Recipe Renovations: Wheat Hamburger Buns

dI have been claiming that I was going to post this recipe for awhile now, but haven't got around to it. A contributing factor was likely the fact that I hadn't taken any pictures. I've been trying really hard to have pictures for my posts, so I kept delaying. Well, the wait is finally over, because I made buns, and took pictures this past week! Yay me!

To make buns, mix up my  Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe omitting the oats in the dough. So, the ingredients would look like this:
2 1/2 tsp yeast
2 TBS brown sugar
1 1/3 cup warm water
1/4 cup honey
3 TBS butter (melted)
2 cups wheat flour
1 1/4 cup white flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

We are going to start out using the same procedure as the bread. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees; foam up your yeast, water, and sugar, add it and other wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix well and knead. Let the dough rise at least 30 min (until not quite doubled) and punch down. This is wear the recipe is going to start to vary a little from the bread. Place your dough unto a floured surface, and portion it into 8 equal parts (or near equal, I was going a little fast and my pieces weren't very even this time around).

At this point you need to decide "Do I want hamburger or hot dog buns?" I know the recipe says hamburger buns, but it's awesome and you can make either. Since there are only 2.5 eaters in my home, and I wouldn't need 8 of either type of bun, I made both.

To make hamburger buns, take a dough portion and pat it around in your hands, forming a cute flattened circle.

Forming a hamburger bun.

To make hot dog buns, roll the portion between your hands to elongate. I don't have a picture of that process, sorry.

Whichever type of bun you make. place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet. If you wish, you can use some of that oatmeal you omitted to dress up the buns,very slightly dampen the tops of the buns, and sprinkle some oatmeal on top. (I forgot to dampen, and the oatmeal didn't stay on very well).

Sprinkled with love.

Put your buns in a warm place (heh, buns in a warm place) and let them raise another 30 min or until almost doubled.Don't worry if they end up touching a little, they will come right apart.

Ready to bake.

Bake the buns in your pre-heated oven for 15-20 min or until nice and golden brown. Rub with a little butter if desried, and move to a cooling rack to cool.

Cooling.

I generally freeze half of the buns I make, they will last in the freezer for a little over a month. You can either slice into them once they are cooled, or wait until you are about to serve. While I did say that the elongated version is a hot dog bun, it can also be used as pretty stellar hoagie roll. My buns are usually a little more even (Ha, bun jokes are so easy, or maybe just plain cheesy...oh well), but even or not, they will still do the job. I did get a few of them to look pretty awesome though.

The pretty ones.

Since these buns have honey in them, they are a little bit sweet. If you don't want a tad of sweetness with your burger, just omit the honey.