If you’re feeding a crowd and want an easy way to serve burgers, here’s a great recipe for you! Two huge burgers, sliced like a pie, will yield twelve portions. The buns can be made a day or two ahead (or you can get them done really early and freeze them) so all you’ll need to do is cook those mammoth burgers and slice some veggies. Sweet, huh? You could even cook the burgers ahead and freeze them too; they’d be easy to warm up in the oven.
The Man thought this one up, of course. He’s the burger fan around here. Of course, he thought that each should be sliced into four pieces, not six, but he lost that battle. You know what’s really neat about this idea? The pieces are much easier to eat than a regular burger.
My apologies to Sir Mix-A-Lot for messing with his lyrics. Since we went to the same high school (he was a few years behind me) I know he’d be okay with this. (Okay, okay. Eight years. He’s eight years younger. Are you happy now? Sheesh.) Go, Roughriders!
I used a 10-inch cast iron round griddle for one of the buns and an 11-inch tart pan for the other. Cake pans would work fine too, but I wanted something with low sides so the buns would brown all the way down. Both worked like a charm. In a pinch, just lay your round dough on a parchment-covered baking sheet.
| I Like Big Buns (and I Cannot Lie) | Print |
- 4½ cups bread flour (possibly a little more)
- 1 package (about 2¼ teaspoons) instant yeast
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup milk
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup oil (I used peanut oil, but any mild-flavored cooking oil will work)
- 2 eggs, divided
- Sesame seeds
- Cornmeal (optional)
- Lightly grease two 10-11 inch round pans. Sprinkle with cornmeal if desired. (You may also use parchment instead of the grease.)
- Put 2 cups of the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. (A sturdy stand mixer with a paddle attachment is best.)
- In a small pot, heat the water, milk, sugar, and oil until very warm - 120-130 degrees. Pour into the bowl with the flour mixture, add one egg and one yolk (reserve the egg white for later) and beat until smooth.
- Switch to a dough hook and add enough remaining flour fto make the dough come cleanly away from the side of the bowl. Slightly sticky is good. Knead by machine for 5 minutes. If kneading by hand, place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 7 minutes.
- Place dough on floured surface, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
- Divide dough into two equal parts. Working with one at a time, flatten with your hand, then roll out into a 9-inch circle. Place in prepared pan and pat firmly to make sure it's evenly thick. Press around the outside edge to make it slope down to the pan (creating more of a dome shape).
- Cover with a towel and let the buns rise for 45 minutes. They won't double in size but will be puffy.
- Heat oven to 400 F.
- Add 1 teaspoon water to the egg white and whisk until foamy. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake buns for 15 minutes, or until the tops are rich, golden brown. Remove from oven and place pans on cooling racks for 5-10 minutes. Lift buns onto racks to continue cooling.
- Slice in half horizontally and fill as desired. (Note: if using the same size pans to cook burgers, use extra-lean meat to avoid shrinkage.)
Here’s what you’ll need for the buns.
The liquids need to be very warm (120-130 F). I don’t have a microwave, but you can use one instead of the stove!
Add liquids and eggs to flour mixture
Let dough rest, then roll into 9-inch circle and press onto greased pan
Let it rise and then brush lightly with egg whites
Sprinkle with sesame seeds
This one was done in a tart pan. (Recipe makes 2 buns.)
Press extra-lean meat firmly into pan. If using lean burger, make it in a bigger pan. (It’ll shrink. Ask me how I know.)
Top the bottom bun with a burger patty and whatever you like on your burgers. I used cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, mayo, and mustard.
SOMEone was very, very happy.
This is a very simple bread recipe and would be perfect for the 4th of July, barbecues, or football games. I might even make this again for Father’s Day and let The Man have one all to himself.
Grab a bib and dig in!
Lorinda