Olivia asked me why I make hamburger buns when I never make
hamburgers? Because I like them for sandwiches. Then you should call them sandwich
buns. Well all right, here they are sandwich buns. But you can stick a
hamburger in it if you want to.
These buns are soft and delicious buttered or with something
in between even if they are whole-wheat. It begins with a stiff dough, you beat
it up and it responds with soft deliciousness. I always had an aversion to
whole-wheat baked products, anytime Jimre brought one home he had to eat it. But
these ones are different. I like them too.
WHOLE WHEAT SANDWICH BUNS
1 cup 3.25% milk
1 egg
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1-1/2 cups white flour
3 tsp instant yeast
- Place ingredients in a bowl and stir to form a dough.
- Transfer to a standing mixer and using a dough hook pound the heavy dough for a few minutes or at least until you figure the dough is fully formed and will not soften anymore.
- Take it out and throw it down on a clean countertop.
- Lift the dough up high and slam it down with all your might. Repeat 100 times. Halfway through you will feel the dough relaxing and getting pliable. Think of the frustrating things in your life and take it out on the dough. As you release your tension, the dough develops the gluten. By the time you are finished, the dough is pliable.
- Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning it over.
- Let the dough double.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough into 12 parts and form them into disks.
- Arrange them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2-inch space between them.
- Set the buns to rise. [I left them for 2 hours and they didn’t over rise]
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Place buns in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool.
- Once cool, slice the buns horizontally and store in freezer bags until use.
- Recipe makes 12 sandwich/hamburger buns.
