Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Day One
- Whisk together the flour, salt, yeast, and sugar.
- In a medium bowl, whisk one egg with the cold water. See notes for the quantity of water.
- Heat the milk and butter together just until the butter is melted. Pour this hot mixture into the cold water and egg mixture. The combination of the two mixtures should be perfectly lukewarm.
- Add it to the flour bowl and stir (a spatula is best) until you have a sticky dough ball.
- If you have a stand mixer, use the beater blade and mix on medium speed for about 10 minutes, scraping the dough into the center every so often. If you don't, lightly flour a work surface (countertop or a large cutting board) and set a timer. You'll be kneading for about 30 minutes. I use the slap and fold method which I'll link a video to in the notes. Knead until the dough is soft and smooth.
- Put the dough ball in a large bowl covered with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator and let it rise overnight (or for up to 18 hours).
Day Two
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and deflate it. You can just punch it with your hand.
- Cover a work surface lightly with flour and put the dough on your work surface. Divide the dough into eight portions. (If you have a food scale, weigh your dough before you start and divide. This makes portioning the dough very simple. Mine generally are about 125 g each).
- Continue to add flour to your work surface as needed and roll each portion into a ball. Place the dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet (if you don't have parchment paper just lightly grease the pan). Flatten the balls slightly using the palm of your hand or a dough scraper.
- Let the dough rise fully. This can take 90 minutes to three hours depending on the temperature in your house and outdoors. Don't rush this part of the process. It'll look like the dough balls are "lifting" off of the baking sheet when they're ready.
- Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F or 190°C, with a rack in the center. If you don't have a cooling rack be sure to take out an extra oven rack before you preheat the oven.
- Whisk an egg with one tablespoon of cold water and brush the resulting "egg wash" on the buns for color and shine. (If you don't have a brush use a paper towel - just ball up the paper towel and soak the bottom corner in the egg wash and gently rub over the buns).
- Top with seeds if you want for extra flavor and crunch. We use sesame seeds for burger buns, but go seedless for fried chicken sandwiches. You can't go wrong here, it's just personal preference.
- Bake the buns for 18 to 19 minutes. You want them to be golden brown. I start paying close attention around 14 minutes because the buns brown quickly due to their high fat content and the egg wash. You can always tent the buns with foil if they appear to be browning too quickly. Whatever you do, don't overcook the buns.
- Remove the buns from the oven and cool on a rack before slicing. Before serving I like to toast the buns cut-side down in a lightly buttered pan over medium-low heat.
Notes
Water: Some people find this dough very wet and tricky to work with. If you live in a humid area, consider cutting some of the water back. If you are measuring with cups, hold 1/3 cup of water. If you are using a scale, hold 75 g of water. You can always add the water back in when you are mixing if it seems dry.
Slap and fold kneading technique video
The dough freezes well. After you divide the dough into balls, double wrap the individual balls with freezer-safe plastic wrap, then place them all into a freezer bag. The evening before you want to make the buns, take as many as you need out of the freezer and thaw overnight in the fridge. The next day you'll just reshape them and let them rise again.