Countrified Hicks: Homemade Hamburger Buns

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Hamburgers are a summer staple. Nothing tastes better than a burger cooked on an open flame on your BBQ grill in your own back yard. And what is the perfect compliment to that burger? A homemade hamburger bun!

Hamburger Buns

3 1/3 c. flour

1 1/2 c. warm water

1/4 c. honey

1/4 c. melted butter

1/4 c. vital wheat gluten

1 pkg. yeast (or 1 tsp.)

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the warm water into a mixing bowl and add in the honey. Stir and add the yeast and mix gently. Place the bowl in a warm area and let it rest for 15 minutes. Once the 15 minutes has elapsed, stir in the butter, gluten and salt. Stir in the flour and stir it just until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Gluten can be found in the baking aisle of your local grocery store. Gluten is what makes the bread product rise so high and be light in taste and not all heavy.

Now, place the dough on a floured surface and knead the dough about 20 times. Butter a bowl and placed the kneaded dough inside and let it rise until doubled. Once it has doubled, punch the dough down and pinch off some dough and roll it into a golf ball sized ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Butter a cookie sheet and place the ball shaped dough pieces on it to rise again. As they are rising, mix together 2 T. milk with an egg. When the dough has doubled in size, brush each one with the egg/milk mixture.

Bake them for 27 minutes. Pull out the buns, brush with melted butter and slice in half. Enjoy these hot and delicious hamburger buns with a side of homemade french fries and a piece of corn on the cob and some Blue Ribbon winning baked beans! Or instead of having hamburgers, try my Dr. Pepper Shredded Chicken on these buns!

Also check out my Sweet Pickle Relish recipe. This relish goes so good on a hamburger! And when make the burger, serve it with some homemade onion rings. Yum!