Hot Dog Buns

For whatever reason it is hard to find a good set of hot dog buns at the grocery stores nearby our apartment. Sometimes we have to settle for New England style buns (see photo here if you're not familiar) which, as intriguing as they may be, just don't do it for me. It was about time I tried making my own buns. So I came across this recipe from annies-eats.com. With the addition of our bagel bomb seasoning mix, this turned out to be a great batch of buns. 

Hot Dog Buns

Yield: 9 buns
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. sugar
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
¼ cup warm water (105-110˚ F)
1 cup warm milk
1 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
1 tsp. salt
3 cups all-purpose flour (aproximately)
1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water
Top with a mixture of: 

    Black Sesame Seeds, White Sesame Seeds, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and Poppy Seeds. 

Directions: 

In a standmixer bowl combine, sugar, yeast and warm water. Then add milk, oil, salt and 2 cups of flour. Mix on medium low with a dough hook, slowly adding flour until you get a tacky consistency where the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Keep adding flour until you achieve this consistency. In total you should have mixed for about 8 to 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Tacky not sticky. 

Spray or spread a bit of oil in the same bowl and replace dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk. About 1 hour. 

On a lightly oiled work surface, divide dough into 9 equal pieces. If you have a scale, each piece should be around 80 grams. Shape each piece into a ball first then roll into a cylinder 4 1/2 inches in length, flattening the tops a little. 

Please each bun on a cooking sheet prepared with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. I made the mistake of placing the buns too closely together, which created more of a New England style bun. Try placing buns about 1/2 inches away from each other side by side. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes. Ideally the buns will bump up against each other a bit during this final rise.  

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. After the buns have finished rising, brush the tops with the egg wash and then sprinkle the seasoning mix on top. 

Bake 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.