Perfect Hamburger Buns -- In an hour! (Including a Whole Wheat Version)

One week after sharing how to make hot dog buns, in an hour, I'm finally able to share how to shape the same recipe into hamburger buns.  I don't mean to be a buzzkill, but I feel a little self-guilt that my recipe posts have slowed down to a trickle of one a week.  I really miss my creative hobby of food blogging. I miss not having the time to visit my favorite food blogs. I miss not having time to make new recipes, photographing and editing them, and writing a blog post. There is such a sense of gratification of investing two hours of my time to write one blog post.

With my busy job, and physical therapy appointments, I have to settle for being a "Weekend Blogger".   Most of our weekday meals are my tried and true recipes, that are already on my blog. If you follow my Facebook Fan Page, during the week I do try to share what recipe I'm making and to quickly check in to see what my friends are up to.  

So, the weekend has rolled around and this is when I focus on spending time at home, with my husband and household chores.  I look forward to my Saturday mornings, when our 5:15am alarm is turned off. Bliss. On the weekends, I try to make at least one new recipe and to write a blog post.

I promised to post a tutorial on how to make hamburger buns from the hot dog bun recipe that I shared. It just didn't seem like it would be enough. Then, I had an idea-- why not modify the recipe to be a whole wheat version?

It worked! Once again, the rolls were ready in less than an hour.  For those of you who think you are yeast-challenged, I hope that you will reconsider.  This recipe is so easy to make, and tastes much better than commercially burger buns.  The aroma of fresh baked bread-- you can't buy that! 

When I made the hot dog buns, I mixed and kneaded the dough by hand.  Sometimes, I like using my hands. It feels a bit therapeutic.  This time, I used my Kitchen Aid Stand mixer to mix and knead the dough. It worked great!  I cut the dough into twelve pieces to shape them into hamburger rolls.

Once the rolls were shaped, covered with a towel and placed into my oven (I turn it to WARM for 2 minutes, then turn it off), I had beautifully risen rolls in 20 minutes. Yes, 20 minutes!  I like to brush on a little egg wash and then sprinkle with either sesame seeds or poppy seeds.

12 minutes later, the hamburger buns are baked to a golden brown and ready to be enjoyed.

Today, I made the whole wheat version, and decided to photograph how to shape the rolls.  There's no need for perfection, here. I simply stretch the dough into a rough square, then fold over the edges to the center...

Then I grab the middle and twist.  I place the roll, twisted side down, and gently roll the dough and shape the sides into a hamburger bun.

 

 This time, I brushed on an egg wash and sprinkled with sesame seeds.  Pretty!

TASTING NOTES:  I already knew that the unbleached white flour version of this bun recipe was a keeper, since I'd made both the hot dog and hamburger version (for the Hawaiian Bullseye Burger).  I wanted a whole wheat version that wouldn't be too heavy.  Success!  The bun was really tender, with the perfect balance of whole wheat and white flour.  In case you were wondering if you could use just all-wheat flour... I would say "no". I tried that once, a long time ago, and my bread was as heavy as a hockey puck.  

I'm giving you a recipe card for either the white flour or whole wheat flour version.  For the record, I prefer to use King Arthur Flour.  Their products are non-GMO and the flour isn't bleached (you would be horried at the process that is done to make bleached flour-- trust me).  I used Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast. 

My Fall Break vacation is in two weeks, and I hope to have more time and energy to make and share new recipes for you.   I'm surely going to try!

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