Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Bee Hive Buns / Honeycomb Buns / Khaliat Nahal - Eggless #BreadBakers

  For  this month’s bread bakers gave us the theme to bake sweetened yeast bread for Christmas or Holiday season.

  This Bee Hive buns was the bread which was chosen  for another bread baking group We Knead to Bake in which I was a member. I didn’t bake this bread during that time. But this bread was in my to do list for a long time.



  When this month’s theme was announced I immediately decided to make this bee hive bread.

This bread is easy enough to make and what is unusual is that it is filled and then covered with a sugar syrup/ glaze ,which is typical of Middle Eastern confectionery.



Khaliat al Nahal (also known as Khaliat Nahal) translates as Bee’s Hive in Arabic. This is because the buns are baked close to each other in a round pan where they form a honeycomb like pattern. They’re traditionally made sweet and glazed with honey flavoured syrup, though savoury versions are also made.


This recipe makes 15 small buns, and if you want fewer you can halve the recipe to make about 9 or 10 buns. For half the recipe, use a 6” or 7” round cake tin to bake the Honeycomb Bread. 

   You can also bake them individually in muffin tins if you prefer, except they would not have their characteristic “honeycomb” pattern.


Traditionally, the filling used in this bread is a small piece of plain cream cheese but here choice of filling is entirely up to you. You can make it sweet or savoury. I used sweet coconut filling. I used fresh grated coconut , you can use dessicated coconut if it is not available.
Here’s a good video to watch in case you think you need it. http://xawaash.com/?p=6593#sthash.WYkAg0DL.dpbs

Khaliat Nahal (Honeycomb Buns or Bee’s Hive Buns)

For the dough:
Ingredients:
1 cup lukewarm milk
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
40gm butter, melted
2 tbsp milk for brushing the dough
2 tbsp white sesame seeds for sprinkling on top (optional only for savoury bread)

For the filling:
1 cup Grated coconut
1 tbs clarified Butter
10 cashew
10 Raisins
¼ tsp Cardamom powder
¼ cup sugar


Other options for filling :

Savoury - cream cheese OR crumbled feta cheese OR crumbled paneer/ cottage cheese, flavoured according to your choice. You can also use any other savoury filling that you want. I used a combination of crumbled paneer, herbs, chilli flakes, a little garlic and chopped spring onion.
Sweet - cream cheese (traditional filling), or any other filing of your choice like chocolate, dried fruit like dates, raisins, chopped nuts, chopped fruit , sweetened coconut filling, etc.

Sugar Syrup/ Glaze:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
A pinch of saffron
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp lime/ lemon juice

Method:
Make sure your melted butter has cooled down a bit before using it. Put 2 cups of the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowl and mix well.

Combine the milk, sugar and melted butter  and add this to the dough mixture and knead until you have a smooth and elastic dough which is not sticky.
      Add as much of the remaining 1/2 cup of flour as you need to get this consistency of bread dough. I used all of 2 1/2 cups of flour for mine.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning it to coat completely with the oil. Cover and let it rise till double in volume, for about an hour.
Turn the dough out onto your work counter. You won’t really need to flour it as the dough is quite manageable as it is. Cut it into 2 halves. With your palms, roll out each half a “rope” about 9” long. Cut each rope into 1” pieces so you have a total of 18 pieces.


Coconut Filling :

Add the butter to a sauce pan and melt . To this add chopped cashew along with raisins  and fry.
Add  the grated coconut and saute for a minute and take off flame.
To the above add the cardamom powder and sugar , mix well. 
Let the mixture cool.

Shaping the Buns :

Take each piece and flatten it out a little and place half a teaspoon of filling in the centre. Pull up the sides and wrap the dough around the filling, pinching it closed at the top. Smoothen it into a round ball. Place this in a well-greased round 9” cake tin. Repeat with the remaining 17 pieces and the filling.



Arrange the filled balls of dough in concentric circles, filling the base of the cake tin.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for about 30 to 40 minutes. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle the sesame seeds over this. Don’t use the sesame seeds for sweet bread, only for the savoury Filling .



Bake the buns at 180*C (350*F) for about 25 – 30 minutes, until they’re done and a nice golden brown on top.
Let them cool in the tin for about 5 minutes and then on a wire rack.

Sugar Glaze :
If you’re making the sweet version, make the sugar syrup/ glaze during the first rise of the dough. For this put the sugar, water and saffron in a small pan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes until it starts thickening a bit. Take it off the heat and add the honey and the lime/ lemon juice. Mix well and let it cool. Keep aside till needed.
When the sweet buns come out of the oven, pour the syrup all over the top of the “Honeycomb”.  The bread should be hot and the syrup/ glaze should be cool. 



If you want your Honeycomb Buns to be less sweet, just brush the syrup/ glaze over the top.I brushed the syrup as the filling was so sweet.





Let it sit for a while for the syrup/ glaze to set a bit. Serve them warm with tea/ coffee.




  • American-Style Panettone from Passion Kneaded
  • Apple Cinnamon Rolls from Sizzling Tastebuds
  • Beehive Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds
  • Candied Fruit Sweet Rolls from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
  • Chestnut Roll Wreath from Food Above Gold
  • Chocolate Cherry Brioche Buns from Baking Sense
  • Chocolate Swirl Babka from Cook's Hideout
  • Cranberry Sweet Rolls from Food Lust People Love
  • Estonian Kringle from I Camp in my Kitchen
  • Finnish Nissua Bread from Gayathri's Cook Spot
  • Fruit & Nut Sourdough from What Smells So Good?
  • Ginger Orange Stollen from Spiceroots
  • Indian Inspired Holiday Wreath from Herbivore Cucina
  • Julekake from A Shaggy Dough Story
  • Kugelhopffrom Ambrosia
  • Marzipan Stollen from Palatable Pastime
  • St. Lucia Buns from Karen's Kitchen Stories
  • Stollen Bread from Sneha's Recipe
  • Sweet Milk Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm






  • BreadBakers




    #BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

    We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.


    Tuesday, November 8, 2016

    Beetroot Bread – With Indian Twist #BreadBakers



      For this month’s Bread Baker Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories gave us to bake with Root vegetables like onion , potato , carrot , Turnip etc.,. I choose to bake with Beetroot .

      This beetroot bread has the 4Gs  - Indian flavours like ginger , garlic , green chilli and garam Masala.



      I was typing  the bread now (Today 3:30 PM IST )  when the bread was baking in the oven . I thought of baking the bread yesterday but couldn’t make it. These days I was too lazy in blogging especially typing the recipes. I cook and take photos but I don’t know why I was not blogging.

    Let’s move on to the recipe….

    Requirements :

    All purpose Flour – 3 cup
    Beetroot – 1 medium sized
    Active dry yeast – 1 ½ tsp
    Salt – 1 ½ tsp
    Sugar – 1 ½ tsp
    Garlic – 6 cloves
    Ginger – a small piece
    Green chilli – 5 nos
    Garam masala – ½ tsp
    Luke warm water – 1 ½ cup
    Vegetable oil – 1 tbs

    Method :

    Peel the skin of the beetroot and chop roughly.
    Blanch the beetroot with ¼ cup of water.
    Let it cool and grind – Beetroot Puree.
      The water used to blanch the beetroot can be used to     knead    the dough.
       Grind the garlic, ginger and green chilli to a fine paste.

       In a bowl, add the flour, salt, sugar and yeast, mix well.
      To this add the beetroot puree and grounded paste and mix       again.

      To this add the luke warm water and mix well.

      Pour the contents into the kitchen counter and knead well for   ten minutes.
      Add the oil and knead again.
    -->
      Place the dough in an oiled bowl and let it double.
      When the dough is doubled punch in the dough and shape      into oval and make slits with sharp knife.
       Place the bread in the baking pan and allow for second rise.  
       Bake in the preheated oven @ 180*C for 45 minutes.
       Let the bread cool and slice.

       Enjoy  this spicy bread with a  bowl of Potato Soup.
    • Beetroot Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds
    • Caramelized Onion Cheddar Bread from Hezzi-D's Cooks and Books
    • Caramelized Onion Gouda Casatiello from Hostess at Heart
    • Carrot Spiced and Teff Bread from kidsandchic
    • Colocasia Root (Taro Root) Flatbread from Mayuri's Jikoni 
    • Garlic and Herb Wreath Bread from Herbivore Cucina
    • Garlic Cheese Bombs from Sizzling Tastebuds
    • Ginger Sweet Rolls from Passion Kneaded
    • Honey Beet Bread from Ambrosia Soulful Kitcnen
    • Korean Onion Bread from Gayathri's Cook Spot
    • Potato Dinner Rolls from Cook's Hideout
    • Pull Apart Onion Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
    • Rustic Parsnip Bread from Food Lust People Love
    • Sourdough Onion Pockets from Karen's Kitchen Stories
    • Stuffed Aloo Parathas from Sneha's Recipes
    • Sweet Potato Bread from Cindy's Recipes and Writings





    • BreadBakers

      #BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

      We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

      If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.