Paulchens FoodBlog?!

Summer, Sun, Fun, Barbeque… doesn’t that all scream Burgers to you?

Well, it apparently did to us Babes ’cause our beloved Babe Sara gathered us around her kitchen table this month and made us bake fabulous burger buns, just perfect to be baked directly on the BBQ if you like – but you can easily do them in our oven too.

She said:

I picked up this recipe card from Williams Sonoma last year in Calgary. Summer will soon be here and who doesn’t like to bbq a burger or hot dog in the summer? And you just know that it will taste even better on a bun you’ve made yourself. The recipe gives directions to make regular sized burger buns as well as slider sized buns.

I - along with my fellow Babes - was delighted to do burger buns, because I haven’t yet made them from scratch!

So i took all my excitement into my kitchen starting to make burger buns. Having already all those cheeesy, goey, dripping, perfectly tasting Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Chickenburgers, Whatever-Burgers in mind while kneading the dough…

You sense trouble in the air, dear reader? Aye, you sense right!

Maybe it was because my mind was too distracted by imagining all the Burger-Yumminess or maybe it was just me not paying attention… I might have been distracted by “somecat” or *cough* following my Twitter timeline while baking,…

Heaven knows, but Babes I think I killed my yeast *whispers in shame* - the result of my first burger baking session was nothing then brick like little round somethings, nothing near a fluffy yummy burger bun… Diddldido… 

But – I am a Babe, right? Fail does not stop me.

Off I went to the kitchen again an few days later and made the best and perfect looking little burger buns…

Aren't these babies just perfect?

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Williams-Sonoma

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) milk
8 Tbs (1stick/125 g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
4 cups (625 g) all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
5 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water
sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and butter and heat until the butter is melted, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to 105-155′F (40 to 46′C). Add the yeast and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Let stand for 10 minutes.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the 4 cups of flour, the sugar and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the milk mixture and knead until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, oil the inside of the bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 10 by 7 1/2 inch (25 by 19 cm) rectangle. Using a ruler as a guide, cut the dough into 2 1/2 inch (6cm) squares. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spacing the buns evenly apart, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400′F (200′C)
5. Remove the plastic wrap from the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg mixture (I brushed the tops with milk) and sprinkle with sesame seeds if using. Bake until the buns and golder and an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of a bun registers 190′F (88′C), 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer the buns to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut in half and use as hamburger buns. Makes 12 hamburger buns.
6. For slider buns: Follow the instructions above but roll out the dough into a 9 inch (23 cm) square. Cut into 1 1/2 inch (4cm) squares and place on 2 parchment lined baking sheets. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Position one rack in the upper third of an over and one rack in the lower third and preheat to 400′F (200′C). Brush the tops with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds if using. Bake for about 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom and 180 degrees halfway through baking.Makes 36 slider buns.

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Burger Bun with Gyros, Cheddar & heirloom tomatoes

I filled my burger with Gyros, Cheddar and heirloom tomatoes plus some basil. Loved it that way.  I made the gyros after Alessio’s instructions  who made me crave some ever since he posted it on his blog. It was gone in the blink of an eye and I will make it again for sue!

I put the leftover buns in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer for further use in my near future… I am sure they will make some perfect snacks!

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You sure want to bake this buns as well, don’t you?

Please do so, you will not regret it. If you snap some pics and share your thoughts about this month’s bread aka burger on your blog I am sure Sara will be more than happy to add you tho the BBB Buddy round up on July 29th on her blog.  If you do not own a blog, no worries, you can also post your picture to Flickr or any other photo sharing site and share your thoughts there.

One word about that whole Buddy thing: 
The Bread Baking Babes are a closed group but we thought it would be fun to reward people who take the effort of baking our breads with us and give them a nice Buddy Badge and mention in a round up post every month. Just to say thank you for baking along and sharing your thoughts with us.

Since we are Babes and do no obey to rules, there are nearly no rules for Buddies, except these two:

1. Bake the featured bread, snap a pic & share your thoughts about how you liked it (or not liked it)
2. Send an email to the Kitchen of the Month to notify  us and make it easier to write the round up. 

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Please don’t forget to visit my fellow Babes and see what they did with this lovely Bread this month.
Oh and don’t forget to visit Katie our BBBBB (Bitchin’ Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire) who writes up such lovely round ups of all the BBB Breads every month!

Bake My Day – Karen | blog from OUR kitchen – Elizabeth | The Sour Dough – Breadchick Mary | Cookie Baker Lynn – Lynn | Feeding my enthusiasms – Pat | Grain Doe – Görel |  I Like To Cook – Sara | Living in the Kitchen with Puppies – Natashya | Lucullian Delights – Ilva |  My Kitchen In Half Cups – Tanna | Notitie Van Lien – Lien | Wild Yeast – Susan

Canela and Comino – Gretchen (Babe on Hiatus)  | Living on bread and water – Monique (Babe on Hiatus) |  Thyme For Cooking – Katie (Babe on Hiatus)

Thinking of you with Love: Glenna (Alumni Babe) | Sher (Angel Babe)

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I send this over to Susan’s Yeastspotting.
YeastSpotting is a weekly showcase of yeasted baked goods and dishes with bread as a main ingredient.
If you are not familiar with YeastSpotting just scroll the archive and you’ll know what I am talking about.
To submit your post simply klick here!