These have now replaced my old bun recipe. They were good, a huge step up from store bought, but after making them a few times, I started critiquing them a bit. They weren’t quite how I wanted them to be. They were a bit too light and fluffy, and were missing something that I couldn’t put my finger on. I wanted something a bit denser, more flavor, and softer. The solution? Adding a bit of potato flour and dry milk. The potato flour holds more moisture, which makes a softer bread than regular wheat flour. The dry milk not only adds more flavor, but the milkfat acts as a tenderizer by interfering with gluten production. It also enhance the browning of the crust due to the potential caramelization of the milk sugars. These turned out exactly how I was hoping!

Let’s make some dough! You’ll need unbleached all-purpose flour, potato flour, sugar, salt, dry milk, unsalted butter, instant yeast, an egg and filtered water.

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Mix dough ingredients together, which can be done by hand, in a stand mixer, or bread machine. If doing by hand or mixer, after combined, work for 5-7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. I use the bread machine, easy peasy toss in, walk away. My machine specifies to add the liquid ingredients in first, half the flour, then the rest of the dry ingredients, followed by the rest of the flour, and finally, the yeast. Then I set it to the dough setting and let it do its thing.

After the dough is done, place in a greased bowl, cover with a light kitchen towel, and let rise for about an hour, until it has doubled in size.

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Lightly flour your work surface, plop down the dough and gently deflate. Shape into a rectangle and roughly cut into eight pieces. Use a kitchen scale to weigh out each piece, tearing small pieces off the edges as needed until they are all equal. I was able to get eight 4.10 ounce balls out of my dough.

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Shape each piece into a round ball and flatten slightly. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover and let rise for another hour.

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When the buns are almost done rising, preheat the over to 400 degrees F. Whisk together egg and water to make the egg wash, then brush the tops of each bun.

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Sprinkle on sesame seeds.

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Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

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Look at these beauties. Load up with your favorite burger ingredients! I made a double stack smash burger, topped with velveeta cheese, raw red onion, arugula and special sauce. Yums.