Description
Sturdy, light, airy, and absolutely delicious, these homemade sourdough hot dog buns will take your next hot dog to the next level.
Ingredients
Main dough
- 398g medium-protein bread flour or all-purpose flour
- 100g whole wheat flour
- 274g water
- 55g (one whole egg) egg
- 50g butter, unsalted
- 25g caster sugar
- 9g fine sea salt
- 139g ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration)
Egg wash
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
Instructions
- Mix (9:00 a.m.)
Cut the butter into 1/2″ pats and let warm to room temperature while mixing the ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the water, flour, sourdough starter, egg, sugar, and salt. Mix on speed 1 for 1 to 2 minutes until the ingredients come together. Increase the mixer to speed 2 and mix for 4 to 5 minutes until the dough starts to strengthen and clump around the dough hook. Let the dough rest in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes. Turn the mixer on to speed 1 and add the room temperature butter, one pat at a time, waiting to add each pat until the previous one is fully absorbed. This is a fairly strong dough, so it won’t take long to add all the butter and the dough to come back together and smooth, somewhere around 3 to 5 minutes. - Bulk fermentation (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.)
Transfer the mixed dough to a bulk container and ferment for 3 hours at 75ºF (23°C). Perform 3 sets of stretch and folds at 30-minute intervals. - Chill dough (12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.)
Place the covered bulk fermentation container into the fridge for at least 1 hour to thoroughly chill. - Divide and shape rolls (1:30 p.m.)
Line a full sheet pan, or two half sheet pans, with parchment paper and set near your work surface. Divide the dough into ten pieces, each weighing 100g. Shape each into a tube about 4-inches long and place them on the prepared sheet pan with space between. - Proof (1:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.)
Cover the proofing dough with a large, airtight cover ensuring the cover doesn’t contact the dough (grease it with oil if necessary to prevent sticking). Let the dough proof at room temperature for two hours. - Bake (3:45 p.m.)
Preheat an empty oven with a rack in the bottom-third to 425°F (220°C). In a small bowl, whisk one whole egg and one tablespoon of whole milk for the egg wash. When the oven is preheated, uncover the dough and brush on a thin layer of the egg wash. Slide the sheet pan into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. After this time, rotate the pan back to front and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C). Bake for 10 minutes longer until the tops of the buns are golden brown, but the sides are still pale yellow. Once fully baked, remove the buns from the oven and cool them on a wire rack for 15 to 30 minutes before slicing. These buns are fantastic buttered and grilled before serving.
Notes
- These buns can be made New England-style by proofing them side-by-side in a single row on a full sheet pan.