Sunday, April 3, 2011

Homemade Hamburger Buns


Here's the thing. I love grocery shopping. Which is quite a contradiction considering how much I dislike shopping in general. But grocery stores? Yes, please. My problem is that there is so much I want to buy. It's just bad. So when I'm missing one last component to make a meal (in this case, buns for the hamburgers I decided to grill tonight), I try every solution except go to the store. Why? Because I'd go for a pack of buns and leave with $100 in my cart. Not a good move on my part.
So as I was considering abandoning the burger idea (it'd be the first of many burgers of the season, I hope), I realized I could just make those buns. After all, I had every ingredient, including one last packet of yeast that I had been saving for who knows what. And I have a bread machine which, sadly, doesn't get as much use as it should.
After a quick Google search, I discovered an easy recipe with a really high rating on food.com and that was it. I would be making my first hamburger buns.


Honey Wheat Hamburger Buns
Adapted from Food.com recipe
  • 1 1/4 cups milk, slightly warmed
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup honey (or white sugar)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (If you don't want whole wheat, just go with 3 3/4 cups APF)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
  1. Put all ingredients in your breadmaker according to your machine's directions. 
  2. When the maker is done, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. 
  3. Cut the dough in half and roll out each half to 1-inch thick rounds. Cut out rounds with cutters and place on an oiled pan. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
  4. Brush melted butter on top and bake in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Flip over and bake on the other side for 5 minutes. (I used a baking stone which cooks more evenly and slightly slower. Adjust your baking time down to compensate for the speed at which pans can burn bread).
  5. Cut in half, brush oil on the insides and grill next to your burgers.



These would also make great dinner rolls if you roll out dough in balls. Bake for sightly more time to compensate for thicker dough. I made plain old beef burgers, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and cumin. We also sauteed onions and mushrooms on the grill.

For a side, I roasted yellow potatoes and asparagus tossed with olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese and oregano.

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