Homemade (Burger) Buns

I’ve really been digging on Maklemore’s song Thrift Shop lately. I don’t often listen to a lot of music where someone raps. At best I kind of dip my toes into the pool of music that is rap from time to time, but that’s about it. But in this case I love me that trumpet and the beat! ( guess this song isn’t exactly hardcore rap or anything either. But, however you want to classify the song, I heard it for the first time a while ago, and have wanted to listen to it on repeat over and over again ever since. Am I the only one who does that? I think it secretly drives my husband nuts… 

So. Ahem… What kind of music does everyone out there listen to?

I actually consider my music tastes to be, eclectic over all, I guess. I grew up listening to what my Dad listened to, which has clearly had a lot of influence on my own music tastes. He listened to a lot of classic rock when I was a kid, which is still probably my number one musical love. Queen! Black Crows! But he also had 70’s and 80’s stuff, beautiful worship music, old hymns, classical, guitar instrumentals, a bit of jazz, some blues, and little bits of this and that tossed in there for good measure… and I still do much of the same. 

 

These days he’s trying to learn to Spanish so he’s been listening to Mariachi and old hymns in Spanish. I’ve gotta admit the Mariachi hasn’t really grown on me yet; maybe I was more strongly influenced as a kid? Mariachi or not his love of different music has definitely rubbed off on me. 

Highschool also saw me expanding my music tastes. I hung out with the “artistic” crowd in those days; you most certainly wouldn’t find me without splatters of paint or clay all over my jeans. (Now I totally hang with the Mommy crowd. Sorry Shara, I think we might have gotten old!) I picked up an interest in all kinds of musical styles from my friends. A little pop, a little punk, some alternative, some folk and indie stuff no one had ever heard of. (Ironically, some of that once indie stuff just totally 90’s now.) Somewhere along the line I discovered swing. I will heart the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies forever. 

These days in addition to my own longstanding musical selections, my brother makes me listen to some rap (like I said I’m a dabbler). I’m still not a big fan of the real deal country, though classic rock and blues, obviously do overlap with country music quite a bit. And that’s about that.

So.

Homemade buns! Ok, terrible transition, I know. Homemade buns have nothing whatsoever to do with musical taste, so if there is a smooth transition, I’m not seeing it. I’ve got nothing. 

But bad transitions or not these buns are awesome! We’re talking the perfect burger buns, yeasty and soft inside, but strong enough to hold up to whatever you pile on them. Come to think of it I possibly should have posted this recipe for you last week, before the brisket, because these buns most definitely hold up under a big pile of brisket and BBQ sauce very well. (Sorry there I go again with the BBQ sauce.) If you have any leftovers from the brisket… make some buns. Actually, you totally want to make some buns anyway, hint, hint. (Shhhh… Don’t tell.. big secret! We’ve got brisket stuffed burgers coming up and you know you’ll need these buns for that. )

Ok, a few last thoughts before we get to the recipe. These buns actually follow a similar process to the homemade wheat bread recipe I posted just a little while back. (In fact, they are adapted from the same recipe in The Common Sense Kitchen. SUCH. A. GOOD. COOKBOOK.) So, we’re doing the whole, sponge, dough, rising, shaping, and another rise before baking. Meaning, that this is a long process and depending on your schedule you may want to star the sponge the night before you bake.

Also, like the whole wheat recipe, I’ve given instructions for using a stand mixer, because that’s what I usually prefer to use when I’m baking bread. Kneading by hand makes my arms tire. ::bread wimp right here:: However, this recipe does adapt just fine to making completely by hand. (Got questions about that last time, so I figured I’d be helpful and include instructions this time!) If you want to do so, I’ve included some slight modifications below the recipe. 

Ok, finally, recipe. Enjoy!

Homemade (Burger) Buns- Yields 12 buns. Adapted, barely,  from The Common Sense Kitchen. 

Sponge

• 1 cup warm low fat milk (about 110*)
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Dough

• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 3 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Additional

• saran wrap
• canola oil to coat rising bowl/ loaf pan
• parchment paper

Sponge

1. Add the milk, water, all purpose flour, wheat flour, brown sugar, and active dry yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to mix thoroughly. Cover the mixing bowl with saran wrap. Place the mixing bowl in a room temperature (about 70*F) location to develop, for 5 to 8 hours.

Dough

1. Return the mixing bowl to the stand mixer. Add the sea salt, butter , and 3 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour, to the bowl. Use the paddle attachment to mix until dough is formed and begins to leave the sides of the bowl.

2. Switch the paddle attachment out for the dough hook and knead the bread for 10 minutes on low speed. Alternatively knead by hand for 12-14 minutes. 

3. Lightly oil a large bowl with canola oil. Place the dough in the bowl turning to cover the top of the dough with oil. Cover loosely with saran wrap and allow the dough to rise at room temperature (70*F) for an hour, until doubled in bulk. 

Shape The Buns

1. Prepare a large baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.

2. Punch down the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 12 even portions. Use your hands to shape each portion into a neat ball with a flat bottom. Place the balls on the baking sheet about 2″ away from each other in each directions, in even rows, with the smoothest side of the ball up and the flat bottom down.

3. Lightly dust the tops of the buns with a small amount of additional flour, then loosely cover with saran wrap and place in a room temperature (70*F) for the final rise. Allow the dough to rise for an hour to and hour and a half. The buns will not quite double in bulk, but don’t be concerned, they will still expand quite a bit in the oven. 

Bake

1. Have the oven preheated to 400* with the rack placed in the top center position, by the time you are ready to bake. Place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes until the rolls are a light to medium golden brown. 

2. Allow the buns to cool fully on the baking tray, then slice in half with a sharp knife.

Note: Buns are best used the same day they are made, but they do save pretty nicely in an airtight container or ziplock bag for several days. After a few days you might want to toast them before using. Or if you have leftovers, you can totally just eat them for breakfast. They’re pretty darn good just plain slathered with some butter. Yum. 

By Hand (No Stand Mixer) Modifications

• Mix everything in a large bowl to give yourself maneuvering room.
• For the sponge follow the directions as is, but mix with a sturdy spoon, maybe wooden, rather then the mixer. The sponge is on the runny side so it should be pretty easy to mix by hand. 
• For the dough stage add the ingredients as instructed, and use the same sturdy spoon to mix until a coarse dough forms and just starts to come away from the bowl. If it is on the sticky side definitely use the extra 1/4 cup of flour. Supper sticky dough is really hard to knead by hand. 
• To knead the dough lightly flour a clear counter top and turn the dough out. Knead by hand for 12-14 minutes using pretty strong motions so that gluten gets good and activated! If you feel like you feel like your not getting a good knead definitely go for the high end of that range. Basically don’t skimp on the kneading, or the texture of your rolls will suffer. Look for a nice smooth dough before you move on.
• Follow the rest of the recipe as written.