Steam wholewheat red bean baos

One of the favorite things I enjoy eating for breakfast is baos. Whether it is savory or sweet, a steamy bao is always very inviting. ;) I have been wanting to try my hands on making steam baos with sweet filling for a long time ...since last year! :P So after seeing my dear friend Reese making her Sauage Bao in her last post, I decided to make some myself. :) Since I don't want to be too adventurous this time, I simply used store bought red bean filling instead of making them myself. The thought of "slaving" over a hot of red bean paste is just too tedious for me these days. :P I have actually made 2 different batches of baos, one plain and one wholewheat version...here are the wholewheat ones:

Making baos is fun! It's almost like making bread! ;) Needless to say, you can see I had fun moulding the baos too. When I was moulding them, my daughters were both eager and excited about the cute animal shapes. Since I was rushing (as usual), I only mould 4 different shapes. Fellow blogger like My Kitchen Snippets and Happy Home Baking too had their share of making these fun baos not too long ago. ;)

I am pretty happy with this wholewheat version of the bao skin I made....soft, fluffy & healthy~! Sweet! :)

The store bought red bean paste was a wee bit too sweet to my liking, so I kind of make my bao skin a little less sweeter.Wanna try out this recipe, here it is:

Ingredients for Wholewheat Steam Red Bean Paste baos: (makes about 12 medium)
200g Hong Kong /bao flour
65g wholewheat flour
6g instant active yeast
50g wheat starch
40g caster sugar
8g double action baking powder
150ml water (add just enough to make a nice soft dough)
20g shortening
20ml olive oil

Method:

• In a large mixing bowl, sift in HK / bao flour together with whole wheat flour, baking powder and wheat starch. Add in sugar and yeast and whisk well to combine everything.

• Next add in water, do not need to add up to 150ml if the dough is already soft and moist. Knead till it comes together and forms a soft dough and not sticky, about 5 mins.
• Lastly add shortening and olive oil and knead dough till it is smooth and elastic.
• Place dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and let proof for 1 hr.
• In the meantime, roll about 12 portion of the red bean filling, each weighing about 20g each. Place on plate and for use later.
  
• After proofing, punch the air and divide the dough into 12 to 14 portions. Roll round and press the dough flat with your palm, making sure the edges are thinner then the center.
• Place a ball of the filling in the center and seal the edges nicely and place the bao on a cut out small parchment paper.Repeat till all the dough and filling are used up.
• Let the baos rest covered and proof for 25 minutes before steaming.
  
• Prepare a steamer with boiling water. Steam the baos and steam at high fire for 12 to 15 minutes till the baos are done.

I'm not sure is it my moulding skill or the softness of the dough, but I think my piggy have droopy ears & noses! Furthermore, the wholewheat flour made my piggies look like they are having freckles...lol! Nevertheless, wholewheat is always a healthier version as compared to plain ones. Take a look at the first batch of plain baos I made earlier:

I will not be posting the plain skin baos recipe as I find it a bit tough the following day. But on the first day, the baos were great when they first come out from the steamer, yummy!;) Notice the one with the spiral pattern? My daughter calls it "wormy", lol!

I also made a few piggies with this dough. Wonder why one piggy is not pink? I only realized I forgot to tint the dough pink after I mould the first piggy...:P

I had loads of fun making this baos this time. Guess the next time I will try with black sesame paste or lotus paste...yum! If you are interested, try it out! Have fun too!