Hot Dog Buns

I have been looking for a good recipe for soft hot dog buns.  After looking around on the internet I found one at  allrecipes.com that looked promising.

As you can see the buns come out nice and golden brown. Hot Dog Buns – (from allrecipes.com)

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg

In a saucepan, heat milk, water and butter until very warm, approximately 120 degrees F (50 degrees C).

Then in the bowl of your mixer (with a dough hook), mix together 1 3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt.

Mix milk mixture into flour mixture, and then mix in egg. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Divide dough into 16 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a 6×4 inch rectangle. Starting with the longer side, roll up tightly, and pinch edges and roll ends over to seal.

Place on a greased baking sheet, or on parchment/silpat.  Cover, and let rise for 50 to 60 minutes or until they are just under the size that you would like the final rolls to be. I like to put my dough in the oven and then place a pan of hot water at the base of the oven.  This way you get a controlled temperature that also has moisture.  I find that bread dough rises better this way. 

Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

The buns were very tasty.  Although, I was rushed for time and only let them rise for 30 minutes.  I found out the hard way that they do not get that much bigger when baked.  The final rolls were slightly undersized and needed another 15-20 minutes to rise before I baked them.  This recipe produced some of the best rolls that I have eaten. 

The tip to getting them to come out to the perfect size is to let them rise to just under the size that you would like them to be.  Let me know what you think.