Beauty and The Beets

Beets....Yes, this bun was made with fresh beets. From what I understand, beets are extremely good for you. They're full of all sorts of stuff....Potassium, Iron, Manganese (have to look that one up and see what it does for a body), Phosphorus, Copper, Vitamin C, Folate and Betaine. There are lots more nutrients, in small amounts, found in beets. Even with all these good for you things....I've never liked them.

Soooo...what's my problem? How come? 

Was it because I was forced to eat them as a child? 

And if I don't like beets, why on earth would I make Red Beet Buns? 

Curiosity. Duh! 

It all began when Michelle from Big Black Dogs made it known that Red Beet Buns were one of the February assignments for the HBin5 Bread Braid.

My first mental response was....naaaaaaaa. I aint doin it. 

But people got to talking. Some said it hardly tasted like beets at all. And to be honest, the idea of a red bun for Valentines Day intrigued me. 

So I caved. 

I wish I could give you the recipe, but I can't. Its in the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook. Im sure eventually someone will post the recipe somewhere on the internet....

But I can show you what the ingredients are....

Btw....have you ever peeled a beet? And seen how pretty it is on the inside?

I have to say....this is one beautiful vegetable

For this recipe I used fresh beets, peeled them and then put them through my food processor to shred

Gorgeous stuff!! I mean...I just love that color. So rich and deep. But you know what? They smell exactly how I remember them from...I dunno....25? 30 yrs ago? (I think that was the last time I gagged down a beet)

Anyways...the recipe called for some onions. hmmm...that sounds good. Well heck...why not add a garlic clove or two as well? I mean...seriously....it can't hurt, right?

Now THAT smells awesome!!!

So I mixed all the ingredients (including something I had never heard of...and had to do a little searching for....spelt flour). I let it rise on the counter for the said "2 hours"

Lookie at what I have!!! PINK DOUGH!! COOOOOOL!!!

I ended up not being able to bake my buns for a few more days...so the dough sat in the fridge for 3 days before I got busy. 1 lb of dough divided into 8ths...and formed into little mini buns

I'm totally loving the color here! (yes...I'm one of those gals who likes pink. I don't decorate my house with it, I rarely wear it....but I like it).

The buns rose for a little longer than recommended. Partly because I forgot....but mostly because the fridge I store my dough in is super cold....so I think in order to rise properly, it needs to sit a bit longer, otherwise the dough would still be cool when I placed it in the oven and I don't think it would rise to it's full potential that way. (you gotta love a run on sentence. and no....I did not stop for a breath as I said all that).

After about 20 minutes in the oven, this is what came out

Gorgeous red buns. Perfect for Valentines Day, wouldn't you say?

And.....they totally tasted like beets. 

No matter how pretty they are, they're still beetsy. And apparently after all these years, I still don't like beets. 

I tried. Honestly. I swear I did!!

But I can't do it.

So I took them to work for our potluck and prayed that someone there would be a beet lover. And there was....several actually. And they liked the buns!! 

Soo...the moral of the story is. Beet Buns are good. 

But only if you like beets.