You’re a student: you like saving money. You’re a human being: you like bread. Making bread at home is super easy, cheap, and totally delicious. Use these buns for sandwiches at lunch or dinner, or to have with butter and jam for breakfast. Or whatever you want; I’m not a cop.
Ready in: 1 hour 45 minutes
Makes 10 buns
Ingredients:
45 ml (3 tbsp) active dry yeast or instant yeast
60 ml (1/4 cup) and 175 ml (3/4 cup) lukewarm water, separated (if using active dry yeast)
5 ml (1 tsp) and 22 ml (1½ tbsp) white sugar, separated (if using active dry yeast)
250 ml (1 cup) milk
4 to 4½ cups all-purpose flour
6 ml (1¼ tsp) salt
30 ml (2 tbsp) melted butter
1 egg (optional)
Sesame seeds (optional)
Step 1: If you’re using active dry yeast, put the 60 ml (1/4 cup) water in a big mixing bowl, then the dry yeast, then the 5 ml (1 tsp) sugar, in that order. Yes, it’s important. Cover the bowl with a tea towel. Wait 10 minutes; if it gets frothy, you’re good! If not, either your water or your kitchen was too hot or too cold, so adjust and try again! If you’re using instant yeast, just pour the yeast in the full cup of lukewarm water and wait 5 minutes.
Step 2: Literally just dump everything else in.
Step 3: Mix until a shaggy dough forms and dump it onto a floured counter. It should be just dry enough so it’s not sticky; you can add more flour if you need to.
Step 4: Knead it 7-10 minutes until the dough is stretchy and the outside feels silky; it’s okay if it looks lumpy!
Step 5: Get a big bowl and pour in cooking oil to coat the bottom and sides, then put the dough in and coat that too. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour in a warm (not hot!) place.
Step 6: Preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F).
Step 7: After an hour, the dough should double in size. At this point, it’s absolutely essential to picture someone you hate and their stupid face, and punch the dough into submission. Knead it another 3 or 4 times.
Step 8: Cut the dough into 10 chunks. YouTube how to form buns. When the chunks look like buns, put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Step 9: Mix a beaten egg with a splash of water and brush (or spoon) it on top, then sprinkle with the sesame seeds. For a sweet glaze, mix milk and sugar instead.
Step 10: Bake them for 16 minutes.
Image: Mikaela Collins/The Cascade
