Recipe: Homemade Hamburger Buns

A family favorite, originally found in some women's magazine back in the 80's, don't remember which one.


This one has fed a lot of bellies the past couple of decades. Once affectionately anticipated as "Virginia's Buns", I'm glad to have passed the torch to others so now they are "owned" by many. And now today, here it is for you, too:


Homemade Hamburger Buns

Oven: 375 Deg. F
Time: Varies, start with 15-20 min, and check

Combine:

4 cups flour, sifted (good to use bread flour)
2 pkgs yeast (NOT sifted)

Mix together, then add to flour mixture:

2 cups warm water (not too warm, not too cold--usually slightly warmer than room temp)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp salt

Add in eggs, one at a time:
3 eggs

Add in remaining flour, until good to touch:
4 cups flour (sifted)

Knead dough for several minutes.
Let rise in greased bowl, covered, for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.
Beat down, let rest about 15 minutes.

Separate dough into 24 rolls, and prepare each roll by pulling dough to underside a few times. This makes a smooth and elastic roll. Place on greased baking sheet.

Cover and let rise about 1/2 hour.

Bake until golden brown. Depending on humidity, and oven, usually anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes. Be careful not to burn.

NOTES:

• This recipe assumes a basic knowledge of bread making and baking.
• I've never made this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work fine.
• This recipe can be mixed using a 5-qt Kitchen Aid mixer. It's close, but works.
• I also have doubled, and tripled the recipe. If you have a large enough pan, it works great.
• Another technique I used in my younger days was to make the dough before a road trip, put the pan in the back of my hatchback car for a 90-minute trip, then drive while the dough was rising. Arrived at bbq just in time to have the rest of the ladies help roll them out, bake them, and then we all had fresh rolls for the party. Mmmmm Good!
• Finally, feel free to experiment and use this recipe for other forms, such as hotdog buns, braided, cinnamon rolls, etc.