Brioche Burger Buns

There comes a time in isolation when you run out of an ingredient that you really require for dinner to go ahead as planned, but you can't really justify leaving the house for the "non-essential" nature of that item.

For me, that item was burger buns. I needed to use up some bacon and lettuce - so halloumi/bacon baps were an obvious choice. But I didn't have any baps! Curses!

I promise I added lettuce to this, a small hint of green amidst the meat, bread and cheese

I also had a half pack of instant yeast that I wanted to use up, so making my own was the obvious choice, despite never having made these before. Luckily, this recipe was easy. Apart from working with a slightly sticky dough, and taking a little time, these are really straightforward.

Soft, sweet,and SCRUMPTIOUS!

Feel free to experiment, next time I see myself brushing it with garlic infused butter, and maybe topping with a little mozarella. Also, toasted with butter! GAME-CHANGER.

makes 6

Ingredients

• 125ml warm water
• 2 tsp dried yeast
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 250g bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 egg (plus another, beaten, for glazing)
• Sesame seeds for topping

Method

Mix together the warm water, yeast, milk and sugar in a small bowl. I made the water a little too warm and cooled it down with the milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Rub in the butter until the texture changes to that of fine breadcrumbs.

Make a well in the middle and pour in the water mixture and the egg. Mix to a sticky dough. Kneed for 10 minutes – you may need more flour but try to limit how much you add, this dough should be sticky but not so much that you can’t handle it.

Place in an oiled bowl and allow to rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size. I did mine on the yogurt setting in my pressure cooker which is just the most useful thing.

It's not the moon, but instead a more wonderful sight - risen dough

Knock out the air and kneed for another few minutes. The dough will be less sticky but you may need to add a little more flour.

Divide into 6 large pieces, roll into balls and place on a lined baking tray, spaced well apart to allow them to get bigger. 

Cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for another hour. At the end of rising time, brush the buns with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Place a baking tray on the shelf below and put 1 cup of water in it (this creates steam and makes for a softer bake). Place the baking tray with buns on it above and bake for 15-18 minutes.

Allow to cool on a wire rack. Slice up and serve!