Homemade Hamburger Buns

While making the wonderful crockpot beer chicken, I thought it would be fun to attempt to make my own hamburger buns to serve this on. I've always wanted to explore making more yeasty breads and this was the perfect time to do it since dinner would be simmering away all day.  If I can do it, you can do it. Promise!

I used the dough hook on my Kitchen Aid to make this, but you can do this one by hand, stand mixer or even in a bread machine (do people still have these?). There is no need to make a starter with this recipe - you just mix everything together and kneed until the dough is smooth and soft. This took be about 5 minutes, give or take. Although, this was using a stand mixer on medium speed. I am sure if you are kneading the dough by hand, it might take a little bit longer. Once the dough is kneaded and soft, place in a slightly oiled bowl and let rise until doubled. The recipe said this would take about two hours, but mine seemed to take slightly more than that. About two and a half hours. Maybe my apartment wasn't warm enough, but don't be alarmed if it takes more than two hours or a little less to double in volume. If it does not start rising with in an hour, you may have killed the yeast and I would advise starting over. I am sure you won't kill the yeast here. This recipe is hard to mess up. Like I said, if I can do it, you can do it. You just need patience and time to let the bread rise.

you can use reg flour or bread flour for this one. since I had a TON of bread flour, I used that.

swirling bread

the bread rose - woo!

bread divided into eight equal rolls

rolls are puffy after rising for another hour

pre-baked - brushed with one egg white and 1/4 cup water whisked together. Top with your favorite toppings. I used poppy seeds on one half and sesame on the other. I bet onion flakes would be good on this too. Or plain.

baked, browned and beautiful.

Homemade Hamburger Buns (from www.kingarthur.com)

  

1 cup lukewarm water

2 tablespoons butter

1 large egg

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or bread flour)

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon instant yeast

1. Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, smooth dough. 

2. Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in volume.

3.  Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball. Flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until noticeably puffy. 

4. Brush the buns with the egg white solution (one egg white whisked together until foamy with 1/4 cup water). Sprinkle on toppings.

5. Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown.

These buns would be great for any sandwich or even with a big bowl of soup. They are light and fluffy and super easy to make. Just make sure that when you are buying yeast at the store to get instant yeast and not regular yeast. I had regular yeast in my freezer and almost made the mistake of using this. Good thing I didn't. These buns have inspired me to try more yeasty breads knowing that I could make these come out fabulous on the first try. Ps. These rolls freeze great! Just make sure to double wrap in plastic wrap and then place in a ziploc bag.