Brioche Buns

 Here is an easy recipe to create the perfect sandwich bun.

Richly browned with shiny tops, these buns enhance any sandwich. Great for hamburgers, because they don't fall apart under a hot burger with lots of toppings. 

Timing: If you start making these buns at 4 PM, they can be done by 6:30, just in time for dinner.

You will need:  If you have on hand: flour, milk, eggs, butter and yeast, you can make these buns. It is better if you also have an electric mixer with a dough hook, but you could knead the dough by hand. 

Note: This recipe has one interesting feature, the use of a tangzhong mixture. This is a small amount of flour cooked briefly with milk and water to form a paste. The point of doing this is to pre-gelatinize a portion of the starches in the dough, which promotes a better rise, texture and keeping qualities.

Recipe Summary:

The first step, as mentioned above, will be to make the tangzhong mixture. 

Next, the rest of the ingredients are added together and mixed with the tangzhong. Butter is then added.

This is then kneaded for 6 minutes by machine (or by hand if no machine available)

The dough rises for one hour

The buns are cut and formed, placed on a pan and allowed to rise for another hour.

The buns are brushed with an egg wash, and baked for 18 minutes.  Cool on rack.

Brioche Buns

Ingredients

For Tangzhong:
4 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons flour

For dough:
 2 1/2 cups bread flour
 2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
 1 teaspoon salt
 1 Tablespoon instant yeast 
 1/2 cup milk
 1 whole egg plus 1 egg yolk
 3 Tablespoons butter, softened

For egg wash:
1 egg
2 teaspoons water

Process

1. Make the tangzhong mixture
   
    In a small saucepan, combine:

    4 Tablespoons milk
    2 Tablespoons water
    2 Tablespoons flour

    Cook, stirring, over medium heat until very thick and smooth. Remove from heat, set aside.

2.  Slightly warm 1/2 cup of milk to room temperature. Set aside.
     
3.  Place the following in the bowl of an electric mixer:
        2 1/2 cups bread flour
        2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
        1 teaspoon salt
        1 Tablespoon instant yeast 

    Mix dry ingredients briefly to combine. 
    Add to this:
        The tangzhong mixture
        The milk from step 2.
        1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk

    Mix to combine, then add:
        3 Tablespoons butter

4.  Mix well, then attach the dough hook and knead 6 minutes on medium-low speed.
    The dough should be very smooth and silky.

5. Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour at room temperature.

6. Forming and rising:
    Place the risen dough on a lightly floured board. It should be light and puffy. Do not deflate the dough; handle lightly.

Cut the dough into thirds, then divide each one in half to produce six triangles. Weigh these to make sure they are the same size, or close. Handle gently and don't crush the air out of the dough.

For each piece, pull the three corners together to form a ball. Turn the piece over and gently turn it with your hands to make it more spherical. Place each piece on a baking sheet lined with oiled parchment paper.

I like to flatten each ball of dough slightly with the bottom of a saucer, to make it more disc-shaped. Allow these to rise for one hour in a protected spot.

At the end of the time, they look something like this:

7. Baking
    Preheat the oven to 375F.

    Mix one egg with 2 teaspoons water. Brush this egg wash lightly over the tops of the buns.

    Bake for 18 minutes. The buns should be shiny and deep gold in color.

    Cool on rack.

Enjoy!