Homemade Hamburger Buns

I found the perfect homemade hamburger bun recipe! Yay! The buns turned out just the right texture - they have a nice chewy crust, which makes them easy to cut in half, and are soft and moist on the inside. These buns were perfect tonight with pulled pork for sandwiches. SO much better than store-bought hamburger buns, which can be kind of tasteless and spongy. The recipe is from Home Cooking with Sonya (though I did modify it slightly). Thanks Sonya!

Homemade Hamburger Buns

3 - 3 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast (I use SAF)
1 cup hot tap water
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg

In the bowl of a mixer combine 3 cups of bread flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Mix with a dough hook briefly just to distribute evenly. Add hot water, butter, and egg. Knead for a minute with dough hook. Add more flour as need to form a firm dough that pulls away from sides of bowl - for me I added another 1/4 cup of flour equaling 3 1/4 cups total. Knead with dough hook on high speed for 6 minutes. Turn out dough and form into a smooth ball. Place in a large greased bowl and cover with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot for 45 minutes - 1 hour or until doubled.

Punch down dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball and flatten the ball out with the palm of your hand - till it's about 3 inches across. Place on greased or parchment lined baking sheets (I use silpat liners). Cover with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45 minutes - 1 hour or until noticeably puffy.

Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 10-15 minutes (12 minutes for me) or until buns are golden on top and bottom. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter if desired. Cool buns on a wire rack.