Nice Buns

I have a problem where I put things into my freezer and then never remember to take them out and use them. Heck, I still have 2 rounds of this french bread in my freezer from February. While shifting things around in the freezer yesterday morning I found some pork in there that I new had been in there a while and needed to be used up. I decided to make this pulled pork recipe with it. But wait, I do not have any hamburger buns and have already been to the store today. Oh no problem, I'll just make some.


I was originally going to use this recipe but I did not feel the urge to convert all the measurements over to ounces. So I then came across this recipe and decided I would just make it before I ran out of time. You see I was having a bad day in the kitchen today. A casserole dish slid off a shelf and crashed down and shattered on the inside of my cupboard. An egg, in which I named Humpty Dumpty, decided to roll off of the counter and come to an untimely death. Once my buns rose they were mammoth! I am talking about 6" round, seriously! Then, I managed to burn my hand on the oven rack taking these buns out. ::sigh::


With all said and done, and me vowing to stay out of the kitchen for the rest of the evening, these buns were great. Definitely better than store bought. The dough came together nicely, they rose quickly and tasted great. I do think that my favorite sweet dinner rolls would also make excellent buns for pulled pork.

Hamburger Buns
Adapted from: Rosa's Yummy Yums

Ingredients
1 cup (250g) water, lukewarm
2 tbls (30g) unsalted butter, at room temperature and creamed
1 egg (~50g)
3 1/4 cups (433g) plain white flour
1/4 cup (53g) castor sugar (I just put regular sugar through the food processor)
1 tsp salt
1 tbls instant yeast

1 egg yolk (+ 1 tsp water)
Sesame seeds

Directions
1. Sprinkle the yeast into the water and leave for 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve.
2. Combine all remaining dough ingredients and mix well.
3. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured working surface and knead for about 10 minutes until you've made a soft, smooth dough.
4. Place the dough in a clean and lightly greased bowl.
5. Cover it with a towel and let rise for about 1 or 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.
6. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each piece into a flattened ball.
7. Place the buns on greased baking sheets, cover with a towel and let rise 30 to 40 minutes, until they're quite puffy and doubled in size.
8. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
9. Glaze the buns with the egg yolk and water mixture, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
10. Bake the buns for 12 to 15 minutes, until they are golden brown.
11. Remove them from the oven and cool them on a wire rack.