You will need a small spray bottle filled with room temperature water to spray the buns before and after baking. And a shallow oven-safe dish.

In a small dish whisk together warm water (1cup + 1/4 cup warm water, 300ml), honey (1 teaspoon), yeast (2 teaspoons+ 1/2 teaspoon), and flour (1tablespoon). 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(3 1/2 cups to 4 cups, 500grams) and salt (1 teaspoon and 1/4 teaspoon).

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

TIP: Don't a have a mixer with a hook attachment? You can make the dough by hand.

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 the ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot, for 30 minutes.

Dump the risen dough onto a silicone mat. Weigh the dough and divide the dough into approximately the same portions. I use a scale to weigh them so they are about the same size around 90-100 grams each.

Shape each piece into a small ball. If smaller rolls are desired you can make them smaller, no problem. Cover balls of dough for 5-10 minutes. This helps to relax the dough and it's easier to roll out.

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.

With a rolling pin flatten each piece of dough on a silicone mat into a oval shape, about 1/8 inch (3mm) thick and thinner.

TIP: Silicone mat helps the dough to cling slightly to it so it doesn't retract as much and it's easier to shape the rolls.

To form the hot dog buns use both of your hands and shape a rolled-out oval piece of dough into a log. Start at the short side of the oval, 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 a little bit of pressure on both ends of the log.

TIP: 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 halfway thru the 2nd rise place a small shallow dish on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat the oven to 425F.

Remove the kitchen towel or damp paper towel from the risen buns. Spray them generously with room temperature water. Then immediately place the baking sheet with sprayed buns in the oven (2/3rack).

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

TIP: You can also use ice cubes in place of water, use about 4-5 medium-size ice cubes.

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 the second time with water. Allow cooking completely before freezing or serving. Repeat the baking process.