Monday, November 7, 2011

Guest Post ~ Lithuanian Bacon Buns

No food history today. I'm excited to introduce a special guest post from one of my favorite food bloggers, and I know he is one of your favorites too. Peter from http://thekitchennoob.blogspot.com/ is a great cook. I have been a fan of Peter since I found his blog. Peter's blog is worth checking out. Now I hand my blog over to Peter.

I'm thrilled to be doing a guest post for Christine's Pantry! Of course, I wanted to present something special, and with the holidays coming up there are plenty of great dishes to choose from.

It's amazing to me, looking back, that what I remember most fondly about the holidays during my childhood is not the toys and presents, which at the time were at the top of the priority list, but the food and family gatherings. As the cook/chef in the house and as a father, I want my daughter to have similar fond memories, not of plastic toys, but of family fun and especially the food.

This will be my third year including these Lithuanian Bacon Buns as part of a new family holiday tradition. My dad's side is mostly Lithuanian, and my wife's mom's side also had a substantial Lithuanian heritage as well. Maybe that's why we like these so much, it's inherent.

We start off with a pound of bacon and a large onion, both chopped, in a heavy skillet and barely covered with water. At medium heat, boil off the water until you have a rich, brown filling.
We roll out the dough after 2 risings and cut out circles that will be our buns.

I still have yet to master the rolling technique. As seen in the picture of the finished bun my bacon filling always ends up off-center. I think I need to do more pinching and less rolling. We let these buns rise again for another hour before baking them for a quick 20 minutes. Then they're finally ready!

These buns are a savory treat, and everyone who has ever sampled them has absolutely loved them. I especially make sure to send a small batch over to my neighbor every time I make them. It's sort of a nice Thanksgiving gift too.

Thanks for reading everybody, and thank you Christine for inviting me over for a guest post! I hope you all enjoy and have wonderful holidays coming up.



This recipe is from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. It makes about 3 dozen or so buns.
1 lb. Bacon, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 C milk
½ cup butter
2 eggs, lightly stirred
4 C bread or AP flour, approximately
1 package dry yeast (about 1 Tbs if you buy in bulk like me)
1 tsp salt
¼ C sugar
1 egg yolk, beaten, mixed with 1 tsp milk (for egg wash)

  1. Place chopped bacon and onion in heavy skillet; barely cover the mixture with water. Place skillet over medium heat and boil off the water. In about an hour, the water will be gone and the mixture will have cooked into a rich brown filling. It will crackle and pop to announce it's done. Remove from heat. Drain the grease through a sieve and allow it to drop while it cools. When cool, chop again or run through a food processor to ensure the mixture is fine.
  2. In a small saucepan heat the milk and butter until the butter is melted. Don't scald. Remove from heat and add eggs when milk has cooled a little.
  3. Combine yeast, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Slowly pour the milk/egg mixture into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients to make a batter. Begin adding flour ¼ cup at a time until it forms a rough mass that can be lifted from the bowl. Switch to the dough hook and continue adding flour until the dough under the hook cleans the sides and forms a ball around the hook. See note below
  4. Knead the dough by hand or by mixer for about 10 minutes
  5. Place dough in greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise until it doubles in size, about 45minutes.
  6. Punch down dough, gently, cover bowl again and let it double in size again, about 30 minutes.
  7. Remove dough from bowl and knead a little to press out bubbles. Roll out the dough until it's about ½” thick. Cut out circles with a 2 ¼” cutter placing the circles aside as you cut them. Repeat process until all of the dough has been used.
  8. With you palm flatten the circles and spoon about a teaspoon of the cooled bacon mixture in the center of each circle of dough. Draw the sides of each circle up and over the bacon. Tightly pinch the seam together, and place each bun, seam side down, on a baking sheet.
  9. Cover the buns with wax paper or parchment and allow to double in size, about an hour.
  10. Preheat the oven to 375, let the oven preheat for about 20 minutes.
  11. Brush the buns with the egg wash.
  12. Place the buns in the oven on the middle or bottom shelf. Baking takes about 20 minutes for glossy brown buns. Buns can be served warm out of the oven or frozen and reheated for later.
Note: I typically add flour until the dough no longer sticks to my hand if I touch it. You should be able to smack the dough with the palm of your hand, and while it may feel wet, it shouldn't stick to your hand when you pull it away.





41 comments:

  1. oh no you didn't-bread filled with bacon! This recipe will surely rule the day...my imagination of this just will not do. I want and therefore am inspired. This one is a keeper-yum!

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  2. I can see why these little bad boys are so popular. I'm inspired to give them a go. Thanks!

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  3. Christine, I'm so glad you have Peter here today! These bacon buns will hopefully be in my kitchen soon. Sauteed onions and bacon inside bread make a beautifully delicious combo! Picture me making these for my family over the holidays and speaking of this guest post while their eyes glaze over in a polite interest while they happily eat these little treasures! All 3 dozen of them.

    I hope you both have a great start to your week!

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  4. We order these from a local bakery on a weekly basis... because they are to die for!! So yummy!

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  5. Now that I have read your post further, I now see that this is a recipe from the Kitchen noob. This is a great guest post and it is something I definitely would like to try. Few people can resist a bacon filled bun-well done.

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  6. Peter from The Kitchen Noob shared an awesome recipe with us today. Thanks so much Peter.

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  7. Thanks everyone! For those of you who make them I know you're going to love them. :)

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  8. To Christine- great pick for a guest poster. Well done.
    To Peter- I love that you are so passionate about your cooking. I also adore that you want to share that with your daughter. These are a wonderful treat. Making me wish I was your neighbour. And I now have the theme song from Mister Rodgers stuck in my head. *it's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood...*

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  9. Bacon-filled buns ? Yummmmmm !!!! Great guest post ;)

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  10. Wow - this is a GREAT recipe! Thanks so much for sharing....bacon and bread is an amazing flavor combination! What a terrific Christmas treat!

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  11. These are so adorable! And I love the bacon filling--YUM! Great recipe, thanks for sharing :)

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  12. Christine, thanks for posting this special guest post. I'm glad I've learnt something new from here again. Thanks so much for sharing it. You're the greatest.
    Hope you're having a fabulous week ahead.
    Blessings, Kristy

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  13. Though I bake like once a while but this sharing has made it so simple to make the buns, nice filling with the bacon inside.

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  14. I'm really touched :) Being Lithuanian I am so glad to see something Lithuanian made and posted in foreign blogs :)

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  15. These look like what a former local Polish bakery made on Saturday mornings... they called them bundukie. They even made them with diced jalapeno peppers in them!!!

    I miss that bakery soooooo much after they closed. They made the bestest biggest cinnamon raisin rolls I have never tasted!!! Not a light fluffy dough but a rich, moist, heavier dough with lots of cinnamon!!

    Kim J.
    aka foxxyroxie64@yahoo.com

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  16. Hello Christin, I'm glad that I'm here!
    Your buns look fantastic!!
    Have a nice afternoon!

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  17. I'm flattered that everyone has such nice things to say. Thank you all and thanks for the guest spot, christine! :)

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  18. Hi Eri,

    We are glad to have you here. Enjoy!

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  19. Hi Kitchen Noob,

    My pleasure. I'm happy to have you here.

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  20. Oh man bacon inside a bun!! These are so cute & I bet soooo amazing! Yum!!

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  21. Oh wow! These look amazing and you had me at bacon! Thanks for sharing! :)

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  22. These look great--they remind me of stuffed buns served at a Polish restaurant when I was growing up. Buzzed!

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  23. Bacon, onions and bread - what's not to like? Thank you for sharing this great recipe!

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  24. I would never think to boil bacon, but after seeing the end result, I'm in!

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  25. It is great to post recipes from not so known regions;) I plan when I am away 4weeks (from 25th) to feature some of serbian /croatian bloggers that have fantastic stuff but blog only in serbian/croatian) I will of course translate it.It will be a feast:)

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  26. I was JUST talking to a friend about how bacon is everywhere.. I'll have to send this recipe to him! :D

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  27. Peter, how fun to see you guest posting for Christine! These buns sound marvelous...a hit for sure at our house!

    Christine, thanks for sharing one of the nicest bloggers around with all of your fans~

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  28. I love Eastern European food, these look fab. I will go check out your blog!

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  29. Bacon buns!? These buns look so perfect! I would not mind biting into one of these and getting the bacon...mmmmm!!!

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  30. Recipe looks excellent. It's good to see that
    so many people love bacon buns. I have made my owwn for 50 years. Yes, many times the filling
    is off-center, but try making them round instead. The long ones are actually Latvian, but everyone has their own recipe. GOOD LUCK!
    Thanks for letting me comment.

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  31. Sorry to butt in again, but along with bacon buns you have to try Kugelis. The Lithuanian
    potato pudding with bacon and onion. Yes the
    Lithuanian culture is based on bacon, potatoes,
    and good, hearty rye bread.
    Thanks again.

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  32. This is probably the fourth time in 2 months that I've made these, they're sooo good! My grandma used to buy these from a bakery all the time and when I found this recipe, I freaked! Can't wait til this batch is done!

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  33. I can't believe I just saw this recipe online. We make these every year. I always told friends it was a secret family recipe. ❤

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  34. I was excited to uncover this page. I need to to thank you for
    your time due to this fantastic read!! I definitely really
    liked every bit of it and I have you book-marked to look at new information on your website.

    ReplyDelete

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