Ray absolutely loves the Protein Bistro Boxes at Starbucks, and they're honestly one of the few healthy/low sodium options we can find for him when it comes to eating out. But at $6 a pop, they aren't the most budget friendly option. He especially loves the little muesli buns inside them, but when we looked up the company that makes them (thinking that buying bags straight from them would be more affordable), we discovered it was $5 for a bag of 8 tiny buns (which would last all of 2 days in our house). So we went searching for a comparable recipe on the internet, and found this one by Sweet Phi. I modified it to our needs, removing the salt and upping the oats, dried fruit, and seeds. They're a great little grab & go snack for any time of day, and they freeze really well! If you have access to a Whole Foods or Fresh Thyme, it's *much* cheaper to buy the dried fruit & seeds from the bulk bins than purchasing pre-packaged ones at a regular store. I spent about $20 on the dried fruit and nuts at Fresh Thyme, and have only used half my stash after 4 batches of these buns - I'm thinking I'll be able to get 8-9 batches out of $20 worth of ingredients, so it's well worth the money!
Ingredients
Makes 21-24 rounds
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 packet instant yeast
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup dried apricots, diced
1/3 cup dried apples, diced
1/3 cup dried currants
1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
Instructions
Combine warm water, yeast, honey, and oats in a large bowl, stir once or twice, and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is foamy on top.
Slowly stir in the flours, and mix until dough just begins to form. You can do this with a stand mixer with a dough attachment set on low, or by hand (which is what I do).
Add in the chopped dried fruit and seeds, and stir a few times.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5-8 minutes, until the fruit and seeds have been incorporated evenly into the dough.
Put the dough ball into an oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and allow to rise for an hour.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape it into a large rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into 21-24 squares.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, take each dough square in hand, tuck the corners under to round them out, and place on baking sheet. When all the dough squares have been made into rounds, cover the baking sheets with plastic wrap (spray it with cooking spray first to keep the dough from sticking to it), and allow to rise for another hour.
Preheat oven to 375. Remove plastic wrap from the baking sheets, and bake the bread rounds for 15 minutes, or until the bottoms are slightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool on racks before eating or storing. (To freeze, let cool and place in Gallon Freezer bags. To defrost, allow them to come to room temperate on the counter, or microwave for 30 seconds).
