Chicken-Shaped Steamed Buns (Vegan) Recipe (with Video)

Make the dough:
1. Whisk together warmed milk, sugar, and yeast.
2. Add rest of ingredients (besides food coloring), mixing with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until you get a shaggy dough. Place the dough onto a work surface and knead (can also use hand mixer with dough hook attachment) until you get a very smooth elastic ball of dough.
Divide and color the doughs:
1. You can always divide the dough into 6 equal parts and shape them into balls, but if you want to recreate these chicken buns, read on! Weigh out about 15g dough and knead in red food coloring. This will be for the comb and wattles!
2. Weigh out about 3g dough and knead in the orange food coloring. This will be for the beaks.
3. Weigh out about 36g dough for the wings.
4. Since I wanted to make 6 buns, I divided the remaining dough by 6, which was ~65g.
5. Once you have all the doughs separated out, lightly cover them in plastic to stop them from drying out.
Shaping the chicken buns:
1. For the body of the chicken, shape the 65g dough into balls by cupping it with the palm of your hand over your work surface, moving it in a circular motion until the top is smooth and the bottom is pinched. Place it on top of a cut ~3×3 inch square piece of parchment paper.
2. For the details, you will be using water as glue to attach the doughs together. Take 3g of the other divided white dough and shape it into a wing. Attach it to the side of the chicken. Repeat for the other side.
3. For the beak, take a small amount of orange dough, shape it into a ball, and stick it onto the middle of the chicken.
4. For the comb (top of chicken's head), shape 3 red balls, place them side by side, and pinch the ends together. Attach it to the top of the head.
5. For the wattle, take a small amount of red dough and shape it into a teardrop. Attach it right under the beak.
Proof the buns:
1. Proof the buns under plastic wrap for about 60 minutes, or until the buns have increased by 50% their original size.
Steam the buns:
1. Place buns into steaming basket (at least 2-3 inches apart), cover, and put over a pot of cold water. Make sure there is about 2 inches of space between the bottom of the basket and the water.
2. Turn the heat to medium-low and steam for about 20 minutes. Try to not peek inside or the buns may wrinkle and become dimpled!
3. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and leave the steaming basket lid on for 1-2 minutes to not shock the buns with cold air. Then, remove the lid and the buns.
Decorate the buns:
1. Use edible food markers to add the blush and eyes.