Speaking of easy...and fast: 40-minute Hamburger Buns

[hippywife]

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/40-minute-hamburger-buns/

I've made these a few times, and you have to try really hard to mess these up. They're fast because you don't do a first rise, and yes, 2 TBS of ADY is correct, not a typo. We don't eat white bread, so I sub in whole wheat for half of the flour. I use my stand mixer with paddle attachment, and last night I could not put my hands on my dough hook for kneading. So, once it was all together, I turned up the mixer speed for a few minutes.

It's a sticky dough, so I dampened my hands and just started rolling the dough out in balls (since I wanted dinner rolls and not buns), put them on an aluminum pie sheet left from frozen pie. Let them rise the prescribed 10 mins., then baked. Buttered the tops of the finished rolls and sprinkled with sea salt. Turned out great!

[cilla4progress]

1. Thanks!

Will use, I'm sure!

[hippywife]

2. You're welcome.

It is quite a handy recipe when you either don't have time to throw together a longer fermenting dough.

[cilla4progress]

3. I have a bread recipe like this -

Artisan free form loaf.

I sub in whole wheat, too!

[hippywife]

4. Yeah...

I've been making the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes master boule recipe for eons. I always sub in wheat flour and sometimes bread flour with some semolina. Great way to have bread dough ready to bake any time you need it. The last bit of it is good for pizza crust since it's been sitting in the fridge a week or more and taking on a nice sourdough tang.

[cilla4progress]

5. Hadn't noticed

the tang!

I don't get how these recipes were able to arise (pun) without all the kneading and rising like I did back in my hippie college days?

Extra yeast?

[hippywife]

6. My guess is it's

the longer fermentation times. There's just a tad extra yeast. A package of yeast is 2 1/4 t, where the master boule recipe is 1 T., only 3/4 tsp. more.

Could be both.

[cilla4progress]

7. Cool

Thanks! Fun!

[cilla4progress]

8. Question for you?

I refrigerate and/or freeze my yeast.

Will that affect it?

Thanks!

[Warpy]

10. Dry yeast? Nope, except it can last a lot longer

I've had dry yeast that's over 5 years old give me good results and I've always kept it refrigerated. I don't think I'd freeze it, though, the yeast organisms are dormant, not dead, and freezing might kill them off.

The brand that lasted so long was Red Star, sold in bulk in most good health food stores. I just stored it in the little baggie it came in, nothing special.

[cilla4progress]

11. Thanks,

Warpy!

[NJCher]

15. yeah, thanks Warpy

I don't bake, so when the RG bought all kinds of yeast during the pandemic and then went off traveling, I put it in the freezer. Then I started worrying whether it would be any good. It's Red Star, too!

[spinbaby]

17. I keep yeast in the freezer

I buy the instant dry yeast by the pound and keep it in the freezer. A pound lasts me a couple of years and it works just fine.

[Warpy]

19. I use the sponge method, so just a pinch of yeast

into a bowl of goo does just fine. It sits overnight (or longer in the fridge) and the bread is finished the next day. I prefer the flavor to bread started in the morning and baked later in the day, the yeast really has a chance to develop overnight.

The "no knead" recipes are a variation on this method, the sponge using much more flour, but the flavor is also excellent.

I used to get fancy when I was younger, but these days it's just flour, water, yeast and salt.

[hippywife]

12. Just as Warpy says.

I keep my yeast refrigerated in a jar, and a large bag of it in the freezer to refill it, as needed. Here's a good guide from King Arthur Baking about yeast:

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/yeast

[cilla4progress]

14. Thanks!

...

[Warpy]

9. Thanks. I've never found a decent burger roll recipe except one using brioche dough

Those were good, but fussy. I'll probably have to fiddle with these a bit since I live so far up in the mountains, but they look pretty easy.

[hippywife]

13. They are very easy.

Does this guide to high altitude baking from King Arthur help you any?:

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking

[NJCher]

16. it does look easy

got it bookmarked for the next time I need rolls.

[Callalily]

18. Yum. Nothing like homemade buns.

I'll forward this recipe to my SO. I taught him how to bake bread during 1st year of pandemic when we were all quarantined. He was bored and needed something to do. At first he was reluctant, but I said "if you can read, you can bake". Now he's taken over all the bread, naan, rolls, etc. baking!