Hamburger Buns in 40 minutes … that’s what the recipe says!

YES, THIS IS A 40 MINUTE RECIPE!
You will never catch me with store bought hamburger buns ever again!
I used my KitchenAid stand mixer to mix and knead the dough.

Yep, sesame seed hamburger buns in 40 minutes!

Hamburger bun topped with shredded cheese, a blend of Monterey Jack salsa, Monterey Jack with jalapeno peppers and cheddar.

Onion topped hamburger bun.

40-Minute Hamburger Buns
adapted from a recipe from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water – 110° to 115°    (I did use an instant read thermometer to confirm temperature.)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg   (I like to use egg at room temperature.)

1 teaspoon salt

3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour   (used almost the full 3 and 1/2 cups.)

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  (I used my KitchenAid mixer, so I put yeast and warm water in the mixing bowl.)  Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes.  Add the egg, salt  and enough flour to form a soft dough.  (Put the paddle attachment on your mixer.  Add flour and mix on a lower speed until you form a soft dough.  The dough will be a bit soft and sticky.)

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes.   (Remove the paddle attachment.  Scrape any dough off the paddle and return to the mixing bowl.  Attach the bread hook and let the machine knead, low to medium low speed, the dough for 4 to 5 minutes.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead slightly by hand, adding small amounts of flour to make the dough less sticky to work with.)

It is not necessary to let the dough rise.  Divide into 12 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 3 inches apart on greased baking sheets.   (If you divide the dough into 12 pieces you will have very small buns.  I weighed out 4.5 to 4.75 ounce portions and got 7  good-sized hamburger buns.  It is important to leave a good amount of space between the buns on the baking sheet as they do spread and raise while baking.  I lined the baking sheets with parchment paper and sprayed with Pam, flour added, cooking spray.)     Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.  (Once I had formed the dough balls and placed on the baking sheet, I covered with a clean kitchen towel for 10 minutes.  Just before baking I brushed the tops of the dough balls with an eggwash.  At this time, I added the sesame seeds, shredded cheese or the onion topping.)

Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.   (The larger buns took about 13 to 15 minutes to bake.)  Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 1 dozen.  (Debbie got 7 good-sized buns.)

DEBBIE’S ONION TOPPING FOR HAMBURGER BUNS:  For the life of me, I could not find any info on how to make the onion topping for the buns like I see in the grocery store bakery.  You know … those sticky, soft, slightly sweet onion pieces baked into the tops of the buns.   After much thought, I decided to use Lipton Onion soup mix in the packets.  I shook the packet to distribute the dried onions and the seasoning as evenly as possible.  Measure out about 3 tablespoons of the onion soup mixture and add just enough really hot water to reconstitute the onions.  Let the onion mixture soak in the water while you make the dough.  When you are ready to top the hamburger bun, brush it with egg wash.  Squeeze out any excess water from the onion mixture.  I put the onion mixture between paper towels and pressed to extract the extra liquid.   Sprinkle the onions on top of the buns and bake according to the directions above.

Hand shaped dough balls ready to be covered and left to rest for 10 minutes.

Dough balls that have rested for 10 minutes, been brushed with an egg wash and then topped with onions. Ready to bake.

Hamburger buns for the cook-out.

Buns ready ... burgers on the grill!

40 minute hamburger buns.

The 40 minute hamburger buns lasted about 20 minutes!