Sometimes
in my wanderings around Blog Land, I will stumble upon a recipe
that someone says is the best, or their new favorite, or one that has
replaced their tried-and-true old favorite, and I am always intrigued by
these statements, feeling that I should immediately make whatever it is
just to see if the claims are indeed worthy. Such was the case with
these rolls. Dawn
had posted them on her blog (I like Dawn's blog a lot, she cooks for
her family and she features nice family-friendly recipes that I can
easily incorporate on a weekday around here) and I had them in mind for a
go when Nancy thought
she'd like to join in, and we set out to see if Dawn's claims were
valid. Indeed, Dawn's claims are valid. Here's Nancy's post as well.
These are wonderful rolls/buns. We only eat hamburgers in grilling weather because we loved outdoor grilled burgers best, so when the request came for grilled burgers (Mark is the master at grilling), I figured I would do my share by making some homemade buns for them to rest upon. These did not disappoint, in fact, Mark said that they were the best hamburger buns I had ever made, and I have made quite a few, so that is high praise.
The recipe is easy and straightforward with no special ingredients, pretty much things one has on hand. It does use a lot of yeast (I checked and the recipe calls for Active Dry Yeast) and the result for me was that my dough rose in half the time stated for both rising times, which was not a bad thing at all.
The dough is lovely to work with, and
I even made a full recipe knowing that it would probably make good
sandwich buns for Mark's lunches as well..I was right, it did. I tossed
some sesame seeds on the top, a sort of weak effort as I was at the
bottom of the jar and didn't have a whole lot, but it was fun having
them on there.
The flavor of the bun is fresh, yeasty, and truly melt-in-your-mouth good. I thought the texture would be more firm as it is called a "French Bread" so I was expecting something more in the line of a baguette I suppose, but it was not like that, it was nice and soft with a medium crumb. It complimented the hamburger very well. Try this one...even if you think you can't bake bread, you can with this recipe, and I have no doubts that it will be a win for you as well.
Did it become my new "best" hamburger bun recipe, is it my new favorite, does it replace my old tried-and-true hamburger bun recipe? Yes, yes, it does. Thanks, Dawn! Definitely a repeat. Here's the recipe by permission from Dawn.
French Bread, Hoagies, and Buns
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4-5 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg separated
2 tablespoons cold water
Directions:
Combine yeast, water, and sugar in a large mixing bowl and allow to
stand 10 minutes or until bubbly. Add salt, vegetable oil, and egg yolk
(set egg white aside for later) and combine. Add 3 cups of flour and mix
well until combined. Add enough remaining flour to make soft dough that
barely sticks to your finger. Knead for another 2-3 minutes. Cover and
allow to rise for 1 hour 45 minutes.
Punch down dough. Lightly grease cookie sheet with shortening or spray
cookie sheet with your favorite nonstick cooking spray. For a loaf of
bread shape into a loaf and place on the greased cookie sheet. For buns
or hoagies divide into 8 to 10 (or more if you desire smaller buns)
pieces and shape as desired. Cover and let rise for about 30 to 45
minutes (original recipe called for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours it depends on
the yeast you use and the temperature of the area where the buns are
raising) or until doubled.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix egg white with water and brush over
dough. Bake for 10 minutes and repeat with brushing the dough with egg
wash. For buns bake about another 5 minutes and for bread another 8 to
10 minutes or until the bread is nice and golden brown.
Note: Keep an eye on the bread or buns as it rising so that it does
not get to large. Make sure to egg wash this will make the tops of the
bread or buns nice and crusty.
