Fresh Baked Hamburger Buns - With Garlic, Parmesan Chipotle spice

Greetings from Beautiful South Dakota...


Have you been keeping up?  Three days ago, I woke up in St Thomas, 2 days ago I woke up in Kansas City, Yesterday we started the long drive to South Dakota, and today I am waking up in the land of Great Places, Great Faces (They do love Mount Rushmore here).  and three days from now, we will wake up back in St Thomas... What a world!


I must be getting introspective, but South Dakota has never looked better.  Deep blue skies, and the greenest prairie grass you have ever seen.  The bluffs and flatland, farms and ranches...  My wife's family hails from the central part, near Chamberlain.  Last night we went to a cousin's daughter's wedding (when do you reach an age when it is always the daughter of a family member and not friends and contemporaries getting married?  But I digress...).  It was an out door reception, overlooking the Missouri River.  Just spectacular.


But, I digress from my foodie post.  I am going to start posting recipes from my quickie BBQ party we had on our night in Kansas City.  See yesterday's post...BBQ update.


And start with a real crowd pleaser... My own fresh baked hamburger buns.


I have blogged this recipe in the past.  These are the famous Moomie Buns.  Go ahead and google the name, "Moomie Buns".  Hundreds of thousands of internet posting links.  And for good reason.  The basic recipe is plain and simple, a no fail.  Always tasty, easy and everyone is amazed.  But with just a bit of tweaking, you can really make the basics shine...


But before I get to the recipe, a little insight.  Since Christmas, I have not bought any commercial bread.  No wonder bread, no bagels, not even crackers.  I have eaten restaurant bread and happily ate what was served me at friends and family homes.  But, at my house, I bake all my own.  Partly for quality control, partly out of a sense of pride and partly because of the high cost of processed foods in the Virgin Islands, baking day once or twice a week is just habit now.


In the island, I knead and mix my own dough.  I really don't mind.  In Kansas City, I have a bread machine and a Kitchenaid mixer.  I now hove perspective on some of the labor saving devices...


Use the bread machine to mix the dough.


Honest, 5 minutes to assemble the ingredients, turn the machine on, 5 minutes to separate the dough into balls to form the buns and you are done.  If you don't have a machine, every goodwill in the country has them for $10.  Now, personally, I have not found a good recipe for bread actually baked in the machine, but for ease of mixing and kneading, at least for this recipe... Get a bread machine.


Here's the original recipe...

� 1 c water 
� 2 tbsp butter or margarine 
� 1 egg 
� 3 1/4 c. flour 
� 1/4 c. sugar 
� 1 tsp salt 
� 3 tsp instant yeast 

� Place all ingredients in your bread machine. Select dough. Allow to run cycle.  

� Dump out onto lightly floured surface. Divide into 8 pieces. With each piece, slap into a bun shape. Usually 4 or 5 slaps will do it. Place on greased cookie sheets or your bun pans, cover; rise about 30 to 40 minutes. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes til golden. Cool on wire racks. 

The recipe above is the "classic" Moomie recipe (I believe, as it is the one I see reprinted most of the time). The site I found that might be the original Moomie site (clouded in mystery, it is rumored she raises goats, so I like this legend and chose not to delve deeper... But I am digressing again).

Master Baker that I am, I made a few changes...

The kneading has already been done in the machine, so do not over knead.


OK, once you have the buns on parchment paper (I always bake on parchment paper when I can, easy clean), but before you allow the second rise, take a beaten egg and brush the buns to coat.  This will allow the extra toppings to stick.  I like to kick my buns up a notch, and add to the look.  I sprinkle on some grated Parmesan Cheese, some Minced Garlic and just a small sprinkling of Chipotle Spice (substitute Paprika if you don't want the extra spice, but like the look).


Allow the buns to rise for the second time, 30 to 40 minutes (NO LONGER), bake as directed...

I had plenty of time to make 3 batches, 24 buns and still cook ... We had 6 racks of ribs, 5 pounds of Potato Salad, Some incredible Smoked beans, 6 pounds of sausage stuffed Pork loin, Cole Slawand a Caribbean Carrot Cake, washed down with 3 different types of Rum drinks and the most amazing 15 plus pounds of Raspberry Chipotle Carolina style Pulled Pork...




Comeback tomorrow for another recipe from our quickie journey back to my Kansas Kitchen...