CARDAMOM BUNS - THE NON-FATTENING & HEALTHY WAY

  I love everything grain! Pasta, bread, rice, cakes, cookies... you name it. And I like to eat my favorite foods, preferably every day, without getting fat. =)
  The solution is to make and bake healthy versions of them. Life is for enjoyment and pleasure, and I want to live it to the fullest, and longest, possible!

  These cardamom buns have been my daily pleasure all through Samhain:

What a sight! This represents zen to me. Many people I know get the biggest satisfaction from eating meat, but this is my meat baby! These buns are the food I would choose to take with me to a deserted island.

Tea time is my favorite time of the day! In reality I usually eat two buns, but I didn´t want to seem greedy, and photographed only one on my plate... =) Herbal infusion or green tea with soymilk is a must with the buns. Ahhh...

Sugar sprinkled on top. Since I like sweet foods (a.k.a. sugar =) I cheat my brain by adding most of the sugar on top of the buns, instead in the dough. Tastebuds sense it better there, and thus give me more flavor for less sugar. I only add 1/3 tsp on top of each bun.

  Since I live in the real world, and have to do all the cooking and cleaning, and baby sitting myself, I don´t have excess time to spare on anything. The recipe for these buns is easy and as quick as possible. I have not yet seen anything as healthy as these on the market shelves, so there is no way around baking them myself. Plus I get the most nutrition out of the spelt grain by grinding it myself right before making the dough.

The recipe:

2 cups (5 dl )soymilk
0.4 oz (11 g ) dried yeast (handy to have in the cupboard)
1 quart (1 l ) whole grain spelt flour (the fresher the better!)
1 tsp seasalt
1 Tbsp cardamom
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 dl ) sugar ( I use organic white for maximum satisfaction )
1/4 cup (1/2 dl ) olive oil

+ Heat the milk until slightly over lukewarm. Add the yeast and some flour. Mix. Add the spices, salt, and sugar. Mix again. Then, little by little, add some flour until a nice firm-ish dough is formed. In the end add the oil and mix one last time. No need to let it rise at this time.
  Cut the dough into twelve equal sized clumps ( if you wish, twist and turn them into pieces of art ), and place on a baking tray. Cover with a cloth and set the oven for 420F (220C). Let the buns rise until the oven is set. Then apply some soymilk on them and sprinkle 1/3 tsp of sugar on top of each bun. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are nicely browned.