Cheese Burger Buns

Yes, you read that right. Cheese Burger Buns, not cheeseburger buns. These delightful rolls (from the King Arthur Flour website: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cheese-burger-buns-recipe) resulted in a recipe that I will be sure to make over and over again.

The recipe calls for Vermont cheese powder, which I do not have. I used grated parmesan instead. My original intention was to use freshly grated parmesan cheese, but I didn't have time to go by the store to pick up a block, so I went for the old Kraft standard. The dough formula and make up are straight forward. If you want more details, be sure to visit the recipe above.

We used these buns for cheeseburgers and it worked out great. It was a nice change from the usual store bought bun and I hope to keep making my own in the future. The texture was nice and the parmesan and onion flavors complemented the burgers.

Since the recipe makes 8 and we only used a few for dinner that night, I made both of our lunch sandwiches on these buns. My sandwich consisted of Laughing Cow light swiss cheese (only 35 calories...yay!), ham, one slice of salami, romaine lettuce and mustard. I put it in the toaster at work, which was a great idea. The bun was nice and warm and all the flavors came together.

My husband had cheddar, salami and mustard on his roll. He didn't like it quite as much, thinking that the parmesan and onion actually overpowered the flavor of the cheddar and salami. After last night, there was only one roll left when I went to make his sandwich for today's lunch. I can't say that I am not happy that he wanted regular sandwich bread for today. I would have shared the last roll with him, but I was not about to argue when he offered to save the last one for my lunch tomorrow. Yippee!!!

It is now noon as I write this and I am getting hungrier by the second. I have been thinking about my sandwich all morning! I can't wait to hit the toaster and enjoy my lunch. And the best part is, I will still have one roll left for tomorrow!


Cheese Burger Buns
* 3/4 cup lukewarm water
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 1 large egg
* 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/3 cup Vermont cheese powder OR 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese or the finely grated cheese of your choice
* 3/4 to 1 1/4 teaspoons salt*
* 1 teaspoon onion powder, optional but good
* 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
* butter for brushing on top
* *Use 3/4 teaspoon salt if you use cheese powder, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt if you use grated fresh cheese

Directions

1) To make the dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients, and mix and knead them — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, somewhat tacky dough.
2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or other container large enough to allow it to at least double in bulk, cover, and let it rise for about 60 to 70 minutes, till it's just about doubled.
3) Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into 8 pieces.
4) Round each piece into a smooth ball, and place on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Gently flatten the balls to about 3" diameter.
5) Cover the buns and let them rise till they've expanded nicely, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
6) Brush each bun with melted butter.
7) Bake the buns till they're a light, golden brown, about 18 minutes.
8) Remove the buns from the oven, and brush them with butter again. Place them on a rack to cool.
Yield: 8 big buns.