Presently enjoying the spoils of Round One in attempting to overcome my fear of baking with yeast.
I want to make my own hamburger buns. What I’m eating tastes and feels a touch more like a biscuit than a bun, but a sloppy joe certainly wouldn’t mind the difference.
Used this site as a guideline, but took my own twists and turns. Selfishly blogging for remembrance (but open to suggestions for sure).
Ingredients per the guidelines (vs. what I really did)
2 tablespoons active dry yeast (I just used two packets, which aren’t quite a tablespoon each.)
1 cup and 2 Tablespoons warm water (Used my hottest tap water.)
¼ cup diced red onion (optional) (NAH.)
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or other oil) (optional) (Why on earth would coconut oil ever be optional?)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (Vegetable? Ew. Might as well make that coconut, too!)
¼ cup sugar (Organic raw sugar. Interested in trying honey in the future. Presently scraping the barrel there.)
1 egg (Got it to room temp by sitting it in warm water for a few minutes.)
1 teaspoon salt (sea salt)
1½ – 2 cups All Purpose or Bread White Flour (Organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour)
1½ – 2 cups Wheat Flour (King Arthur brand preferable) (One Degree Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour)
2 Tablespoons Butter (Agreed!)
Sesame Seeds (Checked, but didn’t have ’em. Used sea salt instead.)
Instructions (per guidelines vs. what I really did)
- Preheat oven to 425. (Might try lower and slower next time so they don’t harden on the outside before the center is cooked.)
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and let sit for five minutes.
In the mean time, saute onions in oil until translucent. Set aside. - In the bowl with the yeast, stir in sugar and oil, and let sit for another five minutes. Then, stir in
onions, egg, and salt. Then, in 1/2 cup increments and alternative flours, stir in flour until a nice dough ball is formed. Add more flour if needed to make dough less sticky. (Wound up with 1 3/4 C. sprouted whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 C. the other. I did use a heaping spoon of the all-purpose flour to dust my countertop though and that was pretty much absorbed by the time I was done kneading.) - Immediately put dough on a floured surface, and knead until elastic (3-5 minutes.) Divide into 12 pieces, and roll each piece into a smooth ball. Place each dough ball on a greased cookie sheet, leaving about 1-2 inches between each piece. Let rest for 8-10 minutes. (Forgot to time the “resting” period, but I think it averaged 8 min since I was helping Brian tie his tie and find the lint roller for an interview. Ended up realizing that I needed more trays to hold 12 rolls. Grabbed a pizza tray and a loaf pan. Put parchment paper on everything and pressed each roll in cornmeal before transferring to its tray. The cookie sheet was on top and browned faster/harder crust. The two rolls in the loaf pan came out squishiest. I like the idea of having sides around the rolls and might use a roasting pan next time. Will likely have to do this in batches of six each since I prefer them being away from the top of the oven. Might also be a good idea to press an indentation into the center of the roll to have it cook slightly wider and flatter/not SO domed in the center.)
- Brush the tops of each bun with butter and sprinkle with desired amount of sesame seeds. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until buns start to brown. Let cool on a cooling rack. (First timer set for 9 minutes since the oven had to get back to temperature once I was done fiddling around with the trays. Swapped top/bottom rack after 9 minutes and timed another 3. When I do the roasting pan thing, I think a solid 12 minutes will be fine.)
Bet you are enjoying the spoils! Nothing like homemade bread, in any form. 🙂
They certainly look good. I may have to be brave in the yeast baking department in the future as well.
Nice work! They look delicious. I love how you have gotten into all these bread recipes. 🙂