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Hamburger Buns


There is a world of difference between homemade bread and store-bought. Even bread you buy from the bakery cannot compare with bread you make yourself; the aroma you enjoy throughout the process of kneading, proofing, baking and cooling is drool-worthy, and the result is always worth the effort. I greatly enjoy using my bread maker to knead and proof my dough; I find that bread-making is incredibly easy that way. I cheat even further here by using a hamburger bun pan to shape my buns.

Homemade hamburger buns blow away the ones typically purchased for summer grill sessions. These buns have flavor and lovely, firm texture, great to stand up to the juicy burgers and multitude of toppings and sauces I like to pile on. I like to grill my buns after I split them with a little butter; i prevents the sauces from soaking into the bread ad making it soggy.

You can omit the sesame seeds on the top of the bun if you wish; I find them to be essential to my burger experience. Try these out with your next epic burger; you will be glad you did!


Ingredients: (Recipe Credit- adapted from King Arthur Flour)
3 cups of bread flour
1/4 cup potato flour
1/4 cup powdered milk (whole or non-fat)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
4 tablespoons of butter, softened
1 cup of whole milk, warmed to 110 degrees
egg wash (1 egg plus a little water, beaten)
sesame seeds
1 tablespoon melted butter


Method:
Whisk together the flours, powdered milk and salt. Add the sugar, warm milk and yeast to a bowl and stir; set aside to let the yeast activate, about 5 minutes. The yeast should be fragrant and frothy when activated. 

Add the liquid, butter and then dry ingredients to a bread maker; select the dough function and walk away until the machine beeps.

Or, add the ingredients to a stand mixer and knead that way, or knead the ingredients to gather by hand. Put the kneaded dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover it and put it in a wamr, draft free area; allow the dough to double in size, about 1 hour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, deflate it, and divide it into 6 portions. Roll them into balls. Press the balls into a greased hamburger bun pan, or put them about 3 inches apart on a parchment paper line baking pan, and gently flatten. Cover, and allow the to double in size, about an hour to an hour and a half.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Just before baking, brush the tops with the egg wash, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.


Bake the hamburger buns in the oven 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. As they come out of the oven, brush with the melted butter. Transfer the buns to a wire rack and allow to cool. 


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