Because Little Buns are in Fashion

Sliders are all the rage right now, and to be honest I think it’s great!  Not only are sliders cute (we all know little things are cute) but because of their small size, they’re easy to eat, and you get to have more than one!  That definitely appeals to our greedy nature, and it also allows for variety.  For those of us who are somewhat decision impaired, that’s a very good thing.  These little buns are perfect for your summertime cookouts.  (I’m converting to the local lingo.)

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• ¼ cup warm water
• Pinch of sugar
• Packet of yeast
• ½ cup hot water
• ½ cup milk
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 4-ish cups flour

 

Into your mixing bowl go the ¼ cup warm water (think bathwater temp), pinch of sugar, and yeast.  Stir them together and set that aside. 

In a measuring cup combine the hot water and the milk, which should also land at warm. Add the butter and give it a minute to melt.

Once it has, add the egg and whisk everything together. 

Now back to your yeast.  It should be showing signs of life by now, in the form of bubbles mostly. 

Pour in the milk mixture.

Stir that together and add 2 cups of flour along with the salt and sugar. 

Mix that together until you have a nice batter consistency.  Add another 1 ½ cups of flour and mix until it comes together. 

If it looks like this, with a large area still sticking to the bottom of the bowl, you need more flour. 

This is what you’re looking for.  It should almost completely remove itself from the bowl.  I know it it’s a shaggy mess, but a few minutes of kneading will fix that. 

Allow it to knead for 5 minutes or so, or if you’re kneading by hand, probably 10 minutes.  Either way, you’ll need to butter a large bowl. 

When your dough is ready it should be smooth, elastic, and no longer sticky. 

Place it top side down into the bowl, then turn it and flip it over so that it has butter on all sides. 

Cover with a damp towel and set aside to rise. 

You want it to double in size.  That will probably take about an hour, but it depends on the temperature of your house.  You’ll know it’s ready when it looks something like this. 

Dump it out onto a floured surface and deflate most of the large bubbles with your knuckles. 

Cut off a small piece of dough and flatten it into a disk. 

Pull all the edges together to form a ball.

Then place it on an unfloured surface and move it in circles with your hand.  You should have a nice smooth ball about the size of a ping pong ball. 

Place it onto a parchment lined sheet pan. 

Keep your balls covered with a damp towel as you work so they don’t dry out. 

Continue doing this until you have 24 balls of dough.  I had a little extra dough left, so you could probably actually get 28 out of this recipe.  I just used the extra for a little dessert thing. 

Flatten them out a bit. 

Then, as before, cover with a damp towel and set them aside to rise. 

Generally, the second rise doesn’t take as long, so maybe 45 minutes or so.  They should be nice and puffy. 

This is probably a good time to preheat the oven to 375°.  Then, in a small dish, combine an egg and 1 Tablespoon water.

Beat thoroughly with a fork. 

Using a pastry brush, apply a small amount of egg wash to the top and sides. 

Repeat until each roll is coated. 

Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top. 

Or, if you’re like me, sprinkle some of them with sesame seeds, some with poppy seeds, and some with dried, minced onion.  I did mention I’m slightly decision impaired, right? 

Bake for 15 minutes.  They should be nice and golden on top and around the edges.  Move them to a rack to cool. 

Here are the sesame seed ones

The poppy seed ones

And the onion ones. 

Take your pick.  They are all fabulous.  I have actually done a batch since these and used all three toppings together.  They were basically “everything” buns and they were absolutely delicious.  Don’t limit yourself to just burgers on these little buns, either.  I made Sloppy Joses on some of mine, and next week I’ll be showing you a fabulous Thai chicken slider that is to die for. 

What is your favorite thing to put on your buns?

Mouthwatering Mini Meatloaves

I don’t know about you, but I think the best parts of a meatloaf are the edges.  So when I was considering making a meatloaf, I thought, why not make little ones so that there’s a much higher edge to middle ratio.  And well… why not wrap them in bacon?  Bacon is always a welcome addition. 

Here’s what you need:

1 lb. ground turkey breast
2-3 small onions (they have to be small)
½ of a red bell pepper
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 egg
12 strips of bacon
Salt and pepper

 

In my world, bacon isn’t cooked unless it’s crispy.  Nothing bugs me more than something wrapped in a soggy piece of bacon.  With that in mind, you’ll need to par-cook the bacon before doing anything else.  Lay the slices on a foil lined sheet pan.

Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes.  Or until it looks about like this.

Remove it to some paper towels to drain and cool.  Next, dice your onion and bell pepper and mince your garlic.  You’ll want the pieces to be pretty small. 

Now, pull out your meat.  Drop it into a mixing bowl with an egg. 

Mix them until the egg is fully incorporated. Hubby likes things spicy.  Since I don’t really, I compromised and put in about a teaspoon of hot sauce.  You can as much as you like… or none.  This is a good time to add the salt and pepper as well.   

Once that’s mixed in, go ahead and stir in the onion, bell pepper, and garlic. 

Now, this is where the importance of having small onions comes in.  If you can’t find any really small onions, you can just remove some layers to make them fit.  Place a thin slice, about ¼ inch, into the bottom of each muffin cup. 

Now comes the bacon.  Place one strip around the edge of each cup.  Mine was center cup, so it didn’t quite make a complete circle, but close enough.  Look at that, a perfect little cup for your meat. 

Fill each one and press it with wet fingers to smooth out the top. 

I had two extra strips of undercooked bacon, and I’m pretty sure it’s blasphemous to waste bacon, so I just cut them up and topped each cup with a little piece. 

Bake, uncovered, in a 350° oven for 45 minutes.  I placed my muffin tins on a sheet pan just to be safe.  When they’re done, they won’t really be brown, but the bacon on top will be cooked as well as the strips around the edges.

If you’re careful, you can flip the meatloaves over and serve them with the onions on top.  The onions are sweet and caramelized, and I think they look fabulous that way.  I plated them both ways so you could see the difference.  Aren’t they cute? 

I served mine with a slice of potato and zucchini pie, which was a fabulous accompaniment. 

What full size recipe would you like to see miniaturized?