Hamburger Buns by Ali

I've tried making hamburger buns before, but I wasn't entirely happy with the results. I tried a recipe from Martha Stewart and I found them quite heavy. I also found the flavor of the molasses to be a little strong for my liking. Since then I've been searching for another recipe to try but nothing was grabbing my attention. And now I've found it. I'm not entirely pleased with how I handled the dough but that's my problem and not the recipes. Dough and I are still not the best of friends (see below). We are, however, on much better terms.

Back to the bun recipe. I found this recipe on Annie Eats. She referred to the original recipe on smitten kitchen which was actually adapted from a restaurant in LA and published in the NY Times. Were you able to follow all of that? Doesn't matter really. In the end I decided to follow the recipe posted at Smitten Kitchen. Disclaimer: my buns look nothing like the pictures posted on Annie Eats or Smitten Kitchen. My ego is still trying to recover.



This is a very sticky dough that requires 8 - 10 minutes of kneading. I used my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. It's really the only reason I attempt any dough that requires kneading. My wrists are not up to the task and I'm not sure my kidlets would let me have that much time to myself. They get a kick out of watching the mixer anyway.



I unceremoniously plopped it in a greased bowl to rise. Note the confiscated figurine in the background.



After letting the dough rise for almost 3 hours, it had finally doubled and was ready to shape, I use the term loosely here, into buns. Such a sticky dough! I didn't use enough flour when handling it which resulted in the blobs above. Please don't be intimidated by the 3 hour rise; it took three hours for the dough to rise in my warm and draft free kitchen because I didn't use the freshest of yeast. My bottle has been in the fridge for ages and is well past it's expiry date. It still works but I have to be patient. And plan things out just a little bit more. Oh well.


My strangely shaped buns after the second rise. Note the well oiled plastic wrap on top. There's no way a tea towel would have worked here. This dough is really really sticky.



And we have the nicely browned buns. I brushed the tops with an egg wash before baking them and, presentation wise, it was worth the effort. I used the leftover scrambled egg in the hamburgers so nothing went to waste.

Phew! Anybody make it to the end? Congratulations! Thanks for sticking with me. Hahaha.

*********************************

About the Blogger:

Ali Grimshaw is the author of the blog I Have Bubbles in my Tummy and a stay at home mom with a precocious 3 year old preschooler and an adventurous 18 month old toddler. She loves food and have an addiction to cookbooks that would be grounds for divorce if her husband didn't enjoy the fruits of her obsession so much.