Burger Buns

This is an absolutely brilliant recipe that uses only a few ingredients (compared to the 20 or more found in a typical supermarket burger bun). It produces superbly soft buns, so your burger won’t slide out the back when you take a bite, that also hold their shape so the whole thing doesn’t disintegrate while your eating it.

Ingredients

* 250g strong white bread flour
* 10g instant yeast
* 10g sugar
* 5g salt
* 30g unsalted butter
* 140ml warm water

Optionally:

* 1 egg white
* 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds

Preparation Time: 2 hours
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 buns


Method of making :


Step 1



Weigh out the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a large mixing bowl. (If your yeast needs activating in water, follow the instructions on the packet and subtract whatever water you need to use from the 140ml water listed above. Then add it with the rest of the water in stage 4.) the dry ingredients

Step 2

Mix them together so that they are evenly distributed.

Step 3

Heat the butter (either in the microwave or in a pan) so that it has just melted, it should be just warm, not hot.


Step 4



Weigh the water into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, pour in the melted butter and mix it all together (using your hands) to form a dough. adding the water

Step 5



Tip the dough out on to a floured work surface and knead it until it has formed a smooth, elastic dough. It will be sticky at first but will become smooth as you knead it. Form the dough into a ball, lightly oil the inside of the mixing bowl and put the ball of dough back into the mixing bowl. kneading in the butter

Step 6



Cover the bowl with a piece of cling-film/plastic-wrap, put the bowl somewhere warm and leave it to prove until it has doubled in size (it depends on how warm it is but this usually takes 1 - 2 hours). proving the dough - the first rise

Step 7.



When the dough has doubled in size, tip the dough out of the bowl, cut it into quarters and shape each quarter into a ball. dividing the dough

Step 8

Leave the balls of dough on the work-top, cover them with a piece of lightly oiled cling-film/plastic-wrap and leave them to prove for a second time until they have doubled in size. proving the portioned dough

Step 9

When the balls of dough have doubled in size, put them onto a lightly oiled baking tray and gently press them down to form the burger bun shape. Optionally, brush the top of each disk of dough with some egg white and sprinkle each with ½ teaspoon of sesame seeds. shaping and adding the sesame seeds

Step 10

Heat the oven to 170°c.

Step 11



Leave the buns to rise for the final time until they have puffed up (not necessarily doubled in size but close). proving the shaped burger buns

Step 12

Using your oven thermometer (you do have an oven thermometer, don’t you?) check that the oven is at 170°c and then put the tray with the buns into the oven and bake them for 20 minutes. cooling the cooked burger buns

Step 13



When they are cooked, take the burger buns out of the oven and leave them on the tray until they have cooled to room temperature (when they come out of the oven they will feel very firm but leaving them to cool on the tray greatly softens the crust).

Step 14

When they are cooled, cook your burgers and enjoy! a finished burger bun, cut in half