Hot Dog Roll Recipe

One of my goals of the month was to make homemade hot dog buns and the occasion came up faster then I thought.  We are having a cook out this weekend with some people from my husband and my old job.  I decided who better to try these out on... and if they don't work out, I will run to the store and get some rolls.  I looked at a bunch of different recipes and decided to go with the one from "Make the bread, Buy the Butter" by Jennifer Reese.

I had all the ingredients and it seems like I could make it pretty easily while my son was at preschool. 

First thing this morning, I set to making the peanut butter cookie dough and the dry ingredients for corn bread (I like my corn bread hot and fresh so I am making it on Saturday afternoon).  When I got home from dropping my son off, I made brownies, peanut butter cookies, and a pan of macaroni and cheese.  After the easy stuff was under my belt, I decided to tackle the hot dog buns.  I put all the ingredients into the bowl.

Then I used the dough hook on my kitchen aid mixer which might be the first time that I have used it since I always use the bread machine.  I opted for following the recipe this time and looking for a bread machine version or doing this one in the bread machine next time.  I mixed it all up and it was a little sticky.  I added some vital gluten because I used regular flour instead of bread flour like I normally would (because the recipe called for it and I am out of bread flour) plus I was a little worried about how sticky it was.  I greased the bowl and covered with a towel to let rise.

The great news is that it rose and then it looked similar to the above after an hour.  Then I let it rise until I had time to shape the rolls around dinner time.  It rose a lot but still looked good.

I was pretty excited at this point and I was ready to form rolls.  This is the nerve wracking part because it takes a lot to make the rolls pretty but I figure that if they are yummy, it will make up for them not being really pretty.  Crossing my fingers :)

Please try to make some homemade hot rolls this summer for one of your cook outs or else you are more then welcome to come here when I try again soon!  Happy grilling!!!!

Only one turned out looking like a hot dog roll but they all turned out looking yummy so here is hoping that they taste as good as they look!!  If I had any more flour, I would make another batch :)  I am going to make these again soon!!!

Hot Dog Buns

1 c milk

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (?)

1 large egg

2 ¾ c flour

½ c whole wheat flour

¼ c sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp instant yeast

Vegetable oil for greasing

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk, butter, egg, flours, sugar, salt and yeast and knead with the dough hook until you have a smooth dough.
2. Scoop up the dough, grease the bowl, and return the dough to the bowl.  Cover with a clean, damp dish towel and let the dough rise.  It will be puffed and ready in about 1 hour, but you can leave it longer
3. Gently deflate the dough and divide into 10 pieces.  Shape each lump of dough into a petite bun sized long.  Make them as neat as you can, because every flaw in the design will be exaggerated in the finished product.
4. Place on a greased or parchment line cookie sheet, 1 ½ inches apart.  Drape with the same damp towel.  Let rise for 30 minutes.  They will grow huge so don’t let them go longer than 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
6. Bake buns for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden.  Cool or eat immediately.  Store in plastic bag at room temperature for up to 5 days.  Freeze for longer storage.