Recipes and Stuff: Homemade Hamburger Buns or dinner rolls

I made a crock pot full of pulled pork and had no buns to put it on. Since I had all day (made them on a Sunday) I decided to make my own. I had checked out a great book from the local library called "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart. It is an excellent book by the way. This recipe makes two 1 pound loaves, 18 dinner rolls, or 12 burger or hot dog buns. I did make a variation of the recipe since I didn't have "bread" flour and only unbleached flour. I added Hodgson Mill Vital Gluten to the mix to make up for the lack of bread flour. Also, instead of water I used some of my whey from making cheese but water is fine. Here is the recipe:

4 3/4 cups of unbleached bread flour or unbleached flour w/4 tbls. of Hodgson mill vital wheat gluten

1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 cup of powdered milk (DMS)

3 1/4 tablespoons of sugar

2 teaspoons of instant yeast

1 large egg slightly beaten at room temp

3 1/4 tablespoons of butter, margarine or shortening, melted or at room temp

1 1/2 plus 1 tablespoon to 1 3/4 cup Water (or whey from cheese making) at room temp

1 egg whisked with 1 tsp. of water until frothy for egg wash (optional)

Sesame or poppy seeds for garnish (optional)

Mix together the flour, salt, powdered milk, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl or bowl of mixer. Pour in the egg, butter and 1 1/2 cups plus water or whey and mix (mix on low on electric mixer with paddle attachment) until all the flour is absorbed and the dough forms a ball. if the dough seems very stiff and dry, trickle in more water or whey until dough is soft and supple. Sprinkle flour on counter and transfer dough. Knead adding more flour if needed to create a dough that is soft and tacky but not sticky. Knead for about 6-8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat it with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 2 hours or until the dough doubles in size. At that time turn out on your counter again and divide into two for loaves, 18 for dinner rolls or 12 for hamburger or hot dog rolls. Line sheets for the oven with parchment paper and shape your dough. Spritz with some oil and cover with towel to let rise about 60 - 90 minutes till dough doubles in size. I am making burger rolls.

Pre-heat your oven for 350 degrees for loaves and 400 for rolls. At this point you can use your egg wash and/or optional sesame/poppy seeds. Bake for 15 min. for the rolls or 35-45 min for loaves.