I had a need. I make my own hot links, hot dogs and bratwurst. I also make my own hot dog buns for them. However, my sausages have a lot of flavour. They could use a bun that adds to their strong taste. So, I decided to make buns that had more flavour and what gives a better flavour than cheese?
Please note, these are New England style buns and are meant to be cut downwards from the top. They are also really good if you grill or toast the straight sides before using.
I put the butter and water in a microwave proof measure and microwaved until the temperature was between 120 and 130 F.
I put the mixture and the rest of the ingredients into the bowl of my stand mixer and put the dough hook on. I turned it on and let it mix until the dough started to cling to the hook.
I continued mixing for 8 minutes. I formed the dough into a ball and greased the bowl. I put the dough in the bowl and turned it to coat. I covered the bowl and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. You know it is ready when two fingers pushed into the surface leave holes in the dough.
I cut the dough into 16 equal pieces. I put three pieces together and rolled them into one bun. I continued with the remaining pieces to make 5 buns and one small bun.
Put four buns against one edge of a greased 8 inch pan. Put the 5th across the end of three of the buns and the small bun in the corner.
Cover with a towel. Let the buns rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Near the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 350 F.
Brush the buns with melted butter and bake for about 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown and the internal temperature is over 200 F. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter.
The finished product!
I tried the small bun and then cooked up a hot link and gave it a try.
The Verdict
These were exactly what I was looking for. A nice substantial bun that has a hit of cheese and a hint of onion. They went great even against the heat of a Hot Link!
The Old Fat Guy
Ingredients
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) water
- 45 ml (1/4 cup) butter
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 500 ml (2 cups) all purpose flour (297 grams or 8 1/2 ounces)
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) sugar
- 25 grams (0.9 ounces) grated cheddar (125 ml or 1/2 cup)
- 4 ml (3/4 teaspoon) salt
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) onion powder
- 12 ml (2 1/2 teaspoon) quick rising yeast
Instructions
- Put the butter and water in a microwave safe container. Cook until the water is warm, 120 to 130 F. The butter will not be fully melted.
- Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Mix until the dough starts to cling to the dough hook.
- Knead with the dough hook for 8 minutes
- Form the dough into a ball. Grease the bowl and put the ball in the bowl, turning it over.
- Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Cut the dough into 16 pieces. Using three pieces each, form 5 long buns with one small bun left over.
- Put four buns against one edge of a greased 8 inch square cake pan. Place the fifth long bun across the ends of three of these and the small bun in the empty corner.
- Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about one hour. Near the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 350 F.
- Brush the buns with melted butter.
- Bake for about 18 to 22 minutes until golden brown and the internal temperature of the buns is over 200 F.
- Brush the tops of the cooked buns with melted butter.
2 Responses
Oh!! My!! This is brilliant David. A must try for my homemade sausage. Post coming soon!!!
That does sound good! I look forward to it!