100% Whole Wheat Eggless Burger Buns

Burgers are a favorite in my house as soon as they temperature begins to rise. They are quick to put together and can be cooked outside. Summers are too nice to spend the time indoors. This year just as the temperatures began to go up in early March Mother Nature decided to hit us with three winter storms in a week. The snow, ice, schools were closed and everything was a mess. We were waiting for the temperature to go up again. As soon as it did I celebrated with burgers. While the burger patti is a post for another day I am posting the burger buns today.

I found baking in warmer weather a pleasure. The dough is easier to work with and it rises a lot quicker too. It is amazing how everything living responds immediately to warmer temperatures.

I have two burger buns recipes on this space. The first is a sourdough burger bun and the second is a regular burger bun. These buns are made with 100% whole wheat flour and are eggless. I used flaxseed instead. The recipe is very similar to the regular bun except for the use of a different flour.

For the buns (for 8 buns)
500 gm whole wheat flour
3 tsp. yeast
50 gm sugar
2 scant tsp. salt
1 tbsp. ground flax seed + 3 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1 1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. butter, melted for brushing
sesame seeds for topping (optional)

Grind the flax seed to a fine powder. In a bowl add the ground flax seed to the water and let it rest for a few minutes. Meanwhile sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Mix in the other dry ingredients. Now add the flax seed mixture and melted butter. Add the water and form into a soft dough. Knead until the  dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and keep aside until it is doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. I halved the recipe and got 4 portions. Gently fold over dough from all sides to the center. Pinch closed. Roll on a floured work surface with pinched side down. Cupping the dough with your finger pull towards you to create some tension in the surface. Place the shaped bun on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Repeat for the other portions. Using a plate or bowl gently flatten each bun.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise another 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 F.

Brush the tops with half the butter reserved for brushing. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top if you like. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven and brush again with remaining butter.

Use as needed to make burgers.

Croissant

Croissants are made with a super enriched dough. This is one bread I wanted to try for a very long time but never felt like I was ready. It takes a long time to prep, took me 24 hours from time I fed the starter to the time they were baked and ready. The outer crust is crisp but the inner layers are soft. It is this sinful soft flaky goodness that made me want to try the croissants.

The bread dough is enriched using a lamination technique. A layer of butter is sandwiched in the layers of dough. The dough is rolled and folded over and over again. The resultant dough has very thin alternating layers of dough and butter. This process converts the bread dough into a flaky pastry dough.

Lamination, done right, results in a soft mesh on the inside of the croissant. While I was able to get some of that effect towards the ends of the croissant the middle is far from perfect. But given how rich the dough for this recipe is I will give it a few months before I attempt the croissant again.

I used the Tartine recipe from the book Tartine bread by Chad Roberston. I had heard from fellow artisan bakers that his formula results in a very flavorful croissant. I have to say the flavor of the bread was awesome. My daughter had it for breakfast over several days and the flavor did not diminish at all. For the exact recipe refer to the book. The recipe is heavy on butter but I rarely bake dishes that are rich. And I wanted to try to replicate the authentic recipe so I went all out. My daughter sure thought it was worth it. For about a 1000 gm of dry and wet ingredients I used about 200 gm of butter. Here is how I did it.

In a large mixing bowl put together all the wet ingredients - fed starter, the poolish and milk.

Add the dry ingredients - flour, yeast, salt and sugar.

Combine to form a soft dough. Stretch and fold over an hour and a half. Keep aside for the bulk fermentation for a few hours.

Using a pastry cutter combine the cold butter with the remaining flour. Until it has the consistency of the flour. Refrigerate.

Roll the dough on a floured working surface.

Place the chilled butter / flour slab over the dough.

Fold the dough over the butter on both sides.

You will have a long rectangle.

Roll it out into a long rectangle in the opposite direction as the folds.

Fold one side over the top.

Then fold the other side. Place it on a parchment paper in a baking sheet and refrigerate for an hour.

Take it out of the refrigerator and roll it out into a rectangle in a floured work surface.

Fold one side over the top.

Fold the other side.

Refrigerate overnight.

Transfer the dough to a floured working surface.

Roll it out thin to about a half inch. Cut into triangles as shown below.

Roll up the triangles starting from the wide end.

Repeat for all the triangles.

Let then rest for another two hours to almost double in size. Brush with cream and egg wash. I skipped the eggs and used just the cream.

Bake in a 425 F preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until brown and flaky.

Enjoy!

Burger Buns

I have the perfect recipe for sourdough or homemade wild yeast burger buns here. But those buns need advance planning and sometimes you want to get the burgers ready in a couple of hours. Those are the times when this recipe is perfect.

The buns are light and fluffy and just the right size for your burger patti. This recipe makes eight buns. You can double or half the ingredients if you want more or less. I halved the recipe and made four buns. If you half the recipe always reduce water by a little more than half so the dough does not become wet. The way you would do this would be to reduce water by half and reserve a tablespoon or two of the reduced amount. Use this reserved amount only if needed.

For the buns (for four buns)
500 gm flour
3 tsp. yeast
50 gm sugar
2 scant tsp. salt
1 egg
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1 1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. butter, melted for brushing
sesame seeds for topping (optional)

To make the buns sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Mix in the other dry ingredients. Add the egg and melted butter. Add the water and form into a soft dough. Knead until the  dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and keep aside until it is doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. I halved the recipe and got 4 portions.

Gently fold over dough from all sides to the center. Pinch closed. Roll on a floured work surface with pinched side down. Cupping the dough with your finger pull towards you to create some tension in the surface. Place the shaped bun on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Repeat for the other portions. Using a plate or bowl gently flatten each bun.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise another 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 F.

Brush the tops with half the butter reserved for brushing. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top if you like. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven and brush again with remaining butter.

Use as needed to make burgers.

Bread Bowls

Bread bowls filled with soup is a something I have always wanted to make at home. These buns are quick and easy to make. They make great bread bowls for your favorite soup. I served it with broccoli cheddar soup.

This recipe uses what I would consider the optimum amount of yeast. It rises very quickly. I would like to try a slow risen sourdough version but since the soup soaked bread is flavored with the soup these quick risen buns tasted great too.

You will need
3/4 cups warm water
1 tbsp. instant yeast
1/2 tbs. sugar
1 3/4 cups bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a mixing bowl combine the yeast, sugar and water. Sift in the flour and salt.

Form a soft dough and knead it until it is smooth and elastic, about 5-7 minutes.

Cover and keep aside for about 45 minutes. The dough should have risen to twice its volume.

Preheat the oven to 475 F. Transfer the risen dough to a floured board and divide it into 4 portions of just over 100 gm each. Work with one portion of dough. Fold in the sides to the center and pinch together. Roll the ball with the seam side down on the board until smooth. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Repeat for the other portions. Score the top. Dip you hand in a bowl of water and touch the surface of each bun. Keep aside for about 15 minutes.

Bake the buns for 2 minutes at 475 F. Remove and touch again with a wet hand. Reduce the temperature to 425 F and bake for 7-10 minutes or until done.

Cut the top holding the knife vertically downward. Pull the cut piece out. Fill with soup and serve.

Stuffed Sourdough Bun

These buns are almost identical to the sourdough buns I had posted earlier. In fact from the outside you may think it was the exact same recipe. But there is a difference.

The difference is they are stuffed with a paneer tomato mixture that makes them perfect food on the go. They taste best hot out of the oven but the savory filling makes them perfect even when cold. I made these to munch on when we drove around for college visits.

These buns were on my wishlist for a very long time. However, the original recipe did not use a vegetable filling and the buns were made with commercial yeast. The slow fermented dough and long proofing makes these sourdough bun very flavorful. It has the classic paper thin crust with the soft crumb. Inside the bun is the hidden savory surprise.

The tomato and paneer filling is flavored by cumin, turmeric, paprika and dried basil. Simple ingredients, complex flavors. Thyme or sage could be good substitutions if you don't have basil.

You will need
For the buns use the sourdough buns recipe

For the filling
14 oz. paneer
2 medium tomatoes
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. paprika (adjust quantity to taste)
salt

Prepare paneer if using homemade and keep aside. Follow the sourdough buns recipe. In the last hour of fermentation prepare the filling. Dice the tomatoes and paneer. Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When they sizzle add the turmeric powder and 10 seconds later add the paneer and tomatoes.

Let the mixture cook in its juices for about 5 minutes on medium high heat. Add salt and cook until the mixture is fairly dry.

Turn down the heat. Add basil and paprika. Mix well and let it cook for a few more minutes before taking it off the heat. The mixture should be dry. Let it cool down completely.

Divide the dough as per instructions. I cut each portion about 75-80 gm and got 12 buns. Take one portion of dough and flatten it slightly in the palm of your hand without allowing the gases to escape. Spoon in a 12th of the filling.

Close the dough over the top and and shape into a bun as per the bun instructions.

Repeat for all the portions.

Bake as per directions for sourdough buns.

Enjoy!