I remember about 2 years ago, my friend Betsy was in Korea and she made burger buns from scratch. (Check out her sexy buns here.) I was so impressed that anyone could make their own! But now that I'm more into baking, I was ready to give it a shot. As you have probably noticed by now, I use a lot of recipes from Vegweb.com (a great resource) and this recipe is no different. I used less yeast than the recipe called for, and as always, I halved all the measurements, which resulted in 6 stunning buns. Here's my slightly modified version of the recipe, with the full measurements:
{Ingredients}
2 cups soy milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup warm water
1.5 tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon salt
5 - 6 cups flour (as needed) (I used half organic whole wheat, with regular white bread flour)
{Method}
1. Mix about 1Tbs of the sugar into the warm water and let it dissolve. Sprinkle the yeast in the sugar water and swirl the bowl around a bit. Leave for about 15 mins to let the yeast activate (it should be thick and foamy)
2. Mix the rest of the sugar with the oil and soymilk in a separate large bowl. Mix well.
3. Add the yeast mixture and mix well.
4. Gradually add the flour until the dough is thick enough to knead. Knead for about 10 mins, until dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Let dough rise for about 30 mins in a warmer place (I heat the oven slightly for a minute, then leave the dough in there , covered with a damp cloth.)
6. Knead again for about 5 mins. Cut into even pieces and shape each into a round ball. Place on pan and let rise for another hour.
7. After the buns have risen nicely, bake in a preheated oven (400F or 205C) for 15-18 mins, or until tops are nicely browned.
8. Take out of oven and let cool. Makes 12 buns.
These photos are after about 1 hour of rising time, right before they baked in the oven. They look so cute and loveable, no?
This is after they have baked for about 18 minutes. I probably could've taken them out after 15 mins. Some of them were like conjoined twins because I placed them too close together on the pan. You can kind of see how soft the texture is when I separated them:
Inside texture:
These were the best burger buns I have ever had. I realize whatever I say will sound biased, but I honestly think these are superior to any store-bought bun. They are soft, but not too airy, and definitely not dry. And if you use whole wheat flour, they're healthier too! The sad thing is, these were baked in Cheonan (real oven), so I doubt they would turn out this good in my dinky convection oven. Otherwise, I would make these every day. Ahhh, my parents' apartment smelt like a real bakery. It was divine. Someone should capture this smell and make a perfume out of it. I could lure guys with my intoxicating fresh bread scent. ha.
Anyway, so what do you do with freshly baked buns? Make bean burgers, ofcourse!! My mum, sister and I went all out in making vegan kidney bean/mushroom burgers, and baked potato wedges. And yes, they tasted as good as they looked.
Adam:"Looks good enough to eat."
Millie: "Tastes good too, so they tell me!"
(100 Cool Points to anyone who knows where that's from.)