For Mothers’s Day this year we went to my parent’s house and had a barbeque with my Uncle Andy, Aunt Connie, my cousin Cristina and of course their dog, Cesar. My Mom wanted to keep it simple so we made hamburgers, hot dogs, creamed corn, spinach dip bread bowls, and crab salad for dinner. We made dirt cake and nutella cheesecake for dessert. Cristina and my Aunt made chocolate croissants and they were super good too. But I am incapable of truly keeping things “simple”. I like to make things far more complicated than necessary. Kelly and I decided we would try homemade hamburger buns and hot dog buns. Buying them at the store is just too easy.
We ended up with one fail and one success. Not too bad. The hot dog buns were really dense. Just way too much bread for a ‘lil hot dog! I get nervous when making bread that I am going to mess it up. And I’m sure that is what happened to the hot dogs. Someday I will try them again though. The hamburger buns on the other hand, were a real success. They were light and fluffy and most importantly tasted very fresh. I definitely prefer the homemade buns to the store bought ones. It just doesn’t seem right when the store bought ones can sit on my counter for a month and still be “fine”. Although the homemade ones won’t last a month, they taste much better!
Here is what you'll need
Add the water
The milk
The yeast
The sugar
The salt
And the egg
Mix, then add the bread flour
And the all purpose flour
Mix, then add the butter
The dough should look like this
Oil a bowl
Place the dough in the bowl and coat with oil
Cover and let rise
Divide the dough into 8 and shape into balls
Let rise again, then brush with egg white/water mix
Sprinkle with sesame seeds
Bake in the oven above a baking sheet with water
Eat immediately!!
Yield: 8 buns
Ingredients
3 Tablespoons warm milk
1 cup warm water
2 Teaspoons instant yeast
2 ½ Tablespoons sugar
1 ½ Teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 ½ Tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
For topping:
1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
sesame seeds
Directions
Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, combine milk, water, yeast, sugar, salt and egg. Mix in the bread flour and all-purpose flour. Once incorporated, mix in the butter. Switch to the dough hook attachment and knead on low speed until the dough is somewhat tacky, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Transfer dough to a bowl lightly brushed with olive oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, between 1 to 2 hours.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each part into a ball and place on the baking sheet, 2 to 3 inches apart. Cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise again for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when nearly doubled.
Fill a large metal pan with a shallow layer of water and set on the lowest rack of the oven. Move the other rack to the center position. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Brush the tops of the buns lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake buns for about 15 minutes, until golden brown, rotating halfway through. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Source: Pennies on a Platter
