Sloppy Joes on Homemade Buns

When I was a kid I *HATED* sloppy joes. Now that I am an adult I think I could eat them every day for a week and not get sick of them. Something about that sauce is just so addictive to me now. I don't make them very often now for the same reason I don't keep ice cream in the house. I can't be trusted pure and simple. I did however make them this week! I might have had 3 in the last 12 hours. Seriously good!

I had originally planned to use store bought buns and with that in mind bought the HUGE package of buns when I went to the store. I however forgot about that 2 days into the week and decided to use up the last of the buns for lunch one day since we are doing the zero food waste challenge. Oops! Oh well, I have a super yummy recipe for homemade buns that is much better then store bought buns anyways. I was lucky that I caught the problem at noon and had plenty of time to make the buns before dinner.  

Hamburger Buns

1 cup milk, room temperature

1 cup hot water

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast 

Olive oil

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

    

Combine the milk, hot water, butter, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

 Add the dry ingredients and kneed for 8-10min (I use my stand mixer with dough hook).

 Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  

Punch down the dough and divide into 12 portions. They should be a little larger than a golf ball.

Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and greased with a bit of olive oil.

 After the rolls sit for a minute and relax, flatten each ball with the palm of your hand until it is 3 to 4 inches wide. Set rolls aside until they double in size, about 20 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water in a cup or small bowl. Brush onto the tops of the rolls. I don't have a brush so I just use a small spoon to add a dab of the mixture to the top and then use the back of the spoon to spread it out evenly.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove the rolls from the oven and return them to different shelves so each one spends a little time on the top. Continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until nicely browned on the top and bottom.

Sloppy Joes

1lb ground beef

1c onion, chopped

1c bell pepper, chopped

Sauce:

1 1/2c ketchup

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp yellow mustard

Brown the ground beef with the onions and bell peppers.

In a separate bowl combine your sauce ingredients well.

Once the meat is and vegetables are cooked through mix in the sauce and heat through.

Yummy!