Brioche Hamburger Buns

By Mom_s

Ingredients

• Sponge
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 cups All purpose flour, divided
• 1/3 cup warm milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• Dough
• 1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter
• 1 egg for glazing

Preparation

Step 1

For Sponge:

In bowl of stand mixer, mix egg, yeast, 1 cup of flour and warm milk. Sprinkle the other cup of flour on top of the sponge mixture. Let it rest uncovered for 30-40 min. When sponge is ready you will see that the flour coating has cracked.

For Dough:

Add 1 cup flour, sugar, kosher salt, and eggs to the sponge. With the dough hook mix on low for 2 mins until dough starts to come together. Add rest of flour and mix on medium for 15 min, stopping to scrap sides of bowl as needed.
The dough will be very sticky but wrap itself on hook and slap sides of bowl, if its too wet add up to 3-4 tbs flour, one at the time.

Continue to mix on medium speed while adding butter to dough 1 tbs at the time. Allow 1 min or so between addition, mix a couple more minutes after you added last of butter.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hr in a warm place. Deflate dough gently, replace plastic and chill for 6 hr or overnight.
After chilling, dough is ready to shape. With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into 12 balls or 24 for mini burger buns (you want to work fast, as is easier to handle cold)

Place the balls on 2 large baking sheets lined with parchment paper,allowing 1 inch space between. Flatten them with your palm until they become 1/4 inch thick discs about 4-4.5 inches diameter. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise again for 45 min

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Glaze balls with egg. you can sprinkle poppy or sesame seeds if desire. To keep seeds in place, reglaze buns with egg wash after you sprinkle them.

Bake for 20-25 min until golden brown, rotating sheets once to ensure even browning. They should sound hollow when tapped
Cool on a rack cover with a towel, use right away or freeze for later.

Tips:
-Use the highest quality all-purpose flour you can find.
-Make sure the eggs are at room temperature before you start the recipe.
-The butter should be soft, but not oily.
-The dough may look disturbingly soft, but do not be tempted to add more flour to it. Towards the first 15-minute round of mixing, it will come together and form a smooth, although wet, dough.
Do not skimp on the mixing time. Mix for a full 15 minutes.
-Add no more than a couple of tablespoons of butter at a time.
-If you're not going to use the dough right away, you can freeze it after the second rise. Just deflate it, wrap it well in a piece of plastic wrap, put it in a ziplock bag, and freeze up to one month. The frozen dough can be thawed in the refrigerator overnight and used directly out of the fridge.