Upgrade your burger game with these soft and high rising buns. This recipe follows the same technique as with my whole wheat bread… It requires a 2 hour rest to fully hydrate the grains and kick-start the gluten. Then, the food processor does its magic to overcome the gluten-inhibiting fiber and encourage gluten development. Lastly, to offset the bitter dryness that often plaques whole wheat bakes, I employ oats, which add chewiness, sweetness, and increased moisture retention.

ingredients
yields 8 Buns

9.9 oz Whole Wheat Flour
2.44 oz Bread Flour or more whole wheat flour
2.44 oz Oats
8.4 oz Water, cool
1.75 oz Brown Sugar or White Sugar
1 Tablespoons Instant Yeast
1 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
.7 oz Oil
1 Egg, whisked
optional topping
1 large egg white, whisked with 2 tablespoons cold water, optional (if using seeds)
Seeds of your choice, optional, for sprinkling

deviations & tips

A food processor is needed for this recipe. Kneading by hand or with a mixer is simply not vigorous enough to foster gluten development in a whole wheat loaf.
If you have oat flour on hand, you can sub that for an equal weight of oats and skip milling the oats.
For consistent results every time, weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale.
Because the water and yeast need to be added separately, do NOT sub active dry yeast for the instant yeast because active dry must first be bloomed in warm water.

the method

Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with it parchment.

Add oats to a food processor or blender and process until finely ground into oat flour (skip if using oat flour). In a food processor, combine oat flour, whole wheat flour, and bread flour (if using). With food processor running, pour in water through the chute and process for just about 10 seconds or until the flour absorbs the water. On a clean surface, knead dough into a rough ball and make sure any rogue dry flour has been incorporated. Place in a bowl, cover and let sit for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Knead dough into ball and add to 14 cup or larger food processor that is fitted with either a dough or chopping blade. Add yeast, sugar, salt, and egg and process for about a minute or until dough is dispersed into pieces and then comes back together in a ball. After a ball is formed, process for another 45-60 seconds or until dough can be stretched into a window pane. If the dough starts to get too warm, it may start to ride on the blade’s spindle. If this happens, turn off the machine, gather up the dough, knead into a ball to create some tension and add back to work bowl. If you’re using a chopping blade and have a dough blade, switching to the dough blade may help reduce the heat being generated. With the dough processing, drizzle in the oil and process just until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Dough should be about 80F. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled (not floured) surface. Shape into a ball, transfer to a bowl, cover, and let rest in a warm location until doubled in size- about an hour.

Turn dough onto a very lightly greased surface. Gently deflate the dough and divide it into eight pieces (3.45 oz) . Cover with a clean cloth to keep it from drying out. Shape each piece into a ball. With lightly greased hands, gently flatten each ball into about a 3 ” circle. If the dough is resisting being flattened, cover and left rest for 10-20 minutes in order to let the gluten relax. Then, resume flattening. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and space about an inch apart.

Alternatively, for hotdog buns, divide into 10 pieces (about 2.5 oz each). Shape into 5” circle. Cover and let rest for about 10 minutes. To shape, fold 1st long end to center and seal. Fold second long end into the center. Fold in half (book fold) and seal. Seal ends using a little water if the dough is drying out. Roll into a 6” long log. Press flat so that they’re about 2” across. Each bun should be about 6” x 2”. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet, keeping rolls about 1” apart.

Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap let rise for about an hour or until about doubled in size. If you spaced them about 1” apart, they’ll now be about 1/2” apart. After about 30 to 40 minutes of rising, preheat the oven to 375F.

If desired, brush the buns with the egg white mixture and sprinkle buns with the seeds of your choice. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the internal bread temperature is between 190F and 205F. Remove from pan or sheet and transfer to cooling rack. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before enjoying. To keep bread from going stale, freeze whatever you won’t use within a couple days.