If you have discard to use, how about some soft, mildly sweet Apricot-Cranberry-Almond Buns or rolls? The buns are simple to make and studded with sweet-tangy dried apricots, dried cranberries, and crunchy almonds. The recipe requires no baking powder. The dough relies on the sourdough starter/discard for its rise. You can bake the buns in your oven or air fryer, and the recipe makes about eight buns, so you won't have a lot of leftovers (which is why the photo doesn't show all eight buns--the others were eaten!). The buns are great for dinner, breakfast, snacks, or with your tea or coffee. I like the buns best for breakfast, warmed a bit in the air fryer, and with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese. Enjoy!
Sourdough Apricot-Cranberry-Almond Buns or Rolls -- Makes 8 (or so)
1 cup of sourdough starter/discard
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of canola oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup of white whole-wheat flour (or regular whole-wheat flour)
1 cup of all-purpose flour, divided (plus 2-3 tablespoons to knead)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup of dried cranberries
1/4 cup of chopped almonds
In a large bowl, mix together well the starter/discard, sugar, oil, egg, white whole-wheat flour, and 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour. Lightly cover the mixture and let it sit out for an hour or so (I usually leave my mixture out for four hours or so while I do other things, but an hour is long enough). When you're ready, add to the mixture the remaining 1/2 cup of flour, the salt, the chopped dried apricots, the dried cranberries, and the almonds. Knead the dough for three to five minutes (in the bowl is fine, if you don't want to clean your counter later), adding two or three tablespoons of flour if the dough seems too sticky to knead. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or cut small pieces of parchment to fit inside your air fryer basket. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place the balls on the parchment, spacing the balls a couple of inches apart. Spritz the dough balls with a little non-stick cooking spray and loosely cover them. Let the dough balls rise for two to three hours or until they increase by about one-third in size. Bake the dough balls in a conventional oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. If you want to air fry the buns, put one dough-topped piece of parchment in your air fryer basket, put the basket in the air fryer, and air fry the buns at 320 degrees for 15-20 minute or until deep brown. Remove the cooked buns from the air fryer basket and repeat the cooking process with the remaining uncooked dough.
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