For my dad’s birthday last year, we went to Madrid to celebrate with his side of the family. My dad’s brother took care of the food and bought the most amazing burgers I have ever tasted. Seriously. The meat was delicious! I had one and a half burgers and I would have eaten a lot more if I could.

So when we went back to Madrid for Christmas, my mom and I went to the market to buy some burgers for ourselves. They’ve been in the freezer until last weekend, because of my wisdom teeth. Yes, I realize I’ve told you many times about it, but it’s because it hurt. A lot. Especially the second time around, it’s been three weeks already and sometimes I still wake up with it hurting!

Anyway, I’ll stop complaining. Obviously the best-burgers-ever deserved the best-homemade-bun-ever. After stalking Foodgawker for a while, I found a recipe for THE hamburger bun. It looked delicious, and best of all, not at all difficult to make. I’ve never had a lot of success baking buns, so an easy enough recipe was a must for me. After baking them last weekend, I am happy to say, they were a success. They baked to a perfect golden brown color and they were a bit crunchy on the outside (that’s precisely why I like homemade buns vs. store bought) but fluffy and tasty inside. All this description about food is making me hungry, good thing it’s almost lunch time here.

And because I’m mean like that (and don’t have any decent pictures of it) I won’t show you the actual hamburgers… just the buns for now.

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Recipe adapted from Honey and Butter

I didn’t have sesame seeds on hand, so I didn’t use any; and I used active yeast because that’s what I had. The instructions here are for active yeast. If you use dry instant yeast, mix it at the beginning with the flour instead of the water. Also, I halved the recipe and made 6 buns instead of twelve. My plan was to freeze them and eat them another day, but we ended up eating it as “normal” bread with cheese, or with a bit of jam for breakfast. Loved it!

• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 cup hot water
• 15g active yeast
• 1/2 Tb salt
• 1 Tb (about 15g) softened butter
• 1 egg, beaten

1. In a large bowl, pour the flour and form a hole inside it, sort of like a donuts. Or volcano.
2. Add the warm water to the hole, and mix the yeast until it’s completely dissolved. Mix in the salt.
3. Add the butter in small pieces and mix, you can do it with your hands or using the dough hook attachment of your mixer (I did it by hand).
4. Knead for about 5-6 minutes until dough is no longer a sticky mess.
5. Lightly brush the dough with olive oil, cover and let it rest for 30-40 minutes.
6. On a floured surface, turn the dough and divide it into 6 pieces. Shape into balls. Let them rest for another 5 minutes and flatten the dough balls with your palm.
7. Let them rise for 30 minutes longer.
8. Preheat oven to 205ºC/400ºF.
9. Slightly brush each bun with the egg wash.
10. Bake for about 16-20 minutes until golden brown.

What do you think? Share your opinion in the comments.