Bread brought me to Capper’s Farmer. There I was standing in the check-out line at Tractor Supply and, as most of us do, I was browsing the magazines on the rack. My eyes landed on a copy of GRIT Country Series – Guide to Homemade Bread. I had to have it! I confess that I’m a bread freak. This guide has a world of great recipes in it, but the best one by far is the Easy No-Knead Artisan Basic White Bread on Page 17. The page is now dogeared and soiled I’ve used it so many times. I’ve sent to recipe to my friends and copied it to my personal blog. I’ve also made the bread and gifted it to friends. This recipe started me down the road to searching for easy bread items. By the way, it also got me to subscribe to GRIT, which paved the way to becoming a Capper’s Farmer blogger. “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow!”
Along about Christmas last year, I decided to experiment with making various small baked goods like grinder size French bread loaves, bagels and hamburger buns. I’m still working on the perfect French bread recipe and bagel. Maybe one of you out there in Capper’s Farmer Land has one? The husband says, “Bread should be soft and meat should be crispy,” and my French bread recipe doesn’t pass muster. He’s not much of a bagel fan either. However, I have found the most wonderful hamburger bun recipe. I’m pretty sure you’ll never want to eat another store bought one after trying these.
Brioche-type Hamburger Buns
If you’re like me and are always looking for ways to make it easier, you’ll need a bread-making machine for the way I do it. I’m sure it can be kneaded by hand as well. I got this recipe from the cookbook that came with my ancient “MK Home Bakery.”
Yields 6 medium or 4 large buns
1 ounce water
1 1/2 cups bread flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Just under 3 ounces softened butter
3 small eggs
1 teaspoon dry yeast
beaten egg for glaze (optional)
Assemble the ingredients into the bread machine in the order given and follow the instructions for “dough.” I always have to add a little extra flour. You want the dough to be spinning and pulling away from the sides.
When the time’s up – on mine a buzzer sounds about an hour later – remove the dough into a greased bowl. Cover it with wrap and let the dough sit for 20 to 30 minutes. I have let it sit for much longer when I got caught up in other projects and the outcome has not suffered so set your timer but don’t freak out if you get distracted.
Cut the dough into portions. This is where experimentation will help you. I have found that if I want 6 medium-size buns 6 portions works out well. If I want big buns, I cut them into only 4 portions.
Put them into a large, greased muffin tin or a specialty hamburger bun tin, and let sit covered with a clean cloth for 15 minutes. Again, don’t sweat it if you let them sit longer. I have let them set for up to a couple hours and the buns always come out nice.
Heat your oven to 350 F. If you want, this is now the time to brush with beaten egg glaze for shiny buns. You can also sprinkle them with finely chopped sautéed onions or sesame or poppy seeds at this time.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the buns tap hollow and are lightly browned.
Don’t they look good?