Sourdough Hamburger Buns

I have tried to make sourdough hamburger buns with different wheat flours , including red hard wheat, einkorn and spelt and they have always turned out good, but dense. I finally caved and made these with an organic, all purpose flour like the recipe states and they were delicious, of course! They may not pack the nutrients like a whole wheat flour would, but they are still really good and made with a high quality flour so I’ll call that a win for now! Here is the original recipe. I didn’t change any ingredients so if you would like a more thorough description, head on over to littlespoonfarm.com. Her recipes are fantastic! I hope you enjoy!

Sourdough Hamburger Buns (makes 12 buns, can be halved to make 6 buns)

Ingredients

• 100 grams active sourdough starter
• 720 grams all-purpose flour
• 480 grams water
• 60 grams honey
• 20 grams sea salt
• 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
• Optional: sesame seeds for topping

Directions

Add active starter, water, flour, honey and salt to a large bowl or straight sided vessel. Mix well until a shaggy dough forms and all ingredients are well combined.

Let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Perform 3 stretch and folds in 15-30 minute increments. To do a stretch and fold, flour hands and then basically, you will be shaping the dough back into a ball. Stretch and pull on one side of the dough and place on top of the dough ball, then repeat by turning your bowl, and pulling out another portion of dough and laying on the dough ball. Repeat until you have done all sides (about 4-6 times) and you have a better shaped ball of dough. Wait 15-30 minutes and repeat. Do this 3 times.

After your stretch and folds are complete, let rise for the first rise on your kitchen counter. You will let this rise until doubled or about 6 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen..

(After this first rise is done and your dough is doubled, you can place dough in the fridge for up to 2 days to bake them later or continue onto the second rise as described below.)

Place dough ball on a floured surface and gently pull out all four corners of the dough. Then fold over and shape into a ball.

Divide into 12 equal portions. They will be about 115 grams each.

With floured hands, work each portion into a ball, one at a time, pulling a little dough out from each side and tucking it under to form a little bun sized ball. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with all 12 dough balls.

Let sit covered with a light tea towel for 1-2 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Crack egg into a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon water. Mix well until egg is completely broken.

Lightly brush each dough ball/bun with the egg wash and top with sesame seeds.

Bake for 25 minutes or unit golden brown.

Let cool before slicing.

These can be frozen and thawed when ready to use or eaten when cool.

Enjoy!!

ALSO, with sourdough, dough can be placed in the refrigerator at any time to make your timing turn out right. This way, you don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night, or bring your dough to carpool line! The refrigerator will cause it to sleep slightly. After taking out of fridge, you’ll just need to let it get back to room temperature and watch for doubling of the dough and readiness/bubbles more so than time because it will take more time to double while it gets to room temperature.