Cornmeal Burger Buns + Party Food for Girls

Earlier in the week, I alluded to being up to my elbows in bread dough. A double recipe of these burger buns was the culprit. Our neighborhood block party was last weekend and I was asked to make my Ultimate Cheater's Pulled Pork for the occasion. The pork is a crock-pot recipe and requires almost no work to make, so I decided to pair it with homemade burger buns that I had been wanting to test. The rolls contained cornmeal and I thought they would be a perfect foil for the smoky flavor of the pork butt. I have some good news and some bad news to report regarding the buns. On the upside, they are delicious, particularly with barbecue type fillings, however, the downside is that the dough used to make them is an absolute bear to work with. The proportion of liquid to dry ingredients given in the original recipe is way out of whack and produced a sticky mass that is most kindly described as a hot mess. I had to increase the amount of flour I used by almost 2 cups to produce a soft dough that could be kneaded. It was frustrating. If you make a lot of bread, I hope you'll give this recipe a try. If you are a new bread maker, run for the hills. This is not a recipe for beginners. While I loved the flavor of these buns, I'll not be making them again. The next time I need burger buns, I'll throw a half cup of cornmeal into the proven recipe for Moomie buns and see what happens.

Cornmeal Burger Buns

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

~~4-3/4 to 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour~~

5 to 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 6 cups of flour)

3 eggs

Directions:

1) Combine milk, butter, cornmeal, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Cook and stir until butter is melted. Cool to about 110 to 115 degrees F.

2) In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add 3 cups flour and milk mixture; beat until blended. Add eggs; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be slightly sticky). Turn onto a heavily floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

2) Punch dough down; turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into four portions; divide each portion into six pieces. With lightly floured hands, shape into buns. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 dozen buns.

Party Food For Girls was written by Arantxa Zecchini with some help from her mother, Alessandra who has been a good friend to me and One Perfect Bite. The book has just been published and a copy of it will be given away on her mother's blog, Alessandra Zecchini, which you can find here. Stop by and leave a comment for the opportunity to win a copy of this lovely book.