Hamburger Buns

I've tried quite a few hamburger bun recipes, but none I have felt were worthy of re-posting. Finally I have found one I feel I must share! It is a simple recipe, simple steps, and pretty easy to throw together the afternoon before a BBQ. This recipe makes 6 generous sized burger buns. You could easily double or triple the recipe. I did change a few things (I guess that is just my M.O., as my husband says) and I'll put those changes in parenthesis next to the original ingredients or instructions.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of King Arthur brand flour. The King Arthur website is a great place for fun baking products, but they also have a really nice recipe section that even allows people to write reviews on those recipes. These hamburger buns are really well rated. Try them and see if you like them too!

Seeded Hamburger Buns

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons butter or oil (I used coconut oil)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder, optional (I used onion flakes)
• 2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (I substituted 1/2 cup of Whole Wheat and added 1 tablespoon ground flax seed)

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons Everything Bagel topping (I used more sesame seeds)
• 1 large egg white, beaten

Directions

1. To make the dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients, and mix and knead them, by hand, mixer, or bread machine, to make a soft dough.
2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place for an hour, until it's almost doubled in size.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface, flatten it slightly, and divide it into 6 pieces - each should weigh about 3 1/2 to 4 ounces.
4. Roll each piece into a ball.
5. Place balls into the greased cups of a hamburger bun pan, and flatten gently. (ok - I came to this part and went "huh?" too. No worries. You can simply line the dough up on a sheet of parchment paper over a baking sheet. Leave 1/2 inch between the patties after you lightly press them (and slightly indent the centers). The dough will rise and bake so that the buns touch and stay soft on the sides.)
6. Cover (with saran wrap sprayed lightly with cooking spray) and let rise until the buns have doubled in size (about 30-45 min). Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Bake buns for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven, brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with the seed topping. Do this quickly, or the seeds won't stick!
8. Return the buns to the oven and bake for 5 to 8 minutes, until they are golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.