Hamburger Buns

I love finding recipes I like and re-purposing them.  A couple of weeks ago, we made white loaves for our Tuesdays with Dorie baking group.  One of my baking friends had a great idea and used the dough for buns instead of making a loaves.  Since seeing the photos on her blog, it's been in the back of my mind.  I had already

worked with the dough to make the loaves and enjoyed it, so I knew basically what to expect and that the recipe did what it was supposed to, so no worries there.  Tyler was complaining that I had been depriving him of meat lately (caveman), so I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to try the buns and make the hubby happy.  And I think they make hamburger night a little more exciting, don't ya think?  Everyone wins.

The buns were delicious.  They held together well enough to handle a burger, but still had that homemade taste.  I halved the recipe and it made 6 buns and they were just the right size.

Hamburger Buns

Adapted from:  Baking with Julia, White Loaves

1 1/4 cups hot water (105-115 degrees), divided

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/2 tsp sugar

3-3 1/2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 T butter, softened

cornmeal

1 egg white

1 tsp water

sesame seeds

In bowl of stand mixer, add 1/4 cup water with yeast and sugar, whisk together and let sit until foamy (about 5 minutes.)  Add remaining water and 3 cups of flour, mix slowly with dough hook until combined and increase speed.  Add more flour if necessary, a little at a time, so the dough is sticking to the bottom of the bowl but not the sides.  Add salt and continue kneading for about 10 minutes.  (I usually set the timer, 10 minutes seems like forever in reality.)  After 10  minutes, add butter, 1 T at a time.  Dough will come apart and then back together.  Once butter is combined, drop dough into a large greased bowl and cover.  

Let rest for about an hour, until doubled in size.  

Grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Punch dough down and divide into 6 balls, about 4 ounces each and place on baking sheet.  Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until double in size.  (They should look about the size of hamburger buns, about 45 minutes to an hour)  Preheat oven to 350 and carefully remove plastic wrap.  Whisk egg white and water together and brush over dough.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.  

Remove from oven and cover with towel to cool.

I like to slice mine, spread a little butter and grill on a skillet until golden.  You can also slice and broil for a couple minutes until golden inside, you can just eat them how they are.  :)

P.S.  You don't have to use these for hamburgers. :)  Anything you put in a bun would be great in them.

If you need a quicker version of hamburger/slider buns, click HERE.


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