Hamburger Buns

The other night we decided to have hamburgers for dinner. I thought this would be the perfect time to use my new bread making skills and make the buns. I found a recipe by King Arthur Flour that had great reviews, so I thought I would give it a try.

You can find the original recipe here at Beautiful Burger Buns.

I started by proofing the yeast. I always do this step first because if your yeast doesn’t work it’s a lot easier to find out now than two hours later.

Next I mixed together the butter, egg, and some water in the bowl of a stand mixer.

When the butter and egg were well mixed I added the sugar, salt, and a little bit of flour. I mixed until the flour was well incorporated.

Then I dumped the yeast mixture into the bowl and mixed that in well.

After that I started to add the remainder of the flour, ½ cup at a time. Here is the first one . . .

Second . . .

Third . . .

After the third ½ cup the dough was getting very stiff and dry so I decided to add some more water to keep things moist.

Forth . . .

Fifth! After all the flour had been added the dough looked smooth and had formed a nice ball.

I finished kneading the dough by hand to make sure everything was homogenous and elastic.

I love to see the before and after pictures of the dough rising. I think the science behind rising dough is quite amazing and you can see how it works in The Whole Picture

After the dough was done rising, the recipe says to divide it into eight equal pieces. Since I don’t have a kitchen scale, I just eye balled it. 

 

Forming the dough into smooth balls for the buns was harder than I expected. I really had to manipulate the dough to smooth them out. They started out pretty rough

but ended up smooth in the end. I found that pulling the top around the sides seemed to work well.

You can see here how not all of my buns were the same size.

After I smashed them down they turned out ok. The recipe said to press the dough down more in the middle. I wasn’t sure about this but they seem to cook up more in the middle so this was an important step.

Butter, Butter, Butter! These little buns got lots of butter coverage. And thank goodness, I’m sure all the butter coverage made them so delicious.

These buns turned out better than I expected. They were very light and fluffy. All the butter made them very moist and delicious as well. The buns were very large though. I think the next time I make them I will try to do smaller one.

I thought I had taken a picture of the finished product but I can’t find it. I guess you will just have to make them and see how they turn out for yourself.

King Arthur Hamburger Buns

Ingredients:

1 ¼ to 1 ¾ cup warm water

2 tablespoons melted butter plus more for brushing

1 large egg

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

1 ¼ teaspoon salt

1 package active dry yeast

Directions:

Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar to a bowl. Add ½ cup warm water and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Let sit for 10 minutes or until the mixture is foamy.

Add ¾ cup water, 2 tablespoons butter, and egg to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat together on low until all incorporated.

Add 1 cup of flour, the sugar, and salt to the bowl. Mix until the flour is well incorporated.

Add the yeast mixture to the bowl and mix well.

Begin to add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, mixing until each ½ cup of flour is fully incorporated in the dough before adding more. More water should be added ¼ cup at a time if needed to keep the dough moist and elastic.

Place the dough in a large container and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into eight equal pieced. Use a kitchen scale if available.

Roll each piece of dough between your hands until smooth. Then flatten each dough ball into a 3 inch diameter. Flatten the middle of the dough slightly more to create a dimple.

Brush each piece of dough with melted butter, then cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Before placing the dough into the over to make, brush the tops again with the melted butter.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the tops of the buns are golden. Brush the tops of the buns one more time with melted butter right when they come out of the oven.

Allow to cool before slicing and serving.

White Bread

I have been LOVING what the dry milk and potatoes does to the bread. The fluffiness and moister they provide reminds me of good ol’ white bread. So that is exactly what I decided to try next.

SIDE NOTE: White flour is white because of the addition of a bleaching agent but it is really just refined flour. Refined flour has the germ and bran removed from the kernel and can be bleached or unbleached.

Cinnamon Challah Bread

I was really in the mood for French toast the other day and remembered, from making challah bread before, Honey Wheat Challah Bread, that it was perfect bread for French toast. So, I created my own version in the hopes that it would be perfect for breakfast.

Orange Cranberry Bread

Since the last bread recipe I tired turned out so delicious, Whole Wheat Bread, I thought this would be a great recipe to experiment with. And experiment I did!

The first idea I wanted to try was combining oranges and cranberries. What goes together better? Maybe peanut butter and banana, but that is a whole other conversation.

Whole Wheat bread

Master Recipe #3: Whole Wheat Bread

Remember you can find this recipe in Bread Made Easy found here.

SIDE NOTE: Technically this bread is light whole wheat because it is not made from 100% whole wheat flour.

This recipe was very intriguing when I read through it because it has such a strange cast of characters. Who knew instant dry milk and potato flakes would be used for making bread? I sure didn’t.

The recipe started out just like any other, proofing the yeast, mixing the dry ingredients together, then the wet, then beating the heck out of the dough.

FUN FACT: This recipe called for bread flour. According to OChef.com bread flour is “a high-protein flour, specially formulated for making yeast breads. The combination of extra protein, a tiny bit of malted barley to help the yeast, and vitamin C or potassium bromate to help the formation of the gluten, helps the dough rise and retain gasses as it bakes, resulting in greater volume and better texture.”

This was the first recipe that gave a range of flour needed, instead of a finite amount. Since my dough is always dry, I just used the minimum amount required. I think it made a difference because this was the first dough that I really understood what the author meant by “shaggy” dough.

The part I struggled with was forming the dough into a smooth loaf shape. The recipe says to divide the dough into two parts. Then, pat the dough out into a rectangle and roll it up like a jelly roll. So, I patted it out,

Then I rolled it up and placed it in the pan. It looked like a wet towel rolled up and not the beginnings of delicious bread.

SIDE NOTE: To roll up like a jelly roll it means you fold the small ends of the rectangle in just a little to even the dough up, and then roll the long side up to create a  roll.

With the second half of the dough, I just rolled it around in my hands until it was a smooth lump, and then placed it in the pan.

Here are the two different methods. When I made this bread again I’m just going to roll the dough around until it’s smooth and not worry about the jelly roll method.

SIDE NOTE: I didn’t have the right size of pans, so my loaves were shorter than I think they should have been. I guess I’ll be making a quick stop by amazon.com to get the right pans for next time.

The bread smelled wonderful the entire time it was baking and it tasted just as delightful when it was done. This recipe is what I think homemade bread should be; soft, fluffy, and flavorful. So far, this has been my favorite recipe out of this book.

Banana Oat Bread

I felt adventurous in the kitchen this week! Maybe it was just spring fever, but I felt ambitious enough to try making my own bread recipe. As I looked around the kitchen for some inspiration I saw some ripe bananas on the counter that needed to be used and some oat flour that I had bought recently but still hadn’t put away. Something inside of me, probably the part that is desperately tired of cold weather, said, “you should try combining these two items,” and combine them I did!

  

Milk Bread Part III

After two dissatisfying attempts at making milk bread, I’ve decided to give it one last chance. The previous attempts were tough on the outside and not very flavorful on the inside. This loaf turned out better than my two previous attempts, but was it any good? Keep reading to see how it went!

Milk Bread - Part II

You will remember from the Milk Bread post that I wasn’t too pleased with how the milk bread turned out. I made the same recipe again, but did a few things differently in the hopes that it would turn out fluffier and smoother.

Milk Bread

Master Recipe #3: Milk bread

Remember, you can find this recipe in Bread Made Easy found here.

This recipe didn’t appear much harder than the other recipes I’ve tried from this book. However, I’m not sure that my bread turned out how it was supposed to. I’m going to try this recipe once more now that I’ve learned a few things.

Italian Herb Cheese Rolls

My inspiration for this recipe was a container of left over Romano cheese that needed to be used.

FUN FACT: True Romano cheese is actually called Pecorino Romano and originated in Rome, Italy.

The old cheese told me that it would very much like to be part of a roll and so that is what I made it into.

These rolls turned out better than I expected. I guess that means I am learning to make bread! Huzzah for me!

Whole Wheat Burger Bun

I am always searching for that perfect whole wheat burger bun. This isn’t the perfect roll, but it is pretty tasty and a step in the right direction to find that flawless healthy bun.

FUN FACT: Hamburgers were originally served between two pieces of bread. The bun was introduced years later!

These buns have a crusty outside but a soft fluffy inside making them a great companion to juicy homemade hamburgers!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread Roll

The next recipe variation was a jelly roll-type bread, meaning you spread the dough into a nice rectangle, plop some filling inside, then roll it up. I have really enjoyed the fluffy yet hardy quality of the challah bread. The flavor reminds me of white bread, which reminds me of my favorite sandwich: peanut butter and banana on white bread. 

 Picture CREDIT

Honey Wheat Challah Bread

Last week’s recipe was delicious but ginormous! I strayed from the book this week to find a smaller recipe for challah bread. I found a great one here and then altered it just a bit to get what I wanted: Honey wheat challah bread.

I started off by proofing the yeast as usual, then mixed all the wet ingredients together with the wheat flour. I decided to forgo the flour well this time which didn’t seem to affect how the ingredients were integrated.

Next, the activated yeast went in the wheat flour mixture.

Then, the all-purpose flour was added ½ cup at a time. I made sure that the flour was fully incorporated this time before adding more.

For the other beginners out there, here is a snapshot of how the dough transformed when each ½ cup of flour was added.

SIDE NOTE: I’ve learned to make sure each bit of flour becomes part of the dough before adding the next bit. The flour will be incorporated eventually, just keep mixing.

 The dough started with 1 ½ cups flour so this makes 2 cups

2 ½ cups

 3 cups

 3 ½ cups

SIDE NOTE: The dough was so sticky here I couldn't get my hand out, that is why it is in the picture

4 cups

4 ½ cups

This is the dough after 7 minutes of kneading

After trying out the new master recipe last week (see how it went here), I was intimidated by the quantity of flour that had to be added. In retrospect, I didn’t mix the dough very well because I was worried about getting on to the next ½ cup of flour.

The dough this week was a lot softer and smoother than last week’s. I think it is because I thoroughly incorporated each ½ cup of flour before adding the next ½ cup.

I let the dough rise until double in size.

A simple braid seemed appropriate again for this bread. After letting it double in size again . . .

It was baked!

Honey Wheat Challah Bread

Adapted from the recipe here

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water

A pinch of sugar

1 package active dry yeast

¼ cup honey

1/3 cup oil

1 ½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 ½ cup whole wheat flour

3 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

Add the yeast, sugar, and ½ cup water to a bowl. Stir yeast mixture until dissolved then it let stand for 10 minutes or until foamy.

Add the honey, oil, salt, eggs and wheat flour to a large bowl. Stir until combined.

Add the yeast mixture to the wheat flour mixture and stir until combined.

Add the all-purpose flour to the wheat flour mixture, ½ cup at a time, mixing thoroughly between each ½ cup.

When all the flour has been incorporated, knead the dough for 5 – 7 minutes.

Place dough in a greased container, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until double in size, about 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into thirds.

Roll each third out into a rope about 16 inches long then braid strands together.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.

Allow bread to cool completely before cutting.