Hamburger and Slider Buns

Originally this recipe was going to be joined with my post for the sliders, but with all the pictures I had of those and then all the ones I had for this recipe, I felt that they could each stand on their own.  So the day that I made the sliders I searched all of the whopping two grocery stores we have here in town for slider buns only to be disappointed.  I so badly wanted to use my Williams Sonoma slider press...then it occurred to me, why not make my own buns?  I had seen a recipe on another blog recently that featured hamburger buns...why not give it a try and just make them extra small for sliders?  With that decided, we headed home and  I got to work!

I made these on a marathon cooking day...I was making sliders, grilling up one of the monster zucchinis from our garden, making these slider buns and zucchini cupcakes! Yeah, it was a busy day in the kitchen here.  Anyway, the great thing about making breads is that you have a lot of down time while you are waiting for it to rise in which you can do things like work on sliders and cupcakes so it all worked out pretty well.  The buns were absolutely delicious!  Definitely making them again...we didn't have any leftover so I was really glad I took some pics before we sat down to eat!

Gather up all of your ingredients, pre-measuring things like salt and sugar when appropriate.

Mix together the milk, water, yeast and sugar and set aside until it is frothy.  It will take about 5 minutes or so...

and look like this when it is ready.

Place the salt and flour in a mixing bowl.

 Whisk together to combine and break up any clumps.

Then, using a pastry cutter, mix in the butter with the flour mixture.

Mix until small crumbs form.

It will look like this when you are done.

Add in one egg and yeast mixture with the flour mixture.

Using your dough hook, mix on medium-high for 7 minutes or until a good elastic dough forms and it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  the dough will be somewhat tacky but not super sticky.

Set aside and let rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.  

(This was taken after the dough had risen.)

Cut the ball of dough into 4 pieces.

Then cut each fourth into 5 pieces for slider rolls.

Roll into tight balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Press down slightly to form disc-like shapes.  Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and allow to rise until double again, about 1-2 hours.

Mix together the remaining egg with some water to form an egg wash and brush over the top of the rolls.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds or whatever other toppings you desire...

such as minced onions or garlic.  Bake about 10 minutes for sliders, or until golden brown.

Allow to cool completely then slice in half and serve with sliders and veggies!  YUMMMY!!!

Slider Buns
Adapted from Lemon-Sugar

3 Tbsp. lukewarm milk
1 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
2 large eggs
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
sesame seeds, minced onions or other roll toppings

In a glass bowl or measuring cup combine the milk, water, yeast and sugar.  Set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes.

In a stand mixer, or bowl, whisk the flour and salt.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender until crumbs form.  Then add yeast mixture and one egg and beat with dough hook of the stand mixer for about 7 minutes, or until a good smooth dough forms.  It will be a little tacky at this point, but should pull away from the bowl sides fairly easily and be able to be pulled off of your fingers without difficulty.  If it is still too sticky, add flour a teaspoon at a time just until the dough comes off of the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic.  Shape the dough into a ball and place in a well greased bowl covered with cling wrap to let rise until double in size, about an hour or two.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silplat mat (or spray it really well with spray if you are out of parchment paper like I was).  Cut the dough into 20-24 pieces or so for sliders or 10-12 pieces for regular hamburger rolls.  Roll into balls again and place on the baking sheets.  Cover loosely with cling wrap and again let them rise for an hour or two.

Preheat oven to 400F.  Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon of water and brush the tops of the rolls with it.  Sprinkle on the toppings, sesame seeds or minced onions were my choices, and bake about 10-12 minutes for sliders or 15 minutes for regular buns.  Cool completely and slice in half before serving.

My family said these were even better than store bought...guess I know what I'll be doing for buns from now on!