Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.  Mix it until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  After mixing for a few minutes, if the dough still seems sticky, you can add a little more flour if needed, so that the dough doesn’t stick to the edge of the bowl.  It should pull away from the mixer bowl, and not be sticky.

I like to put the lid on my mixer bowl and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.  If you have the time, you can let it rise a bit longer.  The bosch mixer has a nice lid that seals down, keeping the moisture in the bowl and helping the dough to rise quickly.  You can also put your dough in a separate bowl covered with a damp tea towel.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough into 8 or 10 equal pieces using a bench scraper, depending on how large you want your hamburger buns.  Shape them into buns by tucking the outsides underneath and placing tension on each ball of dough.  Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet with some space in between.  I usually put them about three wide and four long on the baking sheet.  I don’t mind if they end up touching each other after they raise.

Cover the shaped buns with a tea towel, and allow the buns to rise until they look nice and puffy and have doubled in size.  Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, you can turn on your oven until it’s about 125 degrees.  Shut it off and put the buns in there to rise where it’s warmer.

Beat an egg yolk with 1 Tablespoon of water and gently brush it on top of the buns.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.  This step is optional, but will make a beautiful golden top to the buns.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the buns for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven.  Brush the tops with butter if desired.  I usually do this if I didn’t brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash.

Slice the homemade hamburger buns in half and serve with your favorite burger, condiments, cheese, pickles and oven fries baked in tallow.  So delicious!!