SWEET POTATO BURGER BUNS

And a really good chicken sandwich.

Hello & welcome to the first edition of “If I Had A Bakery! If you’re new here, this is where I share the recipes that I’d make if I had my own bakery. We’re talking breads, pastries, cookies, cakes, brownies & more. It’s like walking into your favourite bakery!

This week, we’re making a batch of soft & squishy burger buns that are made with mashed sweet potato & crispy potato skin! The dough’s also enriched with butter, egg & milk and the buns are topped with 2 types of sesame seed before baking, for added crunch. They’re super light & fluffy yet robust enough to hold the juiciest burger. Oh & they’re really easy to make.

There’s also a bonus recipe included in this week’s newsletter, for a seriously tasty chicken sandwich which uses these burger buns. There’s roast chicken, a tarragon & mustard mayo, lettuce, tomato & crispy smoked bacon. It’s a belter!

Thanks for reading,

Ben.

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What Makes A Good Burger Bun?

In my opinion, a good burger bun should be soft & squishy yet still be robust enough to hold up to the juiciest burger, sauciest pulled pork or crispiest fried chicken. Other than that, a proper burger bun should have a buttery, savoury flavour & be ever so slightly sweet (not overly sweet like brioche buns can be). Oh & a sprinkle of sesame seeds is a must in my books.

Using Potato In Bread Dough

I’ve developed a a lot of different breads for my blog & my favourite type by far, are the ones that are made with potato. So far, I’ve made potato focaccia, burger buns, sandwich bread & a 100% biga potato pizza dough. Although these burger buns are the first bread to use sweet potato.

When you add mashed potato to bread dough, it increases the starch content which in turn allows the dough to take on more water, without becoming too difficult to handle. And when it comes to homemade breads, a higher percentage of hydration in the dough, the softer & fluffier the final bread will be.

Now, it’s not as simple as adding mashed potato to bread dough & calling it a day. You have to take into consideration the amount of water in the potato & how they’ve been cooked. For this reason, I find that it’s best to bake the potatoes instead of boiling, to keep the water content as low as possible. I’ve also found that the best baker’s percentage of mashed potato in bread dough is around 25-30% & we should treat it as a substitute for some of the total flour weight.

We also need to allow for the water content from the potato & adjust the liquid in the dough accordingly. So say we use 100 grams of potato, this would roughly equate to 75 grams of water. Then to work out the baker’s percentage of hydration/total liquid, we add the liquid in the dough & the water in the potato together then divide this by the total flour weight, plus the potato weight.

But that’s enough science for now.

*The water content of potato tends to sit around 75% for both sweet & regular potatoes. Although sweet potatoes tend to be a bit wetter when cooked & mashed.

The Windowpane Test

The best way to assess the gluten development in your dough is by using the windowpane test. Here, you take a small piece of dough & stretch it between your fingers. If it stretches thin enough so that you are able to see through it, enough gluten has been developed. If it tears, more kneading is required.

You’ll see me mention the windowpane test in most of my bread recipes, so I though I’d add a quick explanation!

A Really Good Chicken Sandwich

I was toying with the idea of just making a burger to show how to use these burger buns but they’re so much more versatile than that! Although they are fantastic when served with a classic beef patty or a crisp smash burger.

Anyway, let’s talk about this chicken sandwich because quite frankly, it’s delicious. For the filling, we’re making use of leftover roast chicken which we’re dressing with a quick tarragon & mustard mayo, plus some shredded lettuce. There’s also rashers of crispy smoked bacon & a thin slice of tomato that’s been seasoned with sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper.

It’s like a BLT & a club sandwich combined!