Ingredients
Water Roux
20 grams Bread Flour
1/4 cup Whole Milk
2 TBSP Water
Dough
3/4 cup Whole Milk
1 TBSP Active Dry Yeast
2 1/2 TBSP Sugar
420 Grams Bread Flour
1 TSP Sea Salt
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
3 TBSP Butter (softened and cut into small cubes)
Egg Wash
1 Egg
1 TBSP Water
Optional: Sesame seeds for garnish
Execution
Make The Water Roux: Combine all of the roux ingredients into a small saucepan and whisk well until smooth. Cook the roux while whisking constantly over medium heat until thickened. It should almost look like glue. Remove from the heat and allow to cool while you make the dough.
Activate Yeast: In another small saucepan, warm up your milk until it is about 100-105F degrees. Once warm, combine your milk, yeast, and sugar into a small bowl and give it a stir. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes until the yeast forms a foamy layer.
Prep Dry Ingredients: In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour and salt and mix well.
Prep Wet Ingredients: Once your yeast has activated, add the egg and egg yolk to the yeast mixture and whisk to combine.
Add Wet to Dry: With your mixer turned on low (using a paddle attachment if you have one), slowly pour in the yeast + egg mixture. Then, add your water roux mixture. Continue mixing until a loose dough forms.
Knead the Dough: Switch to the dough hook attachment on your mixer and knead the dough on a medium-low setting. Take your softened cubed butter and add about 1-3 cubes at at time to the dough. Allow the cubes to fully incorporate before adding your next set of cubes. Once all of the butter is mixed in, let the mixer knead the dough on the medium setting for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stop the mixer and pull a piece of dough. It should be somewhat elastic and the dough should look smooth. It may be somewhat sticky, but that’s OK. Don’t be tempted to add too much more flour during the kneading process.
Proof the Dough: Remove the dough from your mixer and shape into a loose ball. Add the dough to a large greased bowl, cover with a moist towel, and place in a warm spot for 1-2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.
Shape the Dough: Once doubled, deflate the dough by punching it gently in the center. Weigh your dough in grams and divide that weight by 8. Use that weight as the weight for each hamburger bun (roughly 100grams or so per bun). Portion your dough into 8 equal pieces by weight and shape each piece into a ball. Place each ball on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Let the Buns Rise: Lightly dust the dough balls with a little flour to prevent sticking, use a spatula to lightly flatten each ball, cover with a kitchen towel, and allow to rise for another hour or so. Test if the dough is ready by lightly poking one of the buns with your finger to create an indent. If the indent in the dough bounces back, it needs more time to rise. If the indent stays and does not bounce back, the dough is fully risen and ready to bake.
Preheat & Prep Egg Wash: While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375F. Make the egg wash by combining 1 egg with 1 TBSP of water and whisking thoroughly.
Wash & Bake: Once the dough is proofed, lightly brush them with the egg wash and top with sesame seeds (optional). Bake the buns for 16 minutes until golden brown and the internal temperature reads 190F. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring the buns to a cooling rack to cool for another 5-10 minutes.
Additional tips
- Shaping the Dough: Look up a video of how to shape your dough into balls by cupping your hands into a “C” shape and using your palms to press the dough into a ball. This is a great way to shape your dough because it helps to build tension and creates a springy fluffy bun.
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour.
- Butter: I don’t notice a difference between salted or unsalted butter. Use whatever butter you have on hand.
