time in the kitchen,  involve them and try to initiate them into the wonderful world of cooking and baking. How a recipe can be made yours by adding ingredients and flavours of choice and how  in umpteen ways one can experiment with tastes and textures is all so exciting and enthralling.

This weekend was really interesting. We made caterpillar buns. Shaping the buns was an activity that everyone loved. The caterpillar bun recipe uses a clever cutting and rolling technique to create the stripes. Some caterpillars were fat while some thin as the filling was either on the higher side or on the lower side. Amongst all the fun and frolic, a tray of caterpillar buns went into the oven for baking.

The caterpillar buns are soft and fluffy, the filling hearty and delicious. A combination of potatoes, caramelized onions and cheese can never go wrong.

You may get creative with filling and add anything that you love- savoury or sweet.

 

Caterpillar Buns

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup whole wheat flour
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon milk powder
• 1 ½ tablespoon oil
• ¾ warm water
• 1 tablespoon unrefined sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
• Some chocolate chips or black currants for eyes

Stuffing

• 4 medium-size potatoes, boiled
• 1 large onion chopped fine
• ¼ cup broccoli florets
• 3 cube cheddar cheese grated
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Salt to taste
• Instructions

Instructions

1. Whisk together first five ingredients.
2. Add sugar to warm water and stir to dissolve. Add yeast. Stir. Cover and keep for 10 minutes. It should turn frothy.
3. Add this to the dry mix and knead. Knead until the dough becomes smooth and soft.
4. Transfer to an oiled bowl. Turn around once so that it is coated with oil. Cover and keep in a warm place for 1 hour or until double.
5. In the meantime, prepare the stuffing. Boil cool and mash the potatoes. Heat oil in a wok and add chopped onions. After 5 minutes add broccoli florets. Add salt, cover and cook until broccoli florets are cooked. Turn off the heat. Add mashed potatoes. Mix well. Adjust salt. Add grated cheese.
6. Punch the risen dough. Divide into 8 pieces. Roll out each piece into a ball. Cover.
7. Work on one piece at a time. Roll out into an oval. Add  a tablespoon or more of the stuffing on one side of the rolled dough and fold the dough over the filling to enclose it.
8. Cut strips on the other side of the rolled dough and roll all the way to the end.
9. Place the rolls on a parchment-lined baking tray. Cover and keep in a warm place for 30-45 minutes.
10. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 25 minutes or until the rolls turn a beautiful golden.
11. Brush with melted butter once out of the oven. Serve warm.