Cheeseburger Buns

The Perfect Hot Pocket – Cheeseburger Buns

Soft bread, seasoned meat, melty cheese…Sound like the perfect sandwich? It is.

My family and I love these Cheeseburger Buns so much that I almost can’t make enough.

I mean, just look at all that cheeseburgery goodness.

Melty cheese – CHECK. Seasoned beefiness – CHECK. Soft Homemade Bread – DOUBLE CHECK.

Perfect Sandwich Status = Oh Yeah!

Seriously, they’re addictive. It’s hard to stop eating them.

Just warning you. You’ll want to make them again and again.

They’re just a little bit of work with the bread, but they are so worth it.

Cheeseburger Buns

2015-04-01 13:11:20

Yields 16

Seasoned meat and melty cheese wrapped up in a soft bun make the perfect sandwich.

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For the bread

2 packages of active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 - 4 cups all purpose flour

For the meat mixture

2 pounds ground beef
2 Tablespoons, dried, chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, or more to taste
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
8 slices American cheese

For the bread dough

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let it bloom (which means let it get foamy on top).
Add the milk, sugar, shortening, egg, salt and 2 cups flour to the yeast mixture. Beat this mixture until it's smooth.
Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (another 1 & 1/2 - 2 cups of flour).
After you get all the flour added you can turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. But, I like to just knead my dough in my Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook attached, on low to medium speed for 3-4 minutes. It makes a lot less work for me.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. After you've made the bread and it's proofing (which means you're waiting on it to double in size), start cooking the meat.

For the meat filling

Cook 2 pounds of ground beef in a skillet over medium heat . I add about 2 Tablespoons of dried chopped onion to the beef when I put it on to cook. While it's cooking, I break it up with a tater masher so there are no big chunks.
When the meat is all cooked and you've drained off the extra fat, add the tomato sauce.
After you've added the tomato sauce, add the seasonings too. I added salt, black pepper, garlic salt, and garlic powder.
Stir it all around until it's well mixed. Taste it and see if it suits you, or you might want to add more seasonings. Now's that the meat mixture is done, it's time to assemble the sandwiches.

Assembling the sandwiches

Find a clean place to roll out your dough. I just used my pizza peel and a small rolling-pin.
Lightly flour the surface you're working on. Turn your dough out of the bowl and make a big ball.
Divide that big dough ball in half. I just eyeball it. You could weigh it if you really wanna be precise.
Now, take those 2 pieces of dough and divide them in half. Now, you should have 4 pieces of dough.
Divide all 4 dough balls in 4 equal pieces, so you'll end up with 16 pieces of dough.
Roll out the pieces of dough to about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick, one at a time.
Lay a half a piece of American cheese on the rolled out dough. I usually break the cheese slices in 4 pieces and use 2 in each bun.
Spoon the meat mixture on top of the cheese. 2 heaping tablespoons is usually how much I use.
Fold over the sides, and then fold up the ends. You really don't need to pinch it or anything. That seam is gonna be on the bottom holding everything together.
Place the filled bun seam side down on the baking sheet and continue with the rest. I fit 8 on a half sheet.
After you get a baking sheet full of filled buns, let them rise for about 20 minutes. They will get visibly puffier.
Bake until nice and golden brown, about 8-12 minutes at 400 F. Let me tell you, these buns will feel hard right when they come out of the oven, but just give it a few minutes. The bread really is soft and pillowy.
Let em cool down a few minutes. Then, enjoy!

Notes

I like to serve these Cheeseburger Buns with the normal burger sides: like coleslaw, potato salad, chips and dip or french fries.

By Beck

Adapted from Taste of Home

Beck Bakes (And Cooks!) https://beckbakes.com/

First of all, you need to make the bread dough. I didn’t take pics of this part because I got in a hurry and forgot. The picture below is of the bread dough after it had proofed and I knocked the bowl on the counter and deflated it some. It’s really a pretty easy bread.

For the bread dough:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let it bloom (which means let it get foamy on top).

Add the milk, sugar, shortening, egg, salt and 2 cups flour to the yeast mixture. Beat this mixture until it’s smooth.

Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (another 1 & 1/2 – 2 cups of flour).

After you get all the flour added you can turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. But, I like to just knead my dough in my Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook attached, on low to medium speed for 3-4 minutes. It makes a lot less work for me. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

After you’ve made the bread and it’s proofing (which means you’re waiting on it to double in size), start cooking the meat.

I use 2 pounds of ground beef. I add about 2 Tablespoons of dry chopped onion to the beef when I put it on to cook. While it’s cooking, I break it up with a tater masher so there are no big chunks.

When the meat is all cooked and you’ve drained off the extra fat, add the tomato sauce.

Now, is when you want to add the seasonings too. I added salt, black pepper, garlic salt, and garlic powder. Stir it all around until it’s well mixed. Taste it and see if it suits you, or you might want to add more seasonings. Now’s that the meat mixture is done, it’s time to assemble the sandwiches.

Find a clean place to roll out your dough. I just used my pizza peel and a small rolling-pin.

Lightly flour the surface you’re working on. Turn your dough out of the bowl and make a big ball.

Divide that big dough ball in half. I just eyeball it. You could use a kitchen scale and weigh it if you really wanna be precise.

Now, take those 2 pieces of dough and divide them in half. Now, you should have 4 pieces of dough.

Divide all 4 dough balls in 4 equal pieces, so you’ll end up with 16 pieces of dough.

Roll out the pieces of dough to about 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick, one at a time.

Lay a half a piece of American cheese on the rolled out dough. I usually break the cheese slices in 4 pieces and use 2 in each bun.

Spoon the meat mixture on top of the cheese. 2 heaping tablespoons is usually how much I use.

Fold over the sides…

Then fold up the ends. You really don’t need to pinch it or anything. That seam is gonna be on the bottom holding everything together.

Place the filled bun seam side down on the baking sheet and continue with the rest. I fit 8 on a half sheet.

After you get a baking sheet full of filled buns, let them rise for about 20 minutes. They will get visibly puffier.

Bake until nice and golden brown, about 8-12 minutes at 400 F. Let me tell you, these buns will feel hard right when they come out of the oven. And you’ll think I lied to you, but just give it a few minutes. The bread really is soft and pillowy.