Buns In The Oven

One of my nephews and his wife just brought a new baby into the world, a beautiful little girl. She is my third grand niece and I can't wait to meet her.  My family is getting larger and every addition adds a great new dimension to the mix. We are very blessed.

Today I tried my hand at making my own buns to bake in the oven, hamburger buns.  I found this recipe courtesy of Annie from her wonderful food blog called Annie's Eats. It's an amazing place to visit if you want great recipe ideas and amazing photographs.  This recipe couldn't be easier and the only thing to consider is the time it takes to make the buns. It takes two rises of 1-2 hours each, so plan ahead. They can easily be made and kept in the freezer well wrapped for a couple of weeks.

Our meal today consisted of barbecued pulled pork on these delicious buns and potato salad. It felt like summer even though the temperature outside wasn't all that convincing. I'll share my recipe for pulled pork another time, but be forewarned, I use commercial barbecue sauce.

Light Brioche Burger Buns

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. warm milk
1 cup warm water
2 tsp. instant yeast
2½ tbsp. sugar
1½ tsp. salt
1 large egg
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2½ tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

For topping:
1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water, for egg wash
Sesame seeds

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the milk, water, yeast, sugar, salt and egg. Mix briefly to combine. Add the flours to the bowl, and mix until incorporated. Mix in the butter. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed for about 6-8 minutes. The dough will be somewhat tacky, but you want to avoid adding too much extra flour which will create tough buns.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1-2 hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Using a dough scraper, divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each portion of dough into a ball and place on the baking sheet, 2-3 inches apart. Cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise again, 1-2 hours, until puffed up and nearly doubled.

Set a large metal pan of water on the lowest rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400˚ F with a rack in the center. Brush the tops of the buns lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake the buns about 15 minutes rotating halfway through baking, until the tops are golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.