Burger or Hot Dog Buns

     I know this is a little late. We are still grilling here, in spite of the cooler temperatures. I just love grilled foods. For a long time, I wanted to try my hand at homemade burger and hot dog buns. I love homemade breads, and I knew this would be no different. The recipe is originally from allrecipes and had so many good reviews, so I figured this would be a good place to start. These buns were fairly easy to make (for yeast bread) and added that homemade roll taste to our otherwise boring grilled hot dogs. I used white whole wheat flour instead of of all purpose flour.
     These buns freeze well too. We ended up with 16 hot dog buns, and we only needed 8 for the meal. We froze them and had them again a couple weeks later, and they tasted great.

1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter
4-1/2 cups flour (take out 1/2 cup + 1 Tbl if using whole wheat)
2-1/4 tsp yeast (or 1 pkg)
2 Tbl sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 egg

• In a small saucepan, heat milk, water, and butter until very warm.
• In a large bowl, mix 1-3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Mix milk mixture into flour mixture, and then mix in the egg. Stir in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, or about 8 minutes.
• For burger buns:Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape into smooth balls (for burger buns) and place on a greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Cover and rise for 30-35 minutes.
• For hot dog buns: Divide dough into 16 pieces. shape each piece into a 6x4 rectangle. Starting with the longer side, roll up tightly and pinch edges to seal. Let rise about 20-25 minutes. 
• Bake at 400* for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.