Soft Pretzel Hamburger Buns

I'm a bit reluctant when it comes to talking about weight and calories etc on this blog. I rarely think about these things when I think about eating. And reading about little girls already being on a diet because they think that they are too fat makes my heart ache. Because losing weight should not be one of the things that matter most to anyone, life is way better than that.

I want to be healthy and moderately fit. This also means that I don't want to weigh a ton, or that I really should not be sitting in front of the computer all day. It also means that at some point I have to stop baking muffins and cookies and more muffins so often. Because, as you might have seen, I have been baking a lot. I still want to bake, to enjoy sweets as part of a balanced diet, but for a while I want to stop baking with flour and sugar. Because I know they do nothing for my body, and when I eat too much of them nothing for my soul. Because a treat is only a treat when it is occasional, but lately muffins were part of my daily diet.
Well, this means that I am back to posting about real meals more often now.

And I'm starting today with homemade hamburger buns. Soft pretzel hamburger buns. Because we can. And Michael Pollan says: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you make it yourself. And because I made black bean burgers to go with them that I would not consider junk food. More on them later in the week, though.



Soft Pretzel Hamburger Buns
These buns were slightly adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe, found via The Moveable Feasts.

1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1 package instant yeast
150g/3/4 cup  dark-brown sugar, divided
910g/6 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
4 tablespoons coarse salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup beer
Sesame seeds, to top the buns with

Heat milk and water until just warm,  whisk in 1/2 cup/100g brown sugar and the instant yeast. Set aside.
Mix together flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add in the cubes of butter and mix with your hands, breaking down the cubes until the mixture is crumbly. Make a well in the center, add in the liquid and mix with a spatula until the dough starts to come together. Place the dough on a flat surface and knead it for about 10 minutes until it is smooth. Add a little bit more water or flour if it seems to dry or wet.
Add about one tbsp of oil to a clean mixing bowl and cover the sides with it. Place the dough in this bowl and let it slide around until all the sides are covered in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it doubles in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Cut the dough into pieces of the size of the buns you would like to have after baking. They don't rise much once you simmered them in the liquid. Form the pieces into balls, set them on a baking tray and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
In the meantime, combine 8 cups of water with the beer, soda and the 1/4 cup/50g of brown sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Simmer the buns, one at a time, for about 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon, place on the baking tray and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat for the other buns, until the baking tray is full, then bake the first batch for about 10-15 minutes until they have a lovely brown color. In the meantime, prepare the other buns and bake them once the others are finished.

Makes about 10 larger buns or 24 small buns. (I expected them to rise, so my first batch was made of small buns, but for burgers the larger ones seem to work better)