One of the biggest issues of making your food from scratch is that once you go all in, you often find that commercial-made food doesn’t taste good anymore. Or smell great. Or sit in your stomach right.
Bread is the biggest issue for me. When all I do is buy premade bread for months, I get used to the lower quality way too fast. And I get it. Making bread 6-7 days a week isn’t always sustainable or doable for many people. I usually have the time to do it, and I can also do double or triple baking on a free day and stock the freezer. But there are times I get lazy and fall off the baking wagon. That is when I walk into the store and I can smell the baking aisle. It doesn’t smell like bread anymore to me. Rather, I smell the dough additives and preservatives (often, you will see great companies claiming “no preservatives added,” but they have natural ways to keep it from molding, such as vinegar. Bread shouldn’t last for two weeks!
My weakness is when we grill. I will buy hamburger buns. No matter the brand, they always end up stale-tasting, dry, and gummy. The other night, I tossed my bun to the chickens as I sat on the porch eating dinner. It wasn’t worth the calories. And I knew I needed to learn to make my buns. And to quit being lazy. Because that really is what happens to me. It’s easier to drive to town, even though that is a pain in the butt in itself.
The buns I bought last weekend were Sara Lee® Artesano® Bakery Buns. Which my lazy self grabbed in a moment of weakness. Did I mention they are GE (so yes, GMO ingredients, which is most like the soy used in it)? I didn’t scan the label as I should have.
Ingredients:
ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR [FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, REDUCED IRON, NIACIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), FOLIC ACID], WATER, SUGAR, WHEAT GLUTEN, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN), YEAST, SEA SALT, CONTAINS 0.5% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: CULTURED WHEAT FLOUR, SOY LECITHIN, CITRIC ACID, GRAIN VINEGAR, SESAME SEEDS.
So, of that list, homemade doesn’t contain:
Wheat gluten, soybean oil, cultured wheat flour, soy lecithin, citric acid, vinegar, or sesame seeds. Nor does mine have any GMO ingredients or cheap seed oils.
Scratch Hamburger Buns
Ingredients:
- 1¾ cups whole milk
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp instant yeast (quick-rise)
- 750 grams of all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp fine sea salt
- Olive oil for bowl
For wash
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tbsp cool water
Directions:
Turn a heating pad to medium setting.
In a saucepan, add the milk and butter, and heat over medium till the milk is 120°.
In a stand mixer bowl add the eggs, sugar and salt. Beat with the wire whisk attachment. Slowly add in the warm milk and butter, with the mixer on low. Add in the yeast.
Put the bread hook on, add in the flour, and let work in. Set the timer for 10 minutes, and turn the mixer up to medium once the flour is worked in. Let it knead the dough for you.
Sprinkle a bit of flour on a work surface. Knock the dough out. It will be pretty sticky. Start kneading by hand, and that bit of flour will leave it tack to touch, but not wet. Knead for a couple of minutes.
In a large mixing bowl drizzle in a bit of oil, add dough and flip. Cover with plastic wrap (I spritz with a tiny bit of oil to avoid sticking.
Place the bowl on the heating pad and let rise for 60 minutes.
Remove the bowl, place a large baking sheet on the heating pad.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Knock the dough out, roll into a long log. It was around 16″ long for me. Cut in half, then cut each section into 4 pieces for large buns, or into 10-12 pieces for smaller buns.
Roll into balls with your hands, tuck the dough under to make a smooth ball. Place on the baking sheet.
Cover with the plastic wrap again, and let rise for 10 minutes.
Whisk the egg and water together. Gently brush it over the rolls.
Bake for 20 minutes if doing 10 to 12 buns or 22 to 24 minutes for 8 buns.
Let cool for 5 minutes, loosen with a spatula, and place on a cooling rack.
To store it in the long term, double bag it when cool and freeze.
~Sarah