For the love of dinner: Hamburger Buns

I did a lot of cooking over the week end. And I think I am back in the game after a period of feeling unmotivated and uninspired in the kitchen.
It can be challenging to come up with something tasty to cook every single day!
Anyhow, one of the things I made were these delicious hamburger buns. I make these frequently now on week ends and freeze them for future meals during the week. With home made buns even something simple like Sloppy Jo's tastes that much better. It is quick and easy to put together the dough, but then there is the proofing and rising of the dough, it takes time. But while the dough is doing it's thing you can get a lot of other things done. Sometimes I make the dough and go to the gym! The point is that there is very little actual work that goes into making these, just a lot of waiting. I usually make these with all white flour, but replacing some with whole wheat made them even better in my opinion. The wait was well worth it!

As is often the case in my cooking life this was another Norwegian recipe that I have translated.

Ingredients:
2.5 deciliters milk (8.5 ounces) warmed to approximately 90 degrees.
1.5 deciliters water (5 ounces), warmed as above.
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 envelope dry yeast
150 grams (3/4 cups) whole wheat flour
400 grams (1 3/4 cups) all purpose flour
50 grams (1/2 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
Water for brushing tops
Sesame seeds (optional)

Preparation:
Add all the ingredients for the dough, except the butter, into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead dough on low speed 8-10 minutes (it should not stick to the sides of the bowl).
Add the butter and continue kneading on low to medium speed until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, another 10 minutes. Adjust with small amounts of flour if the dough seems sticky. Cover the bowl with a tight lid or plastic wrap and let it rise to almost double in size, 11/2 to 2 hours. Empty the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide into 10 pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball and transfer to a parchment covered baking sheet. Flatten each ball slightly with your hand. Cover with a dish towel and set aside to rise for a second time, about 1 hour, or to almost double in size.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
When the buns are ready to bake, brush tops gently with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds if using. Bake 14-16 minutes, depending on your oven. Buns should be lightly brown. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy immediately or cool completely and freeze in ziplock bags. To reheat: Defrost an hour on the counter top then heat 6-8 minutes in a 350 degree oven. They will be as fresh as the day you made them. Delicious!!