Biscuity Buns.

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)

1. Preheat oven to 425. (Might try lower and slower next time so they don’t harden on the outside before the center is cooked.)
2. 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.
3. 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.) 
4. 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.)
5. 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.)