Hamburger buns

Red Star "quick rise" yeast is great. I made a double batch of Betty Crocker recipe bread last week and the dough rose in record time. Of course, the whole point of baking bread is not to be in a hurry-- but I think the quick rise also gives better volume, and I had this fluffy bowl of dough in about an hour.

So much dough! But I divide it up and make small loaves for the freezer.
Back to hamburger buns. Making a good burger is the easy part on the grill or in a cast iron frying pan, but a good bun is another story. Even those expensive "premium" hamburger buns are too spongy and don't hold up to a homemade burger. A hamburger bun should be soft, but not that soft. And gnawing through a hard, crusty roll isn't any better.

So, I try and remember to shape a few sandwich rolls when I made white bread. I learned through trial and error to form them almost flat before the last rise. After baking, they'll have enough height to cut, but not be too thick to get your mouth around :-)

After they rise, just bake them on a cookie sheet along with the loaves.

Here they are-- golden brown and ready to slice in half.

Now, the hamburger. You can't go wrong with a skillet and fried onions on a dark fall night.

Toast the bun, a little ketchup and mustard...

And you have a bun that is tender and yeasty, but won't fall apart or squish flat in your hands. With baked beans and a few potato chips, we polished them off in a hurry.