BBBabes Love Burger Buns

Almost everyone loves a burger or something from the grill that can go in a burger bun. The ever lovely and clever Bread Baking Babes are no exception.

Although Sweetie loves grilling year 'round, when the summer months hit we find that we turn to grilling most evenings of the week. He loves to make pulled pork from a slow cooked fresh piece of picnic pork and I've figured out a soy-based marinade for chicken thighs that's delicious and which I'll post one of these days, but a standby that never disappoints is the ever popular hamburger. Good quality beef and a light hand in making the patties are my only tips since Sweetie usually does the actual cooking.

We sometimes skip the rolls but not this last month. Thanks to the lovely Sara of I Like to Cook, our never boring Kitchen of the Month, the Bread Baking Babes made burger rolls!

This recipe, like the last one for Soda Bread, acknowledges that summertime baking can be different than baking during the rest of the year. There are so many fun things to do away from the kitchen, so 'quick and easy' is often the requirement for summer cooking and baking. These great Burger Buns from Williams-Sonoma fit that description. No overnight preferment, no triple rise, and just about two hours from the idea to the finished warm and crusty roll! If you want to make the popular mini version called sliders, Sara has kindly included directions and Karen of Bake My Day baked up a huge number of sliders so check out her post once it's up.

I enjoyed making them and eating them! I topped mine with a seed mix from King Arthur Flour and it looked like bird seed but tasted wonderful. (I guess bird seed tastes good to birds...but I'll never be a bird my friend.) I also used Irish wholemeal flour for half the flour which gave the rolls a nice nutty taste.


Because my buns usually have too much bread on top, for these I rolled out the dough and cut the buns using a 9.5mm round cutter. As a result my buns were just the right size around and not too tall but nicely rounded...perfect for that 'birdseed' topping.


Half the rolls were enjoyed with burgers at a 4th of July bbq, I used one for a turkey sandwich for lunch,


and the rest (which had been in the freezer to stay fresh) were split and grilled and enjoyed with local turkey sausages (Italian flavored and some with tomato-basil flavor) this week. I found that the ones that had been frozen were a little bit crumbly so I'll probably freeze them unbaked next time and bake them at the time I'll use them.

Don't forget to check out the other Bread Baking Babes' posts (links to right) and to make these delicious rolls yourself to be a Buddy... and feel free to change the size, shape, flours, toppings, etc. Remember, to be a Buddy, you need to e-mail Sara (iliketocookATshawDOTca) the link to your post (or a description of your baking session/results) and a photo by July 29th. That way you can be included in the round-up.

Sara wrote:
"Summer will soon be here and who doesn't like to bbq a burger or hot dog in the summer? And you just know that it will taste even better on a bun you've made yourself. The recipe gives directions to make regular sized burger buns as well as slider sized buns." Thanks Sara for a perfect challenge for July fun.



Homemade Hamburger Buns
Williams-Sonoma

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) milk
8 Tbs (1 stick/125 g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
4 cups (625 g) all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
(Note: I used 2 cups all-purpose flour and 2 cups Irish wholemeal flour)
5 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water
sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)or use the seed or seeds you enjoy

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and butter and heat until the butter is melted, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to 105-155'F (40 to 46'C). Add the yeast and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Let stand for 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the 4 cups of flour, the sugar and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the milk mixture and knead until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute.

Increase the speed to medium low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, oil the inside of the bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 10 by 7 1/2 inch (25 by 19 cm) rectangle. Using a ruler as a guide, cut the dough into 2 1/2 inch (6cm) squares. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spacing the buns evenly apart, and cover tightly with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400'F (200'C)

Remove the plastic wrap from the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg mixture (I brushed the tops with milk) and sprinkle with sesame (or other) seeds if using.

Bake until the buns and golder and an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of a bun registers 190'F (88'C), 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer the buns to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut in half and use as hamburger buns. Makes 12 hamburger buns.

For slider buns:
Follow the instructions above but roll out the dough into a 9 inch (23 cm) square. Cut into 1 1/2 inch (4cm) squares and place on 2 parchment lined baking sheets. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Position one rack in the upper third of an over and one rack in the lower third and preheat to 400'F (200'C). Brush the tops with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds if using. Bake for about 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom and 180 degrees halfway through baking. Makes 36 slider buns.

Seasonal Sensations - Hot Cross Buns

Seasonal treats of springtime include the wonderful, soft, spicy, fruity hot cross buns. They are fairly quick and easy to make and delicious to eat. I remember eating buns like these when I was a child. Easter was a special time for children when I was growning up. We often had something new to wear to church and the church would have pots of Easter lilies at the altar. After breakfast we were anxious to check out our Easter baskets, all lined up in a row in the living room, filled with jelly beans and marshmallow eggs, yellow and pink marshmallow chicks, and chocolate bunnies. The eggs we had colored the day before became the stars of Easter egg hunts,

and my dad would take home movies of us finding the eggs on automobile bumpers and in clumps of grass, holding up the bright egg to the camera with a smile. It's no wonder that I still enjoy making colored eggs and special treats like these buns.

The recipe called for candied orange peel, but I had some fresh orange marmalade left over from the Orange Tians so I substituted that and added additional flour to offset the extra moisture from the marmalade. I like the strong dose of orange in these buns, but you could substitute lemon zest and candied lemon peel or citron if you prefer. Some recipes also call for mixed fruit like you use for fruitcake. I like the relative simplicity of currants and golden raisins.

Sweetie likes his buns without the icing cross...but I think you need the cross to make 'em hot cross buns.

This is my entry to Tangerine's Kitchen for Bread Baking Day #28 - Bread Buns, plus I'm sending it over to Susan of Wild Yeast's Yeastspotting weekly event. Many thanks go to Susan for this weekly compilation of wonderful yeast based recipes!

Hot Cross Buns
Makes 16 buns

3/4 cup warm (100° to 110°) whole milk
4 1/2 teaspoons (2 packages) active dry yeast
1 large egg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
Finely shredded zest of 1 large orange or 1 large lemon
About 31/2 cups flour - I used 2 cups bread flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped candied orange peel(or candied lemon peel or candied citron) or 1/2 cup orange marmalade*
1/4 cup dried currants
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 cup powdered sugar

1. In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine milk and yeast; let stand until yeast softens, 5 to 10 minutes. In another bowl, whisk together the whole egg, brown sugar, cooled melted butter, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and orange or lemon zest. Add to the milk/yeast mixture and beat on medium speed with dough hook until blended.

2. Whisk the flours together in a bowl or large measuring cup if using more than one kind. Blend most of the cup flour into the batter. Beat on medium speed until dough is smooth and stretchy, 10 to 12 minutes, using dough hook. Add just enough additional flour, a tablespoon at a time, (about 1/4 cup) so dough is only slightly tacky.

3. Soak currants in the rum for 10 minutes, then drain off the rum and use for another purpose or discard. Add orange peel and currants to the dough, pick up dough, and mix with your hands to distribute fruit.(I turned the dough out onto a lightly floured board and kneaded the dough in...that way I was sure that I had the dough well kneaded before adding the fruit and that the fruit was well distributed.)

Return dough to bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/4 hours.

4. Punch down dough. With floured hands, shape into 16 smooth rounds. Evenly space rounds in two buttered 8- or 9-in. square pans.

5. Cover loosely and let rise in a warm place until doubled and puffy, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°. Brush buns with beaten egg. Bake until deep golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool in pans at least 30 minutes.

6. In a small bowl, stir together juices and powdered sugar until smooth. Spoon into a small, heavy-gauge plastic bag, snip a hole in a corner, and squeeze icing onto buns to form large Xs.

* If you use marmalade, you should plan to use about another cup of flour

Slow Buns and Fruit Bread with a Twist

The other night Sweetie wanted to make hamburbers. I’m not a huge fan of hamburgers, although I enjoy one now and then, but I was willing. He makes really, really good burgers!

Then he mentions that he didn’t buy any hamburger rolls, *Hint**Hint*, so could I please make some? This was at about 3 in the afternoon. I told him that it would mean eating later in the evening than he had planned. Fine with him.

I needed to feed my sourdough starter, anyway, so I got the starter out of the fridge and let it warm up. Then I mixed up a nice oatmeal bread dough and set the dough to rise. The house was on the cool side…not too surprising since it was overcast and chilly outside and our only source of heat is a woodstove. Sweetie made a fire in the woodstove, which helped. Then the rolls had to be shaped and the rolls had to rise.

I decided to only make four and use the rest of the dough for something different. About a half hour before we were to eat, I preheated the oven. The rolls were still not very puffy. The house was still cool. I had been letting them rise in the kitchen where I had a nice hot pot of soup to throw off some heat. Sweetie stoked up the fire and I let them rise a bit more by the fire as the oven preheated. How on earth did women manage all of this when there was no central heat and homes were even cooler? Guess that was why there was the baker with his big ovens.

Anyhoo, the rolls went into the preheated oven and stayed sort of flat, although they puffed up some. They barely had time to cook by the time the burgers were done…another 10 minutes would have helped, but it was already over an hour past the usual dinner time and Sweetie was hungry for that burger. I must admit, they tasted wonderful. The rolls had a nice crust and great flavor. I sure learned that yeast doesn’t do ‘hurry’ very well.

The bread I made with the remaining dough was absolutely wonderful! I spread it out in a rectangle, sprinkled on some cinnamon, a bit of nutmeg and a dash of allspice. These were kneaded into the dough. Then I spread it out into a rectangle, sprinkled on a mix of finely diced dried fruits that were a gift from the Third Sister Down,

plus some dried cranberries. These were kneaded in. It didn’t look like enough, so I repeated the process, adding more dried fruits. Then I rolled the dough into a log, sliced it in two, and twisted those two strands around each other, tucking the ends under. Since there was no hurry for this bread, I let it rise as long as it needed, until double in bulk. Into a preheated oven it went and it was baked until lightly golden brown. The shape ended up being almost like a baguette. The bread was just a little spicy and the fruits were like jewels.

It tasted a bit like raisin bread, but better. Toasted and spread with butter…sublime!

The oatmeal bread recipe is the same one I used for Oatmeal Bread in a previous posta little over a month ago. For the rolls, I spread a little milk over the tops and sprinkled on some rolled oats, but otherwise only changed the shape.

It’s been a busy week…I know they all are…but fun, too. More bread making and sweets baking is scheduled for this weekend, plus I’m taking a friend to tea in Benicia on Sunday. Just might have some fun things to post soon.