You will never go back...

...once you try these homemade hamburger buns!    

It's no secret that I'm a bread machine addict.   For the longest time, everyone teased me about buying the $5 machines at a garage sale, using them until the motor ran out, and then hitting another garage sale (or Goodwill if it was winter) to get a replacement.   The Circus was where bread machines came to die, it seemed.

Until Christmas a few years ago.  My brother spoiled us with the most amazing bread machine that is still going strong....something like 5 years later!   I used to use this thing almost daily, and now probably use it 3 to 4 times a week (we don't eat as much bread as we used to).   It's a great machine!

Anyway, yesterday was a snow day, where we ended up getting about 2.5 feet of snow in a 24 hour period.    I'd planned and shopped for meals that didn't need electricity to be prepared, since there was a prediction of really strong winds that could easily cause power outages.   

That meant that snow day meals included this beast:

Why yes, that *is* an indoor charcoal grill!   Thank you for asking!  

When we looked at this house, I thought this contraption was one of the silliest things that I'd ever seen.  Who would want to grill *inside* their house and make it all stinky?

Ummm...I'm not going to tell you how many times we've used it in the last six months. 

That would be silly.

Anyway, last night's dinner was supposed to be burgers on the grill.   And the rascals were SUPER excited for a "summery" meal in the midst of a blizzard......so when I realized, just after cleaning up from lunch, that I'd forgotten to purchase hamburger BUNS for said burgers....there was quite a bit of disappointment happening at the Circus.

But then I remembered.......I had a bread machine recipe from this book for hamburger and hot dog buns!

So, we loaded the ingredients into the bread machine and prayed that the power stayed on (it did).  About two hours later, we were enjoying some of   the most amazing hamburger buns that we've ever had, if I do say so myself!   Here's the recipe for you to try out:

Whole Wheat Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns

(1.5 lb recipe)

1 cup water

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup sugar

3 tsp active dry yeast

Place all ingredients into the bread pan, select DOUGH setting, and press start.

When the dough has risen long enough, the machine will beep.  Turn off bread machine, remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a floured countertop or cutting board.   Gently roll and shape the dough into a 12-inch rope.

With a sharp knife, divide the dough into 8 pieces for hamburger buns, or 12 pieces for hot dog buns.

Grease a baking sheet.  Roll pieces of dough into balls and flatten for hamburger buns (flatten LIGHTLY) or shape into 6 inch rolls for hot dog buns.  Place on the prepared baking sheet.   Cover and let rise in a warm oven for 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled.  

Preheat oven to 400º.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool on racks.   When ready to use, split buns in half horizontally.   These will keep in a plastic bag in the freezer for 3 to 4 weeks.