What a better time to crawl back from six feet under than when corona virus is knocking at your door. I do hope my fatigue has more to do with the daylight saving time than any sickness. These days it though to tell..
Anyway, a few days ago I still found myself energetic and felt like updating my blog should be next thing on the list (hey c’mon, it’s been only.. 6 years?). And also I had been presented with the wish to make hamburgers for dinner. And since the recipe I have for burger buns is quite a good one, I would love to share it here.
Some years ago my mother found a great recipe for burgers from the magical world of internet. What made this recipe special, was the fact the butter and flour are rubbed together before adding other ingredients. I decided to do some googling before posting my own version, to give the glory for the original version as well.
Hamburgers (8 or 12 pieces)
560g Wheat flour (12% protein)
30g Butter
60g Whole milk (3,5% fat)
250g Water
Egg (M)
20g Fresh yeast
11g Salt
30g Sugar
Egg for glazing, sesame seeds (optional)
Start by measuring the flour and butter into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour, either by hand or in a kneading machine. Then measure your liquids into another bowl and warm the is mixture slightly so it’s luke warm. Dissolve the yeast in the mixture. If you are using dried yeast (about 10g is enough) make sure to warm the liquids to 40 degrees Celsius, in order for the yeast to wake up. After yeast, add the egg, salt and sugar to the mixture and whisk together until smooth. Then pour the liquid into the flour-butter-combination and knead together. This will form a very soft dough, and might be a bit tricky to work per hand. Still do not add much flour, we don’t want dry buns.
After letting your dough rest covered for about an half an hour, divide it into equall pieces. I prefer my hamburgers somewhat smaller so I cut my dough into pieces average 80g each. For 8 buns you have about 120g for each to use. Form balls and let them rest a while. Prepare a baking pan with baking sheet. Reform the balls to give them some extra springiness and place them on the baking sheet as shown in the picture below.
Let the buns rise under a kitchen towel. The time varies a lot depending on the temperature. In summer time the buns might have proofed in half an hour whereas in winter you might have to leave them for an hour and a half. Do not let them puff up too big though, for the moist dough tends to lose its structure quickly. We do not want flat and airless buns! I think I have often turned on the oven too late, so I prefer to turn it on right at the same time buns are formed. Then it’s ready for them when they need it. So heat up your oven to 220 degrees celsius.
After rising, brush the buns with egg and springle with sesame seeds. I was unfortunately out of any. Then place the buns to bake on the low level in the oven. Turn the heat down to 200 degree celsius. Bake for about 15 minutes, turning the tray in between to guarantee an even bake. Pull down from the tray to cool down.
Prep meat, salad, tomatoes, onion, pickles, cheese, sauces.. all your preferred hamburger fillings and enjoy the most delicious meal. I used to prep my meat very simple. Just using a minced cow with salt and pepper. With children I’ve become to prefer a more meatball type of dough including bread crumbs, egg, salt, paprika spice, black pepper.. it’s not as chewy and makes it easy for the whole family to eat.
And now I gotta come up with the next food already, since burgers are long gone.. hope you guys enjoy the recipe as much as we do!
~Marika
Bread with bubbles 