Labors of Like

Last night I made buns to go with my Derby City chicken salad (payday lunch!). I used my bread machine to make the dough before I baked it in the oven; hence a labor of like as opposed to a labor of love.


Here's the finished product. I used more sugar than the recipe called for but added a little whole wheat flour, so yeah, totally evened out on the healthometer.

The recipe was designed to be baked in a bread machine, but my machine turns perfectly good bread dough into a semi-baked load of crap. So, using the dough setting on the machine (Many thanks to my McKids' late grandmother for giving me a top-of-the-line machine back in 1992 that still makes great dough), here's how it goes:

Homemade Hamburger Buns

1-1/4 cups milk, slightly warmed to around 80 degrees
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cups sugar up to 1/3 cup
2 tbs butter, softened
3/4 tsp salt
3-3/4 cup bread flour (I used 3/4 cup whole wheat flour)
1-1/2 tsp yeast

Add ingredients to bread machine in order of list. Set bread machine to dough setting, then check your facebook status, have a nice cocktail, or sort your sock drawer.

When dough cycle is finished, knead the dough on a slightly floured surface a few times, basically to coat the outside of the dough with flour. Separate into 12 pieces (or in the case of yesterday, 11, since one went on the floor, which was not clean enough for the 5-second rule). Shape pieces into rolls, brush the top with some milk or butter (either is good) and let rise on the top of the stove for 30 minutes. Bake ABOUT 15 minutes in a 350-degree oven until tops are brown. YMMV on length of baking. Check after 10 minutes, then every minute or so after.

Cool, hide rolls from bread thieves until dinner, and serve with hamburgers or any sandwich filling of your choice.

PS. If you want to make these the old-fashioned way, try this. It's harder, but your family may love you more and be ever the more thankful. (Sure, get back to me on that)