Monday, May 23, 2011

Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns



The weather in WA is starting to get close to a summer like pattern. Clouds in the morning, sun breaks, and mid to upper 60's. It's very exciting. Time for burgers, macaroni salad, and fruit!

I've been making bread for the past few years, but during the past couple months I've been exclusively eating my homemade bread. I need to give kuddos to Penniless Parenting Blog, which is where I got the original recipe and have modified it according to my taste and am now making buns out of it! If you haven't been to Penniless Parenting blog yet, you should totally check it out. There is way to much useful information on there.

Anyway, what I love about this recipe is that it's healthier than white because it contains a good amount of wheat and it's flexible enough to use for sandwiches. I've experimented using a 10 grain cereal flour that I ground into flour with my vita-mix, spelt flour, and wheat. So far the best mix is using wheat or spelt flour. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup honey
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
1/4 cup potato flake (you can use potato water in place of flakes, just omit the milk or use 1/2 milk 1/2 potato water)
1 tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vinegar

Instructions
1. In medium sized glass bowl add milk, butter, and honey. Heat in microwave (of course stovetop in a pot would work too) for 1-2 minutes. Wisk until it's all combined and set aside.
2. Add dry ingredients together and mix.
3. I use a stand mixer, but kneading by hand works perfectly fine. Knead until it's soft and pliable (mixer: 5-10 min., hand: 10-15 min.). Add flour as needed.
4. Place dough in greased bowl, spray dough with oil, cover with plastic wrap and let double (1-2 hrs.)

The nice part about this stage is that it can rise longer without ruining the bread. You can also let it slowly rise in the fridge overnight or all day. Just make sure to let it get to room temp. (30 min. or so) before going onto the 2nd rise.

5. Take dough out of bowl and lay the plastic wrap aside for later use. Seperate into 6 pieces. Shape each piece into a circle by kneading it and pinching the edges on the bottom.
6. Place each ball on a grease cookie sheet. Flatten the balls slightly and cover with the saved plastic wrap. Let rise slightly (15-30 min.).
7. Brush melted butter on each bun and cover with sesame seeds, onions, or desired topping. Cook 20-30 min. in a 350 degree oven. The texture will be soft so the best way to know if it's done is to place a meat thermomiter in the bread and it's finished if it reads 200 degrees.

Enjoy

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mothers Day





Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms out there. Today is to celebrate all that you do for your kids and family.


'Ode to the little men in my life that make everyday a grand adventure.