The original recipe is from The Set for Life cookbook.  I did it a little differently and they turned out very good. And remember I always use King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat flour because it is so good and I don’t mill my own *yet* and I want my family to eat whole wheat.

The Recipe:

5-6 cups of whole wheat flour

2 T dry yeast

1/3 cup of nonfat dry milk

2 cups of warm water (120 to 130 degrees)

1/4 cup of oil

2 T honey

2 eggs

2 t salt, scant

1 egg white

1 T water

Sesame seeds (optional)

Mix water and yeast and allow yeast to “proof” for 5 minutes.  (I always do this no matter what the original recipe says).  Add oil, honey, eggs, salt and nonfat dry milk.  Turn on mixer.   Add remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough just cleans the sides of the bowl.  Dough should not be too stiff.  Knead 5 to 6 minutes.  I use my Kitchen Aid mixer.  I add flour and then allow it to mix.  I pinch the dough and test the stickiness.  If it is sticky I add more flour – 1/2 cup at a time.  Once it is not too sticky I set the mixer on “2” and set the timer for 6 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly oil hands and countertop.  Shape dough into hamburger, hot dog or hoagie buns, using approximately 1/4 cup dough for each.  Place on lightly greased baking sheets.  Brush buns with egg-water mix.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.  Let rise 20-30 minutes for buns.

There are several ways to shape hamburger buns.

I have done it two ways:

1.  Pinch off a small handful of dough and tuck ends under and roll it into a ball.  Then smash lightly with your hand.  Once all dough is on the pan, use another pan to “smash” the buns down while they are rising for the 20-30 minutes and then bake.

2.  Roll out the dough to about 3/8 inch thick and use a large cookie cutter to cut into rounds.

I did both with this batch just to see what I like better and I think number 1 takes less time.

Bake at 350 degrees for 16 to 20 minutes.

*I will tell you that while I was making these my husband said, “Gretchen, we could just go buy hamburger buns.”  Well, after I was done I took a black bean burger out of the freezer.  I had made these previously and my husband thought they were just “okay”.  I just took out one and heated it up for me figuring he would not want one.  Well, he thought they smelled good so he wanted a bite.  He loved them.  I reminded him he didn’t like them last time and he said, “I don’t know maybe it is the homemade buns that make them so good.”  I then heated up 2 for him and I put cheese, mayo and some pickles on them and he gobbled them up.

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