Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Hamburger Buns, but NOT what you think!

I decided to do something whimsical for my Fourth of July baking. I made hamburger buns. But not necessarily buns that you would put burgers on. Confused?

These look like burgers in buns, but it's really white and rye bread. They're perfect for my favorite summer sandwich - tomato and mayonnaise, and that makes it look even more like a burger. A little lettuce would help the illusion even more.

These would also be nice dinner rolls. I specifically made them smaller so they could be used that way.

Of course, you could use them as burger buns. For small burgers.

"Hamburger" Buns

For the white dough:
1 cup lukewarm water
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 cups (11 1/4 ounces) bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the rye dough:
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces) bread flour
1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) rye flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the white dough: Put the water, yeast, sugar, bread flour, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Knead with the dough hook until you have a smooth and elastic dough.

Add the olive oil and  continue kneading until the oil is incorporated and the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic.

Set the dough aside until it has doubled in size, about an hour.

For the rye dough: Combine the water, yeast, sugar, bread flour, rye flour, salt, cocoa powder, and balsamic vinegar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix with the paddle until the dough is well combined and it forms a ball that cleans the sides of the bowl.

Add the olive oil and continue kneading until the oil is completely incorporated  The dough won't be elastic but it shouldn't be rough and shaggy.

Set aside while the white dough rises.

To make the buns:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center of the oven.

When the white dough has risen, turn it out, knead it briefly on a lightly floured surface, then roll it out to a square about 13 x 13 inches. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut 16 circles from the dough. Reroll the scraps so the dough is the same thickness as before, and cut another 8 circles so you have 24 circles.

Arrange 12 of those circles on the prepared parchment-lined baking sheet. The circles will shrink in diameter a bit after you cut them. Save the scraps.

Flour your work surface again and turn out the rye dough. It won't have risen much, but it will feel airy and spongy. Roll it to about 9x12 inches. Using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut 12 circles from the dough. (Save the scraps.) The reason you're using a smaller cutter is that the white dough tends to spring back a bit - your white circles are probably right at 2 1/2 inches.

Place the rye circles neatly on top of the circles on the baking sheet. You don't need to do anything to make them stick - they will adhere to each other without any help.

Place the reserved 12 white circles on top of the rye circles.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside until the white dough has doubled in size - about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, you can combine the rye and white scrap in any way you like and make buns or as desired.  Place them on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap. and let them rise.

When the buns have doubled, remove the plastic wrap and bake them at 350 degrees until nicely browned, about 25 minutes. You can bake the "scrap" buns at the same time on the same rack (if you have space) or on a rack above, if you don't have space.

Place the buns on a rack to cool.

This has been submitted to Yeastspotting.
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