Homemade Burger Buns

It is truly amazing that I am posting a bread recipe. When I was a kid I hated bread. No, really, HATED bread. I especially hated the texture, so much in fact, that for a while I wouldn't eat cake because it reminded me of bread. Brother Don loved bread and, like all brothers, loved annoying the heck out of me. The things he would do with bread cannot be written in a food blog because I'm trying to encourage to cook and eat.



I have learned to love some bread. Not only are these buns pretty easy to make, they are totally delicious and your house will smell amazing while they are baking. Seriously, what's better than the smell of baking bread? Puppy Daddy kept going outside so he could walk back in the house and get a fresh whiff. You really should try these soon!

I found this recipe on several other blogs. They attribute the recipe to King Arthur Flour. The first step is to make your dough. Just dump all the ingredients except one the white of one egg and the sesame seeds into your mixer. Mix until the ingredients come together to form a dough.

Using the dough hook, knead the dough for about 7 minutes. If you don't have a mixer with a dough hook you can knead the dough by hand.

Let the dough rise for 1 and 1/2 hours. It should double in size.


Punch the dough down and turn it onto your counter top. I didn't even need any extra flour to keep the dough from sticking. To make eight good size buns cut the dough in half 4 times.





Shape each piece into a ball. The smoother you make the ball, the prettier your buns will be. You can see what happens if you don't make a smooth ball by checking out my Bacony Bacon Burger picture. The buns still taste great!
 

Put the buns on a greased baking sheet or a baking sheet with parchment paper. Smash the balls down gently with the palm of your hand. Let the buns rise again for 45 minutes.




You can just brush the tops of the buns with melted butter, which is my favorite, but you can also top them with sesame or poppy seeds. To top with seeds whip the egg white until frothy and brush it on top of the buns. Then sprinkle with seeds. You could also add some dried onion flakes and a little garlic salt for Everything buns.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 - 18 minutes until they are golden brown.

Ingredients
3/4 to 1 cup warm water (start with 3/4 cup and more in small amounts if dough is too dry)
2 tablespoons softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs (1 divided)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
Sesame seeds or poppy seeds (optional)

Directions

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 1/2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in bulk.

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 45 minutes, until noticeably puffy.

4) Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter.

5) Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the remaining melted butter. This will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust. Alternately, brush buns with egg white and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.

6) Cool the buns on a rack.