This is a multigrain version of Danish breakfast buns (rundstykker) I grew up eating in Denmark. Rundstykker literally means round pieces in Danish. We don't try to trick you; as you can see they are in fact round pieces;) Every bakery in Denmark have rundstykker ... and they are yummy. Many danes will get up on a Saturday or Sunday morning and walk or bike to the nearest bakery to buy some just baked, warm rundstykker for breakfast. YUMMM. I miss Danish bakeries. Since I don't have a Danish bakery around the corner I have opted to adopt my mother's multigrain rundstykke recipe.
Danish Breakfast Buns (Rundstykker)
Ingredients
1/4 cup boiling water
1/8 cup rye grains
1/8 cup barley grains
1/8 cup sunflower seeds
3 ½ cups whole wheat flour (about 2 cups hard white wheat berries)
1/4 cup dry milk
1 packet active dry yeast (2 ½ tsp instant yeast)
1/8 cup honey
1/8 cup ground flax seeds
1/8 cup ground hemp seeds
4 Tbsp applesauce
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 tsp diastatic malt (for how to make malt check out my post)
1 cup lukewarm water
Poppy seeds
This recipe yields 10-12 breakfast buns
Directions
Day 1
Combine rye grains, barley grains, and sunflower seeds in a pot. Cover grains/seeds with 1/4 cup boiling water and let it soak over night.
Day 2
Grind about 2 cups of hard white wheat berries. This should yield around 3 ½ cups of whole wheat flour. I use my WonderMill.
In a glass or small bowl mix yeast with 2 Tbsp lukewarm water and add a little honey to feed/activate the yeast. Let it sit and work while adding the other ingredients together.
Mix 2 cups of freshly ground whole wheat flour together with the dry milk. The rest of the flour will be added later.
Grind and add the flax and hemp seeds (I use my magic bullet, don't use the electrical WonderMill for this).
Then add the apple sauce, honey, salt, and malt. To read my blog post about how to make diastatic malt please go here. Malt helps the buns rise, give a great texture, and brown the crust.
Add the soaked grains/seeds from day 1.
Add the proofed yeast to the mixture.
Use the same container the yeast was mixed in to collect the water needed for the recipe. This trick will help include the remaining yeast left on the sides of the container. Add the water to the mixture.
Mix all the ingredients together. I use my KitchenAid stand mixer. Once all the ingredients are in the mixer I mix them together using the dough hook on setting 2. Slowly add the remaining flour if needed until the dough gets the right consistency. You want the dough to be wet, but at the same time you want to use enough flour to allow the dough to come together. Let the mixer mix for about 8 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover it. Let it rise until it is puffy but no more than doubled in bulk. For me that is about 1 hour – but don’t let it rise for more than 2 hours.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface and divide and shape the dough into 10-12 buns. Place the buns on a greased cookie sheet and cover. Allow the buns to rise 30 minutes.
Towards the end of the rising time, pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Once the buns are done rising, but before they go in the oven, brush a little water, egg whites or cold coffee on the top of the buns to moisten them and add poppy seeds (they will stick better if the top of the buns are a little moist).
Bake the buns for about 15-20 minutes. The finished buns should be about 190F inside.
When the Danish breakfast buns are done remove them from the cookie sheet and let them cool on a rack.
These Danish breakfast buns/rundstykker are moist and delicious AND nutritious. Cut them in half and enjoy them with your favorite topping. Some of my favorite toppings are honey, Nutella, cheese, and jam. YUMM. They are also good as an afternoon snack:) Enjoy!
part of this recipe is loosely based on the whole wheat bread recipe found at King Arthur Flour
