~ "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; Through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." ~ "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" ~ "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." ~ "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."~

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Lighter Brioche Hamburger Buns...with Caramelized Onions and Sesame




Brioche Hamburger Buns...with Caramelized Onions and Sesame. I've been wanting to make some Brioche buns for some time now... ever since I've seen it on so many sites. Yet, I didn't have the guts to use the high amount of butter and eggs usually called for in a brioche dough. But recently I was craving hamburgers for some reason... maybe it's because the warmer months are here... or maybe because I haven't had a hamburger in ages:). I still wanted to make the "ultimate burger" using brioche buns, so I looked at this recipe for inspiration and proceeded to make my "lighter" brioche dough.
When working with the brioche dough, it is good to keep in mind that the dough is a bit "stickier" than other normal bread doughs. It is best to resist adding too much flour or the brioche will become tough. I found these brioche buns extremely light and fluffy...and oh, so pillowy-soft. And the bun tasted so good... just by itself, no need for a hamburger:). All kidding aside, I am still planning on making the burgers ...made the burgers and they were amazing! Definitely worth making the brioche hamburger buns from scratch. They are now my new favorite hamburger bun. Hope you enjoy...

Note: While I added some caramelized onions as a topping to some of the burger buns, it is totally optional. But, I do like to keep caramelized onions in small batches in the freezer... for things like this.

You will need:
2/3 cup warm milk
1/3 cup warm water
3 TBS honey
2 ex-large eggs, room temp.
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 cups bread flour(+ more, if needed)
1 cup white whole wheat flour*
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 TBS unsalted butter, softened
*you can use regular bread flour

Topping:
1 egg yolk, for brushing( you can mix the yolk with a bit of water, if you like)
caramelized onions
sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a mixer add the flours(3 cups first), yeast and the salt. Whisk to combine and add the sliced soft butter.

2. In a glass measuring cup, combine milk, warm water, eggs and honey. Whisk to combine and add it all to the dry ingredients.
3. Place a kneading hook and turn on mixer. Mix on low scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the flour. Increase the speed to medium. Knead for 8 minutes...the dough should be tacky and look pretty sticky. If you feel the dough is sticking to the sides too much add 1 TBS of flour at a time until the dough gathers around the hook and slaps around the sides of the bowl. It may still stick a bit to the sides, but not overly. Don't be tempted to add too much flour or the buns will be dry.~ I probably added another couple of tablespoonfuls of extra flour.

4. Continue kneading for an additional 2 more minutes... for a total of 10 minutes.

5. Scrape the sticky dough that clings to the sides of the mixer bowl and then form all of the dough in a ball. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until at least doubled in bulk and is nice and puffy... 1 to 2 hours.
6. Plop the soft dough unto a floured countertop... sprinkle a bit of flour on top as well. Using a dough scraper, divide dough into 8-10 equal parts( or in my case, just grab a lemon size piece of dough). With floured hands form balls and place on lightly oiled parchment-lined baking sheet. Arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet as they will rise some more.

7. Flatten the balls down a bit( to about 1 1/2-2 inches or so) and brush with egg yolk. Add caramelized onions and/or sesame seeds. Cover loosely( with oiled plastic wrap) and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours... or until nicely puffed.
8. Pre-heat oven to 400 deg. F with rack in center. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 10-15 minutes(depending on the size of the bread buns...mine took about 11 minutes.)
















Transfer to a rack to cool completely and freeze, if desired.

13 comments:

Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

Ellie these buns look amazing! I am in love with the onion topping, what a great idea to keep caramelized onions in the freezer - you never know when you'll need those amber beauties! I'm bookmarking this one - as I do with all your recipes! - homemade buns make boring old burgers so special :) Thanks for posting this one. I love your blog and your recipes, every single one I've tried (and that's more than a few!) have been perfect in technique as well as flavor. Keep up the great work!

Mihaela said...

Ellie, I like the idea of keeping caramelized onions in the freezer, they are so good, and lately I use them in salads. The brioche buns looks so fluffy and tasty, I wish I'll be in making bread mood, but that mood will come soon :)

Ellie said...

Andrea, Awwww... THANK YOU so much for your very, very sweet comment! Your encouragement means a TON! You simply made my day...I am thrilled that you love the blog.
There's no turning back to buying hamburger buns:)! As these brioche buns will make any hamburger special:)....and yes, the caramelized onions do add an extra touch. Thanks for stopping by...I really appreciate it.

Mihaela, I've made caramelized onions in bigger batches before( using a crockpot)...and sometimes I l don't necessarily use it all. I thought of freezing them and I like to use it for breads and soups. Though I would probably prefer making them fresh if I would use it on salads. But in any case, it added a bunch of flavor to the brioche buns. Have a great weekend...and thanks for stopping by:).

Katie said...

This dough looks sticky, do you think it would be difficult to knead with your hands. I don't have a mixer.

Speranta said...

Ellie,ce frumos arata ,sunt impresionata .Imi plac tare mult retetele tale!

Iti doresc multa sanatate si toate cele bune !

Georgie said...

Wow, Ellie those are beautiful and sounds so delicious. Is there anything that caramelized onions don't elevate to a whole new level?
I think not!

Heehee NICE BUNS ELLIE!

Georgie

Ellie said...

Katie, You know, I haven't made it without the mixer. But having said, I think it is still doable. Sure, it can stick to your hands, but maybe you can probably oil your hands and counter or simply add a bit more flour as you work with it. Also, maybe you can add less of the flour( half of the amount or so)...beat the "batter" with a mixer for a few minutes and then use your hands and add the rest of the flour and knead it some more. These are just some thoughts and ideas....but in the olden days mixers weren't an option and everything was done by hand:). It's worth giving it a shot... just remember that you may need to knead it more than 10 minutes. Hope that helps.

Speranta, Multumesc foarte mult! Iti doresc o zi minunata:)!

Georgie, It is good to hear from you:)! Thanks for stopping by...am so glad you like the buns...but you are so right, when you add caramelized onions to anything, it totally brings it up a notch.
We LOVED these rolls!
Have a great day!

Shaheen said...

Your brioche buns are fab. I'm not a good baker, so will just have to admire them from afar.

Ellie said...

Shaheen, Thank you! Sweet of you to stop by and take the time to write. I really appreciate it. But you know, I too felt the same way as you ...never thought I could bake...let alone bread. With practice and determination it really does get better over time. I am hoping you will try it one day:)

Christy said...

Just found your blog and I love....looooove...loooooove it! It's been awhile since Iv'e run across something I'm determined to go back and read every single post...and now...I'm off...just as soon as I add this recipe to my to do list (just tried out your cheese crackers...amazing).

Ellie said...

Christy Aww... so very sweet of you! Thank you for your kind comment. It means a TON! And welcome to my bIog:)...I am hoping you will enjoy at least one or two of the recipes I posted. Lots of them can be tweaked to your liking...
But I am so glad you liked the cheese crackers... am hoping you will like the brioche as well.
Have a great day...and thanks for stopping by!

Unknown said...

Just made these and had to let you know they are the moistest, softest (burger) buns I have ever made! Gooey when I was making the individual buns but I just wet my hands as I rolled them into shape which eliminated them sticking to my hands (what a mess that was). I didn't want to add more flour because that generally makes them drier and a little tougher! By far the best! Thanks for posting! And I used this recipe in my bread maker, dough setting. My order of placing ingredients was yeast, water/milk and honey..... let sit for about ten minutes to make sure the yeast is still good. Then I put in the 2 cps flour, salt and egg /butter mixture on top of the flour and turned on my machine which started mixing. After about a minute or so, I added the remaining flour and voila! I always stop my bread maker when the dough has doubled instead of using the preset timer because so frequently if I go the full time allotment my dough over proofs and falls in the bread maker. Anyways... this recipe is a keeper!

Ellie said...

Sandra, I am so thrilled to hear you tried one of my very favorite recipes:)... and loved the result:). Thank you so very much for taking the time to stop by and share your feedback. It always makes my day to hear of those trying out a recipe I post... and consider the recipe a keeper.

By the sound of your feedback, I can see you are experienced in bread baking:)... so glad you didn't add extra flour but rather used wet hands to form and shape the rolls. Yes, I agree, it may seem a bit messy... but the end result is worth it:)!

Thanks also for sharing the bread machine steps... it will be of much help to those with a bread machine.

Again, thanks for stopping by... I really appreciate it!