Food For Friday: Homemade Bread Machine Wheat Buns

I came across this recipe for whole wheat buns here on Mom Advice and added them to my list of recipes to try.  I have shared in recent posts how I am trying to make more and more of our staples, partially so I know exactly what chemicals aren't in them, and I've brought my bread maker out of semi-retirement in the process.

We used these buns for the Chicken Parmesan Burgers I posted last week.  This recipe seemed easy and looked delicious and I've made the homemade buns twice now.  They are indeed both easy and delicious, and well worth the little bit of extra effort in my opinion.  They are lightly browned & toasted on the outside, but nice and soft on the inside, and not at all doughy....a perfect consistency.  They don't have a heavy wheat flavor and aren't dense, but the wheat flour does add a little extra flavor.  They make your house smell divine while they are baking.  The dough only takes a little over 2 hours in the breadmaker, so you can make them start to finish in less than 3 1/2 hours.  The ingredient list is simple and all of the items are things I already keep on hand.  Even if I don't decide until the afternoon that we want to grill out, they can still be warm & fresh for dinner.  They are now a staple in our house, especially during spring and summer grilling season!

The recipe says you can make both hotdog and hamburger buns, but I have not perfected the hotdog buns.  They seem trickier to me to get the shape right, and they want to break into 2 pieces when I slice them to put the hotdog or brat in.  The hamburger buns are no-fail though!

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening (can substitute with canola oil instead)
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons yeast (I use Fleischmann's Bread Machine Yeast)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in bread machine pan, select Dough setting, Wheat setting, Large loaf setting, and press start.  When dough is ready, the machine will beep.  Preheat oven to 150 degrees, then turn off.  Remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a floured countertop.

Gently roll and shape the dough into a 12-inch rope.  With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces for hamburger buns or 12 pieces for hot dog buns.  (For my last batch, I divided the dough in half and used half for 5 hamburger buns and half for 6 hot dog buns.)  I scored the dough to get the pieces even, then slid a cutting board under the dough to cut them.

Grease a baking sheet or use a Silpat mat like I did.  Roll pieces of dough into balls and flatten for hamburger buns or shape into 6-inch rolls for hot dog buns.  Place on prepared baking sheet.

Cover with a towel and let rise in warm oven 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled.  Remove from oven and preheat oven to 400° degrees.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool on racks.

When ready to use, split buns horizontally with a serrated knife.

*Extras will keep for several days in a Ziploc bag.  These will also keep in a Ziploc Freezer bag in the freezer for 3 to 4 weeks.