OAMC Pizza Buns Delicious Any Way You Make Them – My Vegetarian Version

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get some more variety in my husband’s lunches and I happened upon King Arthur Flour’s recipe for Pizza Buns. One look at the photos and I was hooked! I love ultra-thin crust pizza, but the hubby likes it thick and chewy.   I’m a vegetarian, and he’s not.  These pizza buns are a perfect solution!

Easy to make, the rolls can be made to each individual’s taste and even different fillings in the same roll! I chose to use loose, vegetarian “sausage” because the hubby prefers it to “real” sausage for this roll.  The best part of vegetarian sausage is that it’s not greasy.  If you’re going to substitute animal sausage, drain it very well before adding it to your filling.

I made the dough in my Zojirushi BBCCX20 Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine by starting the machine to preheat it. While it was preheating, I added the ingredients in the order stated in the recipe – liquids, solids, and finally yeast.  I used their pizza dough seasoning as recommended.  It’s very expensive, hardly natural, and something I’m going to have to work on finding a substitute for because it’s too processed for me.  Perhaps substituting at least garlic powder would be a start.

King Arthur Flour Pizza Dough Flavoring

Pizza Dough Flavor Ingredients: autolyzed yeast extract, maltodextrin, cheddar cheese powder [cheddar cheese (milk, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes {wheat}), whey, buttermilk, salt, disodium phosphate], lactic acid powder (lactic acid, calcium lactate), natural flavor, garlic powder, soy lecithin, and silicon dioxide (to prevent caking). Processed in a facility that also packages products containing eggs, milk, soy, tree nuts, and wheat.

BAKING DAY

I cooked up the vegetarian sausage while the dough was rising. I mixed half grated cheddar cheese with the same amount of grated Parmesan cheese and added 2 tbls of Italian Seasoning for color and flavoring.  I used my mini food processor to chop up black olives and made sure the cooled sausage was crumbled into small bits.

When the dough was ready, I rolled it out, covered it with the filling, and rolled it into a long, thin roll cinnamon roll style. I used my J.A. Henckels International Eversharp Pro 8-Inch Stainless-Steel Bread Knife (it’s amazing – truly!  After years of cheap bread knives this one is a joy) and cut the roll in half, then half again, and then into thirds. I placed the rolls on my new baking sheets (courtesy of my mom) and the new silicone baking sheets (also mom) and flattened each roll slightly.

I turned my oven on to its lowest setting (170) and then turned it off when it reached temp. I covered the rolls and placed them in the warm oven for about 1 hr or until they were puffy but not quite doubled.  Next, I heated the oven and baked the rolls for 15 mins as noted in the recipe.  I pulled them out as instructed and covered them with the homemade pizza sauce I made and froze last week.  I used slightly more than the recipe called for (2 cups total instead of 1), covered them with 1/4 cup of reserved cheese (plenty!), and popped them back in the oven until finished.

The finished rolls are delicious! Even this thin-crust lover enjoyed one.  Just the right amount of filling and sauce. That’s Gracie waiting patiently for a bite.

FREEZING ON BAKING DAY

I popped the cooled rolls into individual sandwich bags and froze them for about an hour (until the topping was frozen – usually called flash freezing). I then put 5-7 individual rolls into a gallon freezer bag. This makes pulling one out and putting it in the refrigerator the night before it’s needed very easy. Once thawed, just warm up in the oven (350 for 15 minutes), microwave (cut in half and microwave 20 seconds), or the toaster over (about 5 minutes) easy as can be.

TIPS

To make more than 12 rolls, do all the rising outside of the bread machine and keep the machine working on making dough. You can also make the dough in your stand mixer, food processor, or by hand.  These are generously sized rolls (about 5″ across).  To make them kid size, roll the dough longer or cut it in half before rolling.  These would also make great appetizers if made smaller.  Does your family like cold pizza?  These would be perfect for a kid’s lunch box if he/she does!  I made mine mostly organic – organic flour, oil, milk, etc.  Be sure you use the type of flour listed – if you substitute flours the changes in gluten will mean more or less liquids.  Use any typical toppings for pizza as filling – experiment with different cheeses and flavors.  To be successful, chop the toppings very small (a mini food-processor works well).  This makes rolling easier and keeps the roll intact.

REFRIGERATOR METHOD

If you’d rather make and store to bake later, you can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 5 days before filling – let it rise the first time, punch it down, and then store it in zipper top bag until you’re ready to use. Pull out the desired amount of dough and let it come to room temperature before moving on.  Prepare filling, roll dough, do second rising, and bake.

FREEZER METHOD

Make up to second rising. Freeze stuffed rolls individually or grouped.  Include separate baggies of pizza sauce and cheese topping as part of the freezer kit or have them on hand on baking day.   Thaw for a couple of days in the fridge.  Once thawed, bring to room temperature before proceeding.  Do second rising and bake as noted in recipe.