Homemade Hot Dog Buns

On Sunday we went to the store with the plan to get fruit and food for the week. We did get fruit but when it came to dinner for the week we only half-heartedly got anything. We got hot dogs but no buns! It was a sad realization when we got home.

Today, as I worked from home after jury duty, I decided to try out this recipe for hot dog buns that I found online. It seemed like it would be so easy! I had all the ingredients! I knew my skills at bread making were lacking but I tried it anyway!

Well, the results were lackluster. Our house is apparently very drafty, even with the bread dough in the closet it didn't get close to rising after an hour. Later, trying to rise the dough again proved futile even in the hottest closet in the house!  Could the car work?

The final product was more like a dinner roll than a hamburger bun, but it was still a worthy project with little hands on time.  I don't know what I would try next time for better results but at least I have a go-to dense dinner roll recipe!  These buns were filling, tiny and delicious. I told Joey at dinner that I wanted 1 hot dog and three buns. It wasn't a reality but this is my kind of bread!

Note to self, bread skills still lacking.

Hot Dog Buns  - we got 7 buns for our 7 dogs,

1 T sugar
1/4 C warm water
1 package yeast
4 C flour
1 C warm milk
1 T vegetable oil, plus more for the bowl
1 tsp salt

Directions
1. In the bowl of your stand mixer stir together sugar and water until sugar dissolves
2. Add yeast and let sit 10 minutes until foamy. If it isn't foamy when you get back, start over with a new yeast packet.
3. Add milk, oil, salt and 3 cups of flour to the bowl and beat with your dough hook in your electric mixer. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.
4. Add additional flour in spoonfuls until the dough stays away from the sides
5. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead 5-7 minutes until smooth and elastic
6. Place in a well oiled bowl, cover with a light towel and let sit 1 hour or until doubled in size
7. Later, when it has doubled, divide into 7-9 equal pieces and roll into logs about 4 1/2 inches long
8. Place logs just barely touching on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with the same towel and let rise 45 minutes until almost doubled in size
9. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
10. Bake about 20 minutes and serve warm