By Request - Hamburger Bun Recipe

This is for a reader who put a request in last week...for some reason, I didn't see it until now!  Sorry about that: 

I am a bake-by-feel kind of person, so measurements are pretty approximate. 

2 cups of milk, heated until it feels warm to your pinky
1 T sugar
1/4 cup butter, cut into pats, and semi-melted in warm milk
1 egg
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
5-6 cups of bread flour 

In mixer bowl, combine milk, butter, sugar and yeast.  Add about 2 cups of flour and stir until all is incorporated.  Add egg.  Stir again.  Add flour 1/4 cup at a time mixing until incoporated.  When you get to the point where flour is difficult to incorporate, start kneading.  You have to knead until it feels like an earlobe.  I know it sounds weird, but pinch your earlobe, that's how the dough should feel - it takes 8-10 minutes, or so.  You can also use a Kitchen Aid appliance with a dough hook. 

Form the dough into a ball and cover the bowl.  Place in a warm place and allow the dough to rise (at least an hour - I usually go for two hours).  Punch the dough down and divide into 12 equal pieces. Take each piece and form a disk, then fold the edges over to make a smooth ball.  Stretch this ball into a hamburger (or hot dog) bun shape and place on a greased baking pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the buns sound hollow when taped. 

You can skip the egg, or even use warm water instead of milk, but the resulting buns won't be so soft.  You can substitute up to 1/2 the bread flour with whole wheat flour.  You can also use plain all purpose flour, but the bread flour makes very nice rolls.  If you use water, you can also substitute 2 T of olive oil for the butter. 

Have fun!