Homemade Hamburger Buns

Sometimes you just want hefty buns, am I right?

Okay, your middle-school sense of humor is probably giggling right now, but you know what I mean? You've got an amazingly juicy burger or flavorful sandwich planned out and those store-bought buns are not going to support all that flavor! Nobody likes it when their hamburger bun quits before the burger is gone. Like when the bun is flapping off the meat or sliding away altogether, and you are left with ketchup everywhere on your hands, your lettuce has slipped away into your fries, and don't get me started on where the tomato is! Moral of the story: Bad buns ruin good burgers.

A few weeks ago I needed a good hamburger bun. I was hesitant to make my own because I didn't want a bun that just tasted like bread. That's gross. So I tried this hamburger bun recipe from the baker upstairs and I really liked it. The resulting buns improved the quality of my pre-frozen turkey burgers by one million percent. No bread flavor, no buns falling off the burger. Plus, I could make them the same size as the burgers so that was awesome. No complaints and no trip to the store. 

With burger season ramping up, I highly recommend trying these out. They take a little bit of time, but they are worth it. Sorry store-bought buns, we're through. Its not me. Its you. 

Hamburger Buns

from The Baker Upstairs

Ingredients

• 3 tbs warm milk
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tsp yeast
• 2 1/2 tbs sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, divided
• 2 1/2 tbs butter, melted
• 3 1/3 cups flour, (more or less as needed)

Cooking Directions

1. In a stand mixer with a kneading hook, combine milk, water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit until frothy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add 1 egg, salt, butter, and 2 cups of flour and knead on low speed. Continue to add flour until dough pulls away from side of bowl and is a little sticky and will form a ball when you roll it between your fingers.
3. Cover dough loosely with a towel and let raise until doubled.
4. After dough rises. gently form into 10-12 balls and flatten them slightly with your hand. Place on a large cookie sheet and let rise again for 1 hour, or until doubled.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a 9x13 pan of water in bottom of the oven.
6. Whisk together 1 egg and 1 tsp of water. Brush egg wash over the buns and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Bake the bread. Share the slices.