Bread Baking Babes Buns

Our lovely babe Sara ("I like to cook")  put hamburgers on the menu this month. A wonderful idea to celebrate summer. The day is almost over.. I baked the buns yesterday late, was so tired, but dragged myself to the kitchen to make them. We just ate them for dinner and I'm quickly writing up this post to still be on time. It's quite a different recipe than I'm familiar with for hamburger buns. First of all they are square, I never made a square bun for a hamburger. Yeah I know I could have made them round, but I think it's fun just to make them like this. They turned out good, but I think I'd use less yeast, less salt, less sugar next time. I used a little less sugar and salt already, but still the buns were a little too sweet for a burger to my taste. I thought about using less yeast as well, but as there was a lot of melted butter involved, I thought it might still need the yeast in the end. It rose a bit too fast, just caught it in time. I have better control over the dough when there is less yeast in it. Just a shame that the weather didn't behave more summery, so we could eat the hamburgers outside in the sun. Instead we had pouring rain and the light on at the table indoors.

But there will be better days ahead, can't rain all the time. So bake, post and send over your results to Sara and become a Bread Baking Buddy. Deadline 29th of this month.

Hamburger Buns
(makes 12 buns)

(PRINT recipe)

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) milk
8 Tbs (1stick/125 g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
4 cups (625 g) all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
5 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water
sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and butter and heat until the butter is melted, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to 105-155º (40 to 46ºC). Add the yeast and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Let stand for 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the 4 cups of flour, the sugar and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the milk mixture and knead for 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 10 by 7 1/2 inch (25 by 19 cm) rectangle. Cut the dough into 2 1/2 inch (6cm) squares. Place the buns on a prepared baking sheet, spacing the buns evenly apart, and cover t.with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC)

Remove the plastic wrap from the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until the buns are golden 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer the buns to a wire rack and let cool. Cut in half and use as hamburger buns. Makes 12.

For slider buns: Follow the instructions above but roll out the dough into a 9 inch (23 cm) square. Cut into 1 1/2 inch (4cm) squares and place on 2 parchment lined baking sheets. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Position one rack in the upper third of an over and one rack in the lower third and preheat to 400ºF (200ºC). Brush the tops with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds if using. Bake for about 14 minutes. Makes 36 slider buns.

(recipe by: Williams-Sonoma)