Homemade Hamburger Buns and Veggie Sloppy Joe’s

I canned my homemade ketchup a few weeks ago and have been dying to make Sloppy Joes with it.  I also wanted to make hamburger buns. I read a bunch of recipes online and decided to try the one from The Kitchn.

I pretty much followed this one to the letter since these were my first hamburger buns and I wanted to make them perfectly.

Betty, my beloved pink Kitchenaid Stand Mixer was in the shop so I had to make them by hand. (By the way, if you live in San Francisco and have an appliance in need of repair, go see this guy: Universal Electric Service, his name is Son and he is super friendly, fast and totally knows what he’s doing. I can’t recommend him highly enough)

Ball of Dough

It was nice to do it by hand though because I enjoy the visceral experience of kneading the dough. The dough hook is easier but I think I miss an important part of the bread-making experience. Kneading by hand lets me connect with the dough in a way I find very therapeutic.

Kneading

Here is the recipe from The Kitchn:

• 1 tablespoon active-dry yeast
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) warm water
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) milk (whole, 2%, or skim)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups (15 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter

 

I mixed the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another, and then stirred them together till all the flour was incorporated. Then I kneaded the dough for 10 minutes, adding extra flour when it got too sticky. I ended up with a smooth, springy ball of dough. I covered it and let it sit in a warm part of the kitchen for about an hour.

Rising Dough

When it had doubled in size, I used a pastry scraper to cut it into 8 equal lumps. I shaped each into a ball, tucking and pinching the bottoms.

Future buns

Then I placed them on a silicone-lined baking sheet and left them to rise for 40 minutes.

Pinched Bottoms

 

Balls

Before they went into the oven, I brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled a tiny bit of salt on them. I baked them for about 20 minutes in a 375 oven (my  oven seems to take longer than most recipes suggest. It must be cooler than it’s supposed to be. The Kitchn says 15 minutes so you try that.)

Doubled in Size

 

Butter

All Buttered Up!

They were so beautiful when they came out! I was really impressed. I let them cool completely before cutting them but it was hard not to eat them right out of the oven. They were brown and toasty on the outside and fluffy and prefect on the inside.

Golden Brown and Delicious!

Fluffy Inside!

The difference between these and prefab buns is like night and day.  Those folks at The Kitchn know what they’re talking about.

To go with my little fluffy balls of magic, I made Veggie Sloppy Joes.

I used a mix of lentils and veggie crumbles for this.  I used Gimme Lean since it was what I had but you could use TVP or crumbled tofu or chickpeas or even just some meaty mushrooms.

Here is the recipe I came up with:

• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1-3 small carrots diced
• 1 sweet pepper, diced
• 1 cup lentils, rinsed
• 1 pound of veggie crumbles
• ½ cup ketchup
• Splash Worcestershire sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• 6 cups liquid (tomato juice, stock or water)
• 1 T mustard
• 2 T honey

 

 

Diced Veggies

Browned Veggies

I started by sautéing the veggies in olive oil till they were starting to turn brown, then added about  ¼ cup of my homemade ketchup. Then I added 1 cup of rinsed lentils. Remember that tomato juice I had canned when I made the ketchup? Well I put that in along with a few cups of water and a large spoonful of honey. My ketchup is really tangy so I wanted to sweeten it up – if you use regular ketchup you might not need this.

 

Ketchup!

Tomato Juice

I brought that to a boil then turned it down and let it simmer until the lentils were soft and the water was absorbed. It took about 45 minutes.

Lentil mixture

Fake Meat – I love it!

While that was simmering, I browned the veggie crumbles in olive oil and added the Worcestershire and the lentil mixture to the pot. I tasted it and thought it needed a bit more kick so I added a tablespoon of my homemade mustard, the rest of the ketchup and let it all marry for a while.

Bringing it all together

It was really, really good. The buns were the best and my husband ate one all by itself.  It was a fun meal to make and it made me happy to have healthier and homemade version of  a childhood favorite.

Sloppy Joe’s. Yum!!

Related articles

• Canning Homemade Ketchup (wildrarebit.wordpress.com)
• Lentil Sloppy Joes (greenlivingash.wordpress.com)
• Easy Sloppy Joes (& Homemade Buns!) (jornie.com)
• 10 (More) Recipes To Know By Heart Recipes from The Kitchn | The Kitchn (thekitchn.com)
• Sloppy Joes by Sloppy Jo (notesfromamessykitchen.com)
• Turkey “Sloppy Joe” on Honey Wheat (eatsavorenjoy.com)