Homemade Hamburger Buns

I was SO excited the other day when I pulled these out of the oven!  I have made hamburger buns MANY times over the past few years and I finally got them right!!!  You’re lucky you weren’t around for some of my failed experiments with bun recipes.  Lets face it, tight buns of steal may be great on your posterior, but that’s not what you want in a good hamburger bun.  These buns are light, soft and easily adjust to any size you prefer.  Something those other buns won’t…well….oh, never mind.  These (hamburger) buns are really great though, and if there wasn’t snow on the ground and temps in the 20’s I would be planning a BBQ and inviting friends over to show them these buns…the hamburger buns….not my buns…Wow.  Lets move on to the recipe…

This is what you will need for the dough: 1 cup of warm water, 1 tablespoon yeast, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/4 cup butter cut into small pieces, 3/4 cup milk, 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1 egg, 5 to 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour plus a little more for sprinkling. You will also need 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon of water and some sesame seeds for sprinkling on top.

Step 1: Dissolve 1 tablespoon of yeast in 1 cup of warm tap water (105 to 110 degrees) with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Let it sit for about 10 min.  It should get bubbly which means your yeast is working.

Step 2: In a microwave safe bowl put 1/4 cup of butter (cut into small pieces) 1/4 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of milk. Microwave for 1 to 2 minutes.  The butter should be mostly melted.

Step 3: Place the melted butter, sugar and milk mixture in a mixing blow.  Add 1/2 of a tablespoon of salt, 1 cup of flour, one egg and stir well.

Step 4: Add the yeast mixture to the mixing bowl and stir well.  Keep stirring and add a couple more cups of flour.  This is were I change the paddle to the dough hook on my mixer.  Keep mixing while you add the last two cups of flour.  Let the dough hook knead the dough while it comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, let it keep kneading for 8 to 10 minutes.

Step 5: Scrape the dough off the dough hook and plop the dough out on a floured surface.  Knead it just a few times to bring it all together and form a nice ball.  Place the dough back in the mixing bowl (after you grease it).  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place to rise.  It will take around an hour to double in size.

Step 6: Punch the dough down and divide it into *12 to 14 equal balls.  To shape the buns, pull the sides of the dough toward the bottom of the roll to make the top smooth, pinching the bottom of the roll to seal the ends.  Place the rolls seam-side down on a baking sheet 2 to 3 inches apart (you will need 2 baking sheets), press down on the top of each roll of dough to make it into a bun shape.

Lightly cover with plastic wrap and let them rise at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes until they have doubled in size.

Step 7:  Preheat oven to 400°F.  Just before you put the raised buns in the preheated oven, lightly brush the tops of the buns with the egg yolk mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

*SIZE: The picture above is the size you will get if you make 14 with this batch of dough.  I prefer to make 12 most of the time, they come out the size of the big store bought buns.  You could also make 16 if you are making sliders!