Welcome To My Gluten Free Journey: Gluten-Free Hamburger and Hotdog Buns

The perfect hamburger and hotdog bun recipe had eluded me until I found a recipe for Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls over at My Gluten-Free Kitchen. It hit me, the soft fluffy texture of dinner rolls is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you Michelle! I used my Bread Flour Mix in place of the flour blend she recommends and a few other minor changes as well. These buns are so good! Finally, "real" hamburger and hotdog buns! You could add caramelized onions and dill to this recipe for amazing onion rolls as well, but that's another blog post entirely. I also use this recipe to make Hoagie and Sub Rolls. Let's get to it!

Ingredients:

2-3/4 cups of Bread Flour Mix
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 tablespoons sugar or honey
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups warm water
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 egg (room temp)
1 teaspoons vinegar or 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat your oven to 375F.

Add 1/4 cup of flour to a small bowl and set aside if making hamburger buns.

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and place your ring molds on top.

Spray your ring molds or baking dish (for hotdog buns) with non-stick spray.

This recipe makes 8 buns but I only have 4 rings this size.
The ones in the photo above are English Muffin rings.
You can find them at ChefsCatalog.com. Link: English Muffin Rings

Combine all of the dry ingredients (except yeast) in the bowl of your stand mixer and mix briefly. Stir together the warm water and yeast until it dissolves. Whisk in the egg, oil, honey and vinegar (if using).

With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour in the wet ingredients and mix until well blended.

Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and turn the mixer up to medium speed and run for 3-4 minutes. The dough should look like the photo below.

If making hamburger buns, scoop out about 1/3 cup of dough and place it into the small bowl of flour.

Lightly coat the dough with flour and form into a smooth round shape slightly smaller than the ring molds you are using. You can make them free form as well if you don't have ring molds, but they may not rise as high.

Place the dough into the mold, if using, and gently flatten the dough with the back of your fingers until smooth and touching the sides of the mold. If you're making free form buns, flatten the dough to 3/4 inch thickness.

If making hotdog buns, place the dough onto your floured work surface and dust with flour and form a rough rectangular shape.

Cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces.

Gently roll each one into a hotdog buns shape, roughly 5-6 inches long or so and 3/4 inch thick. Place the hotdog buns into a small rectangular baking dish about 1/8 inch apart. If making them free form just place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

This dish is roughly 5-1/2" by 8-1/2". A large baking dish could accommodate all 8,
just stagger their placement so they are about 1/8 inch apart.

Let the buns rise in a warm place for 20 minutes, no more or they may fall while baking, even if they don't appear to have risen much. I prefer to proof my bread in the microwave with a boiling hot mug of water inside.

Bake the buns for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed.

Next time I will leave the hotdog buns more cylindrical and not flatten them.
There is a handy dandy hotdog bun pan at ChefsCatalog.com I plan to order.
Here's the link: Hotdog Bun Pan