Naked Eats Rx'd: Buns, buns and more buns!

One of my favorite recipes of all time is a roll recipe that an old roommate shared with me. It's so versatile that I can eat them plain (buns), roll them up with cinnamon, butter and sugar (cinnamon buns) or throw some asian spiced meat in them (pork buns) and they all taste fabulous.

I am sure my dough recipe is nothing special, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway.

Dinner Rolls
2 packages of dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups scalded milk (cook over medium-high heat until a film forms - stir often)
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
Flour (approximately half of a 5 lb bag)

Add yeast to water at about 110 degrees with a pinch of sugar and let proof for 10-15 minutes.

Mix scalded milk, oil, sugar and salt in a large bowl and let cool.

Add eggs and yeast mixture to the bowl and 2 cups of flour and mix well.

Add remaining flour until dough can be kneaded by hand. Keep adding flour as needed and knead until the dough is just slightly sticky but won't stick to your hand excessively.

Grease a large bowl and transfer dough to the bowl, turning over once so the top side is oiled as well.

Let dough rise in a warm place, covered, until doubled in size. This will take approximately 45-60 minutes.

Gently "punch down" the dough so it deflated and let it rise until doubled again.

Punch down again and cut off pieces to form into rolls, cinnamon rolls or pork buns.

Cook at 375 degrees. Approximately 8-10 minutes for rolls (until tops are lightly browned).

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Cinnamon Roll Filling
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
4 tbsp cinnamon

Cut together until well blended.

Roll out dough into a rectangular shape. Press filling onto dough leaving one edge clean so the roll will seal. Roll up and cut into 1" pieces. Let rise in a warm place and then cook at 375 degrees until the edges are light brown.

Cinnamon Roll Icing
3 ounces of softened cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

Spread on cooled cinnamon rolls.
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Pork Buns (with chicken)
1 lb cooked chicken diced into small pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of baby carrots, minced
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add green onion, garlic and carrots and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add chicken and fry for a minute, then stir in soy sauce, oyster sauce an sugar. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 tbsp of water, then stir mixture into the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly until the chicken is covered in a thickened glaze. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Once mixture is cooled, form pieces of dough into circles and put a small amount of the mixture in the middle. Pull up the sides of the dough and pinch the ends and slightly twist to seal. Put seam side down on a baking sheet.