Cotton soft and fluffy steamed buns with butter squash flavour. This lightly sweetened Chinese style steamed bun recipe only required 4 ingredients. Make ahead and stock up for emergency!
If you ask me what sort of food I would stock up in my freezer that are kid friendly and super convenient to reheat, the answer are always steamed buns. I like to make a batch of them on my free time so when I’m running out of breakfast or my always starving kids need a quick fix, these wonderful lightly sweetened and freezer friendly steamed buns are a life saver! Both of my children love them, no matter what flavour they are!
WHAT IS STEAMED BUN?
Steamed bun is a type of traditional Chinese bread cook through steaming method. They either have filling like CHINESE CUSTARD BUNS or without filling like GOLDEN TWINS ROSE BREAD. A very popular breakfast option for many Asian Countries like China, Hong Kong and Taiwan etc.
This steamed bun recipe without filling, also called mantou 馒头 is made using butter squash puree that’s give you a lightly vibrant yellow without any artificial colouring.
This recipe provides the easiest method to make homemade butter squash steamed bun using the most simple ingredients. Unlike the standard bread recipe that required resting time before shaping the dough, you shape the dough straightaway.
WHAT ARE THE 4 INGREDIENTS TO MAKE BUTTER SQUASH FLOWER STEAMED BUNS
- Fresh butter squash, pureed
- All purpose flour
- Sugar
- Yeast
HOW TO MAKE BUTTER SQUASH PUREE
Cut butter squash into dices and steam or boil for 10 minutes until soft. Mash cooked butter squash using a fork. Keep the liquid as we want a runny puree as no other liquid is added in this recipe.
HOW TO MAKE THE DOUGH
In a stand mixer, add butter squash puree, flour, sugar and yeast. Beat on high speed for 5 minutes or until mixture is soft and smooth. Roll out the dough on a working surface and start shaping the dough.
HOW TO SHAPE FLOWER SHAPED STEAMED BUN
I’m using a flower shaped donuts cutter for the shape. You can use any donuts or cookies cutter to make your own shape if desired.
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER
Let them cool down completely before placing the buns into a sealer bag. You can store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. But I doubt they will last that long! Reheat them in the steamer straight from freezer for 10 minutes, and they will be as good as freshly made.
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RECIPE
Cotton soft and fluffy steamed buns with butter squash flavour. This lightly sweetened Chinese style steamed bun recipe only required 4 ingredients. Make ahead and stock up for emergency!
 BUTTER SQUASH FLOWER STEAMED BUNS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prep time: 25 minutes TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR 40 minutes | cooking time: 15 minutes | serve: 10 BUNS |
INGREDIENTS: – 250ml, 1 cup mashed butter squash – 500ml, 2 cups all purpose flour – 20ml sugar, 4tsp sugar – 1 tsp yeast | ||
INSTRUCTIONS:
| – In a stand mixer, add flour, sugar and yeast. Use a whisk to stir well. – Add warm mashed butter squash, turn on low medium speed and beat for 30 seconds until mixture slowly come together. Turn on high speed, continue beat for about 5 minutes until dough is soft and smooth. It should form into a dough ball. If you find mixture is dry, add 1 tbsp of milk/water and beat again until you get the right texture. – Place dough on a working surface, use a roller and roll the dough flat. Use the donuts cutter to cut out the flower shapes, and place each flower dough on a square baking paper. Repeat until you get 10 flower dough. – Heat up water in the steamer about 30°C, place dough in the steamer with lid on and let’s rest for approx 1 hour or until dough balls expand in size. Make sure you leave a gap in between of each dough so they don’t stick to each other once expand. – Turn on steamer, leave a gap between the lid so the steam can escape from the steamer and liquid won’t drop on the buns surface. Steam for 15 minutes, turn off heat and leave the buns in the steamer for 3-5 minutes before open the lid to prevent the bun from shrinking due to the sudden change of temperature. – Transfer the buns on a cooling rack and serve while warm. Enjoy! |
Dream To Cook 
I remember when I lived in a Canadian city called Edmonton, the Church I attended there, there was a member of the congregation who’d go to a Chinese bakery every Sunday morning and buy a whole bunch of boxes of steamed buns and treat the congregation to them for coffee hour after the Church services were over.
I do miss those days and those steamed buns.
Thanks for the recipe.
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I’m so glad that you like steamed bun. They can be difficult to find unless you’re close by to the Chinese suburban. You can get some frozen steamed buns at the Asian grocery but I personally prefer freshly homemade buns ☺️
I hope you enjoy the recipe and thanks for sharing the church story. 😊
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This looks so easy!! I’ll have to try this when I get butternut squash!
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Thank you! Pumpkin is good as butter squash as they are from the same family if you can’t get one 😊
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