The best bun recipe ever!

Every Saturday morning my foster mother would wake up earlier than any farmer I know and bake either bread or buns.  When I smell fresh buns I can still hear AM 1250 playing on the radio and her mixer in the kitchen mixing dough and it was always very calming.  She would wake up, get the dough ready and wash the dishes all before the rest of us would wake up.  And when she finished that, she would pull the vacuum out of the closet, and turn it on, and that’s when chores would begin.  In winter, there was really no yard work to do so we would usually finish chores by noon and get to eat fresh buns for lunch. 

My foster mother used to make her buns with milk instead of water which made them really good when eaten fresh, but not so good by the second day.  Growing up we had never had store bought bread.  We would get a homemade bun with jam for lunch and very seldom would we get lunch meat, (she would can so much jam in autumn that she thought why buy lunch meat when we can just eat the jam), but when you eat old buns and jam every single day, soon uneaten bun sandwiches start showing up in random places, our roof, our shrubs, neighbors shrubs, the bush on the way to school, my school desk, even the school roof.  When everyone had to clean out their desks due to a mysterious smell in the classroom, it was usually my desk.  At the time I was so envious of the kids that were blessed with white Wonder Bread and bologna sandwiches.  So when I got my first paycheck from working a full-time summer job when I was 13,  I walked straight from the bank to the grocery store, bought a loaf of white Wonder Bread, and a pack of bologna, and finished the entire thing before I walked back home. 

So while I was going through my foster mothers recipe books, I found the infamous bun recipe scribbled on a loose piece of paper taped to a recipe book.  At first, my plan was to post that recipe for you all, but I can’t decipher it.  I’m not sure if I need to send it to a university to someone that deals with ancient cave drawings or a low german pharmacist.  So while I work on figuring out that recipe, I’ve decided to post my own recipe.  This is a recipe that I have tweaked and have been making for 8 years.  It is made with water instead of milk so the buns have a longer shelf life, although my family enjoys them so much that they normally don’t last more than 3 days. The thing that makes this basic recipe a great recipe is my foster mothers technique of kneading in oil to finish the bun dough.  She claims that it is her secret technique, and whether she did in fact invent it or not, it really does make the difference.   I tend to make my buns rather large so I normally get about 18 buns, but have gotten 2 dozen medium sized buns out of this recipe.

 

First, you need 3 cups of warm water, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of instant yeast, 2 eggs and 7+ cups of flour.

 

Mix 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of instant yeast with 3 cups of warm water and let it sit until the top starts to look frothy.

 

While you are waiting for the yeast to froth, mix  7 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 1/3 cup of oil and 2 eggs (beaten in a separate bowl first) on low speed.

 

Once the yeast mixture is frothy add into the flour mixture and continue to mix on low speed.  When the flour is all mixed in, slowly add more flour while still mixing until the dough (about 1 cup more) until flour is completely incorporated and just until the dough is no longer sticky.

 

When the dough is done mixing, continue mixing the dough while slowly pouring oil into the bowl, just until the dough doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl. 

 

Then take the bowl off of the mixer and slowly add more oil while kneading the dough by hand until you start to hear farting sounds.  Really.  There’s no other way to describe the noise. 

 

Cover the bowl with a light cloth (old pillowcases cut up work really well.  Wash them first of course).  And let it sit for 1 hour, punching the dough down every 15 minutes. 

 

After an hour, oil a cookie sheet and make round balls, a bit bigger than a golf ball, and place on oiled cookie sheet. 

 

Cover with a light cloth again and let rise for 1 hour.

 

Place in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown.  Remove buns from the cookie sheet immediately after you take them out of the oven and cool on a wire cooling rack.  Enjoy! 

 

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The Best Bun Recipe Ever
Yields 12
A delicious and easy bun recipe.
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Prep Time
2 hr 10 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
2 hr 30 min
Prep Time
2 hr 10 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
2 hr 30 min
144 calories
17 g
31 g
7 g
3 g
1 g
95 g
310 g
8 g
0 g
6 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
95g
Yields
12
Amount Per Serving
Calories 144
Calories from Fat 64
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 7g
11%
Saturated Fat 1g
4%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 5g
Cholesterol 31mg
10%
Sodium 310mg
13%
Total Carbohydrates 17g
6%
Dietary Fiber 1g
3%
Sugars 8g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A
1%
Vitamin C
0%
Calcium
1%
Iron
2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Ingredients
  1. 3 cups Warm Water
  2. 1/2 cup Sugar
  3. 1/3 cup Oil
  4. 1 1/2 tsp Salt
  5. 2 Tbsp Instant Yeast
  6. 2 Eggs, beaten
  7. 7+ cups Flour
Instructions
  1. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of instant yeast with 3 cups of warm water and let it sit until the top starts to look frothy.
  2. While you are waiting for the yeast to froth, mix 7 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 1/3 cup of oil and 2 eggs (beaten in a separate bowl first) on low speed.
  3. Once the yeast mixture is frothy add into the flour mixture and continue to mix on low speed.  When the flour is all mixed in, slowly add more flour while still mixing until the dough (about 1 cup more) until flour is completely incorporated and just until the dough is no longer sticky.
  4. When the dough is done mixing, continue mixing the dough while slowly pouring oil into the bowl, just until the dough doesn't stick to the sides.
  5. Then take the bowl off of the mixer and slowly add more oil while kneading the dough by hand until you start to hear farting sounds.  Really.  There's no other way to describe the noise.
  6. Cover the bowl with a light cloth (old pillowcases cut up work really well.  Wash them first of course).  And let it sit for 1 hour, punching the dough down every 15 minutes.
  7. After an hour, oil a cookie sheet and make round balls, a bit bigger than a golf ball, and place on oiled cookie sheet.
  8. Cover with a light cloth again and let rise for 1 hour.
  9. Place in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown.  Remove buns from the cookie sheet immediately after you take them out of the oven and cool on a wire cooling rack.
  10. Enjoy!
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calories
144
fat
7g
protein
3g
carbs
17g
more
MennoNeechie Kitchen https://mennoneechiekitchen.com/

16 Comments

  1. Did you honestly try this recipe? 12 buns? they were like small loaves of bread. Maybe 24 large buns. The baking time when made into 12 was way off too. The directions were extremely difficult to follow.

  2. I have now made this recipe several times, the first time was in November 2019, I took some for Thanksgiving dinner at my parents, my Dad was hungry before dinner so he ate one, and was absolutely wowed by it and told my mother (who is an excellent Mennonite cook and baker) now this is GOOD! My mother got her feelings hurt and told him I had no experience in baking bread at all she could not imagine it being better than hers. After she had one at lunch she asked me if I would share the recipe with her. Directions are easy to follow, makes quite a bit, never looked to she how much it was suppose to yield just went by my size of making them. Thank you A Neechie for sharing your wonderful story and your recipe!!

    By the way my Dad went and hide him a couple before everyone showed up.

  3. Hi,
    Could you please offer some advise on making this without a machine?
    I am a beginner, horrible cook. I need all the help I can get.
    Thanks

  4. I would love to try this recipe, but I’m confused about the oil. Instructions say to add 1/3 c. oil to the flour mixture, but how much oil gets added to the dough when kneading it at the end? Thanks so much!

  5. I’ve made this recipe a few times, it’s such a nice dough to work with.

    I don’t use a mixer I just mix by hand, so for those of you that do as well these tips are for you. When mixing all the ingredients together by hand you may notice the dough is a little sticky, so you will need to add more flour then the recipe calls for. I add about 1 cup more give or take, you want to make sure the dough is no longer sticky. This has worked great for me.

    I’ve made this recipe into pizza buns, cheese buns and bread and cinnamon buns! It’s a really great bun dough, I can’t wait to try more things with it. I’m so glad my Auntie told me about this recipe.

  6. I have these in the oven right now and they are turning out amazing! This is my second time making these.
    Thank you so much for posting this recipe.

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