Best Hot Dog Buns

You will need a small spray bottle filled with room temperature water to spray the buns before and after baking.

In a small dish whisk together warm water (1cup + 1/4 cup warm water), honey(1 tsp), yeast 2 tsp + 1/2tsp) and flour( 1tbsp). Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy.

Tip : Don't use Hot Water. Hot water will kill the yeast.

In a bowl of your mixer whisk together flour(3cups, 500grams) and salt(1tsp).

Pour foamy yeast mixture, soften butter(2tbsp) into the bowl with flour mix. Attach a hook attachment onto your stand mixer. Knead until smooth dough is formed. If the dough appears too dry you can add 1tbsp warm water, alternatively if it appears too wet add a little more flour.

Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. Dump onto lightly floured work surface and knead with your hands till it comes to a ball, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel and a plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft free spot, for 30 minutes.

Dump the risen dough onto a silicone mat, and divide dough into approximately same sections. I use a scale to weight them so they are about the same size around 90-100 grams each. Shape each piece into a small bun.

Tip : Don't use additional flour on your work surface, it makes it harder to shape the buns.

To shape the hot dog buns first you need to roll out each small piece of dough(one at a time) into a thin long oval shape. Place a weighted piece of bread dough onto a silicone mat. With a rolling pin roll it out into an oval shape, to about 1/8 inch (3mm) and thinner.

Tip :

I like to use a large silicone rolling pin.

Silicone mat helps to keep the rolled out/stretched dough from retracting too much.

To form the hot dog buns use both of your hands and shape the rolled out piece of dough into a log. Start at the bottom having your hands close together. As you are rolling the dough into a log stretch the dough log using your hands going outwards, while putting little bit of pressure on both ends of the log.

Place the shaped hot dot buns seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Leave about 3 inches between the rolls.

Cover rolls on a baking sheet with a damp paper towel or a damp kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes in a warm, draft free place.

About half way thru the 2nd rise place a small shallow dish on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat oven to 425F.

Place the baking sheet with sprayed buns into the oven. And then immediately pour about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of water on the shallow dish on the bottom rack. When water touches hot dish it will produce the steam. Quickly close the oven door, not letting the steam escape.

Bake hot dog buns for 12-13 minutes. Buns shouldn't be white, they should be light golden brown/yellow on the top. Take the buns out of the oven and immediately while still hot use a spray bottle and spray them second time with water. Allow to cool completely before freezing or serving. Repeat baking process.