Homemade hamburger buns

Old-timers here are fond of saying April always borrows a few days from June, and it did yesterday with a high of 85 degrees (29C). A perfect day for a cookout with homemade burger buns, or rolls as some call them.

I won’t pretend I always make them from scratch, although I know people who do, but when I do I’m rewarded with superior buns for very little effort. I’ve used this recipe for years; it’s from a bread-making group I belonged to and makes eight buns similar to kaiser rolls, not the soft, eggy buns that get mushy when juicy burgers and condiments are loaded onto them.

They’re versatile buns. Depending on when you flatten them into circles, you can make them thinner, like the one on the left in both photos above, to accomodate a thick burger or puffier like the sesame seed roll on the right. Want a softer top? Rub some butter on as soon as they come out of the oven. These can be made by any method. I prefer the processor for yeast doughs as the first three photos in the step-by-step tutorial show.

I no longer make these with butter as originally specified; I find canola or extra-light olive oil, which I used here, work as well with no cholesterol. Your choice. The cupping motion to form the dough into balls is best learned by seeing, and the video in an earlier post, How to Shape Bread Dough, will teach you if you need to learn. It’s right at the beginning of the video. And if springy dough frustrates you, use unbleached all-purpose flour instead of bread flour. Recipes aren’t etched in granite.

The rest of the old-timers’ saying is, “…and June always wants to be paid back.” That’s equally true and I know at some point in June, it will be unseasonably cool as June takes a day or two back from April.

Ella’s Hamburger Buns

3 cups/405g bread flour
1 1/2 tsp (1/2 TB) instant yeast
1 tsp salt
2 TB dry milk – see notes
2 TB sugar
2 TB butter or tasteless oil, such as canola
1 cup/237 ml water, room temperature – see notes

Mix and knead the dough by hand or with a stand mixer or food processor. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until a finger poked into the dough leaves an indentation that remains, 75 to 90 minutes..

If you’re using a bread machine, use the entire dough cycle for kneading and rising before removing and shaping the dough for the next step.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a ball. Transfer to a baking sheet that’s lined with parchment or greased/sprayed. If you want puffier buns, flatten each now into a circle about 4″, loosely cover them with a towel and let rise another 25 minutes. For thinner buns, flatten the balls right before they go into the oven.

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375F/190C/Gas 5.

If you wish, spray the tops of the buns with water and sprinkle on sesame seeds. You can also leave them as is or brush with a wash of egg white and a bit of water if you want shinier buns.

Bake 14 to 17 minutes, until nicely colored and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store airtight for one day — do not refrigerate — or wrap well and freeze for longer storage.

Yield: 8 buns

Ella’s notes: There is no variable for the water when weighing ingredients. That is the amount needed to produce a dough that’s slightly tacky but not sticky, the perfect consistency for getting a little traction on an unfloured board when rolling into balls. If you measure by volume you might need slightly less or more water, depending on how you put the flour into the cup. I recommend spooning it in and leveling it off with the back of a knife.

Dry milk is a good staple to have on hand. It’s used in many bread recipes and can be added to others to increase their keeping qualities. It’s an ingredient in a delicious mocha chai mix I posted in 2007. The mix made good sense economically then and makes great sense now. Dry milk can also be used for milk!

Step-by-step in the processor

Put all dry ingredients in the workbowl. Add the oil, pulse to mix and then, with the motor running, add the water in a stream and process till the dough comes together (#2). Process 45 seconds for fully-kneaded dough (#3).

Form the dough into a ball and turn out into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, let rise as directed above. Divide into 8 pieces, roll each into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten to discs about 4″ round.

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Tagged as: budget meals, easy