Yeast Buns with Cheese and Ham

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1
  Pour 50 ml of lukewarm milk into a small cup. Then add brown sugar to the cup, crumble in the yeast, and mix everything thoroughly. Next, sift the spelt flour into a larger bowl, make a well in it, and pour the contents of the cup into the well. Cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest for at least 30 minutes in a warm place so that the yeast can rise in the well in the flour – during this time, the volume of the mixture from the cup should increase at least 3 times.
• 2
  Once the yeast has risen in the bowl, add 1 egg, the remaining 250 ml of milk, and a pinch of salt to the bowl. Knead this mixture into a compact dough (you can use a kitchen mixer with a kneading attachment or a regular wooden spoon; kneading with the spoon will take 15–20 minutes). Once the dough starts to detach from the sides of the bowl, cover the bowl again with cling film and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
• 3
  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 °C and prepare a smaller baking dish for the buns (approximately 30 cm × 20 cm), greasing it with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
• 4
  Shape the risen dough into 12 buns (each weighing 35–40 g) and place them side by side in the greased baking dish. Then, beat 1 egg separately and use a pastry brush to coat all the buns in the dish with it. Next, transfer the dish to the preheated oven and bake for 25–30 minutes at 170–180 °C.
• 5
  After baking, remove the finished buns from the oven and let them cool to at least room temperature. Then, cut each bun in half, spread ½ teaspoon of Dijon mustard on the bottom half, layer 15 g of cheddar, 50 g of turkey ham, and 7.5 g of sliced pickles on the mustard, and cover with the top half of the bun. Finally, bake the filled buns: preheat the oven to 180 °C, arrange the buns on a smaller baking sheet, place them in the oven, and bake for 5–7 minutes at 170–180 °C until the cheddar has melted.