Baker Street

While it’s true that it’s easier to simply buy your burger buns of a supermarket shelf, the satisfaction of making your own is far more rewarding. And today we have Roxana to show you just how easy it is.

Roxana from A little bit of everything / Roxana’s Home Baking.is baking the fluffiest burger buns for us today with fabulous step-by-step pictures that will inspire you to head into the kitchen and get started as soon as you read this.

A master baker, photographer and a dear friend; Roxana will whip up everything from coconut banana scones to ginger granola bars and she’ll do it with much finesse. She takes keen interest to bake with yeast and as you can see, she has mastered the art beautifully.

Over to you Roxana.

Hello Baker Street readers. For those of you that don’t know me I’m Roxana, the baker, writer and photographer behind A little bit of everything / Roxana’s Home Baking. I have a passion for baking, especially bread and chocolate goodies. I have a home-schooled two-year old who keeps me going all day long, and to everyone’s surprise she doesn’t eat chocolate. Almost all the recipes on my blog require a preheated oven and lately I’ve been experimenting with vegan and gluten-free baking. So far I can’t complain, but from time to time you’ll see me whipping up pounds of butter and dozen of eggs in my baked goodies.

I’m happy to be here today (Thanks Anuradha for letting me take over your lovely space for a day) sharing a recipe for fluffy soft burger buns.

If you’re new to my blog you might think I’ve been baking with yeast ever since I was a wee one. Let me tell you this is not the truth. The first time I made a yeast bread was about 2 and a half years ago. I still remember that day like it was yesterday.I remember my first attempt in making dinner rolls. The recipe was calling for 25 gr of yeast. At that time I did not know that the recipe was actually calling for fresh yeast so I used dry yeast instead.If only that would be the only mistake I made. I boiled yeast, I microwaved it – little did I know.But I didn’t give up, I kept trying and trying and after countless mistakes I start reading more about it, fell in love with it and even wrote a tutorial.

There are few tips I’d like to share with you today, before I share the recipe for the burger buns.

• Make sure the water is lukewarm, around 100-110F. If the water is too cold it will take forever for the yeast to proof. If the water is too hot, the yeast will be killed.
• Make sure you used the right amount of yeast compared to the quantity of yeast. As a standard measure, for 4 cups of flour (480 grams) there are needed 7 grams of dry yeast or 25 grams fresh yeast.
• Rapid or instant yeast can be used instead of active dry yeast, and the other way. The difference will be in the rising time.
• Always read the entire recipe before you start!

Now, who’s ready to make some burger buns?

Burger Buns

Ingredients

• 4 cups (480 grams) bread flour
• 2 1/4 tsp (7 grams) dry yeast
• 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1 whole egg
• 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
• 4 tbsp butter diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tsp water (optional)

Directions

In a mixing bowl sift the flour. Make a well in the middle and pour 1/4 cup lukewarm water. Sprinkle the yeast and leave at room temperature until the yeast is dissolved and it foams, like a sponge.

When the yeast is proofed, add the egg, mashed potatoes, butter and salt.

If you’re using a stand up mixing, with the dough hook on, start mixing slowly adding 1/2 cup water and keep mixing until the dough comes clean from the sides of the bowl.

If you’re mixing by hand, use a Danish whisk or a wooden spoon and slowly add water in the middle of the flour mixture until the dough is formed.

Take the dough out of the bowl (no mater if you’re using a stand-up mixer or a Danish whisk) and place it on a floured working surface.

Knead by hand until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 5-7 minutes.

Place the dough into a floured or oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until doubled in volume.

Take the dough out of the bowl, place it on a floured surface and divide it into 8-12 buns, depending on how small/big you want the buns.

Place the buns on a baking sheet, cover and leave at room temperature until almost doubled in size.

Meanwhile heat the oven to 375F.

Just before putting the buns in the oven, brush them with egg wash (egg yolk mixed with water)

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. Leave to cool slightly before removing them from the baking sheet.

Enjoy!

You can store the buns in the fridge or in the freezer. When ready to use again, just heat the oven to 350F and place the buns in the oven for few minutes until warm. Or you can microwave them for few seconds.

Thank you Anuradha for having me on your beautiful blog today. It was my pleasure.

Hope I’ll see you again soon on my blog, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest.

Thank you, Roxane! It was pleasure to feature you on Baker Street. These buns surely make for an excellent addition to my Bread 101  Series.