Beautiful Hamburger Buns

These hamburger buns are not only beautiful as the recipe title implies, but they are so delicious. Fluffy yet hearty enough to handle a thick, juicy burger, these hamburger buns have the ideal texture! Seriously, the crumb is absolutely perfect.

Baking bread is fascinating to me. There is something so satisfying about taking this humble list of ingredients, mixing them together, waiting, and watching them become tasty bread in the oven. Until I made these recently, I had only made dinner rolls, baguettes, and boules. Making hamburger buns is essentially the same as making bigger dinner rolls! You may notice in the ingredients list that this recipe calls only for all-purpose flour. 99% of the time we buy whole wheat products and I prefer to use whole wheat flour when making my own bread for the nutritional benefits. But, since this was the first time making this specific recipe, I decided to try it out as written to see what the intended outcome of the original recipe was. I am definitely going to play around with using white whole wheat flour the next time I make them, and I will let you know how it goes! I have a feeling they are very resilient. **Update 5/29/13: I tried it using 2 cups of white whole wheat flour and 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour, and the result was great!**

Dough is formed into balls and about to rise for 1 hour.

Believe it or not, this was also the first time I used the dough hook on my Kitchen Aid mixer! My dear husband bought it for me for my birthday last year and although I have used it a LOT, I had yet to pull out the dough hook. Many of the bread recipes I make do not require kneading…this was by design, during my pre-kitchen aid mixer baking days.

Ok, so back to the recipe. It calls for instant yeast, but all I had was dry active yeast, so I used it and let the dough rise a little longer than what was originally recommended. Instead of 1 1/2-2 hours, I let mine rise for close to 3. So, if you don’t have instant yeast, please know that dry active yeast works great, but may require longer rising time.

If you have never made bread before, don’t be scared! I urge you to try it. Fresh bread takes any dish to the next level!

Let’s get baking!

Beautiful Hamburger Buns

Ingredients:

For topping: 2 tbsp melted butter or 1 egg white mixed with 2 tbsp cold water

• 3/4-1 cup lukewarm water

*From the website: For best results (a smooth, slightly soft dough), use the smaller amount of water in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate); and something in between the rest of the time.*

• 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (can use 2 cups white whole wheat and 1.5 cups all-purpose)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast (0r instant)

1) Mix and knead all of the ingredients above in a Kitchen Aid mixer using the dough hook for about 7 minutes on speed 2 (or you can do this by hand, or in a bread machine). The dough should be soft and smooth, pulling away from the side of the bowl when ready.

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 1/2-2 hours (or closer to 3 if you are using active dry yeast) or until doubled in size.

3) Deflate the dough and separate in 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a smooth ball with no creases.

4) Space the balls evenly on a lightly greased pan or cookie sheet. Flatten with the bottom of a 1 cup measuring cup so each ball is about 3 1/2 inches in diameter (I actually forgot to do this and they still turned out ok!). Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise 1 hour. They will be puffy, but not doubled.

5) Towards the end of the 1 hr rising time, preheat the oven to 375F. Brush the risen buns with 2 tbsp of melted butter or coat with an eggwash if adding seeds on top. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden.

Recipe adapted from: King Arthur Flour www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/beautiful-burger-buns-recipe 

Nutritional Information per Bun (Makes 8): Calories: 211 Fat: 4g Carbs: 32g Protein: 6g Sugar: 6g