the other night i wanted to surprise matthew {my husband} with a cool dinner that consisted of juicy burgers, sweet potato fries and cold beer. but, i was missing the key ingredient to a great burger: the bun.

hmm… what to do? this was a challenge right there in my face. i didn’t want to go out and drive a few miles to get the buns. we live downtown and of course grocery stores are scarce.

but. talking about burgers, don’t you love it when a burger is so good that you could cry? okay, maybe it’s just me, but the bun is one of the major reasons why i want to cry every time i eat a good burger. it seriously takes you to heaven and back to earth in every bite.

so back to my “cool” dinner for my hubby. i wanted to surprise him after a long work week. it was friday night and we were ready to hang out. so, i went ahead and made buns from scratch in order to accomplish a gourmet burger. and let me say that it worked! what a HUGE difference makes when you make your own bread. and did i mention you know what goes in it and have the ability to control the ingredients including no preservatives? it’s just the absolute best.

we ate the burgers that night. and also ate the buns in a panini form; and sliced and toasted for breakfast with eggs. these buns can be put to use for every meal of the day.

let me know what type of bread you make from scratch. i’m curious as to what are you up to when it comes to bread :)

here’s the how-to and recipe – enjoy!

add sugar, salt and flaxseed to whole wheat flour and mix well.

in a small bowl add yeast and water. whisk well until lumps are gone.

in the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk egg and butter until incorporated.

add honey.

alternate flour mixture with yeast {dry and liquid}.

knead bread with dough hook until soft.

this is how the bowl looks after you are done kneading the dough.

place dough in a large bowl and cover with a dish towel.

and it’s risen!

cut in 8 somewhat equally pieces. if you are a perfectionist you can weigh the dough and divide that number by eight. then weigh the individual dough balls to make sure they are the same weight. i of course skipped that part ;)

form into balls and place in a cooking sheet lined with parchment paper.

flatten the ball until about 4 inches in diameter. you can do this with your hands, the back of a plate or the back of a measurement cup.

let them rest. and once they rise this is what they look like.

brush with butter and top with flaxseed.

brush with butter after they come out of the oven.

and here’s the burger with tomato and kale. the bun was a super nice touch.

versatile whole wheat & flaxseed {burger} buns

ingredients:
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons flaxseed
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 packages instant dry yeast
1 cup very warm water
1 egg
2 tbsps salted light butter {i used land of lakes with canola oil}
2 tbsps raw honey

topping:
flaxseed
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

yields 8 buns

directions:

1. preheat oven to 220F.

2. in a large bowl, mix flour, flaxseed, white granulated sugar and sea salt. set aside.

3. add water to yeast in a bowl and whisk until there’s no lumps. let it rest.

4. in the bowl of a standing mixer, mix butter, honey and egg at medium speed for 3 minutes. scrape bowl go combine all ingredients well.

5. change mixing paddle with dough hook. add flour mixture and yeast alternating until  all ingredients are in the bowl. knead at slow speed for 5 minutes or until dough is soft and stretchy. if you are kneading by hand, knead dough for 10-12 minutes.

6. turn oven off.

7. add dough to a bowl and cover with parchment paper and a towel. put bowl in the oven and let it rest for 1 hour or until it doubles its size.

8. after an hour, divide dough in exact 8 pieces. roll each piece in a ball and set on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. press down each ball until they are 4 to 4 1/2 inches in diameter. cover with parchment paper and dish towel and put back in the oven. let it rest and rise for 1 more hour.

9. preheat oven to 375F. brush buns with half of the melted butter.

10. bake buns for 15 minutes rotating cooking sheet half way through. once out of the oven, brush buns with the rest of the butter and sprinkle with flaxseed. transfer to a cooling rack.

like i mentioned before, these buns are versatile. we made burgers, egg sandwiches and toast. store them in an airtight container and eat within 4 days or less. toast bread before eating; they come back to life :)