I like all kinds of sandwiches on hamburger buns (good ones, that is). However, if they get past really using on sandwiches, but aren't spoiled, I've always preferred bread puddings with more crust than you get from sliced bread. It give the pudding a more interesting texture. Of course, my fav bread for bread puddings are croissants. Insult to injury, in for a penny, in for a pound, all that...but gosh croissant bread puddings are tasty. :D

Liz, if you don't have enough egg rings, can you use things like tuna cans with the tops and bottoms cut out? The newer cans have those weird bottoms that can't be cut out, but some of the "store" brands still have them. I'm afraid if you cook them on a sheet, you're going to have flatbreads. Sigh. That said I did make Elery some bagels which got boiled first and then baked and they held their shape. So, if your package has bagel directions, maybe that would work. The texture of the gluten free bagels were more like a bun anyway. Annie

shawnalyn- Perhaps this yeast test will come in handy for you - especially if you use yeast purchased in bulk amounts, don't use it frequently, and are uncertain of the strength of the yeast. Yeast Test: In a 1-cup glass measuring cup place 1-1/2 t. yeast, 1 t. sugar and 1/4 c. warm water. Wait 10 minutes. The mixture should be up to the 1/2 c. line if the yeast is active enough to raise bread dough. If you proof your yeast in water/sweetener for a recipe and you don't see good activity after 5\-10 minutes of proofing time, then there won't be enough "umph" in the yeast to raise bread dough and there's no sense continuing the recipe and wasting any more ingredients than the proofing mixture. And it's also an indication it's time for new yeast..... Be sure to add your yeast to the water, not water to yeast. Dumping the water on the yeast can actually "kill" or damage the yeast from the beating it takes from the water. If you actively stir the proofing mixture you can damage or kill the yeast. In one of his bread books, Bernard Clayton offers this advise: "If the dough refuses to rise, you may have forgotten the yeast or the yeast may have been outdated and dead. Don't throw the dough away. Start a new batch of dough but make certain the yeast \- in the amount specific in the recipe is among the ingredients. After the dough is mixed, blend the two doughs. There will be more than enough healthy yeast cells to go around. OR, dissolve the yeast in a small amount of water and work this into the dough. It will be a sticky mess in the beginning, but the yeast will be absorbed." \-Grainlady

I am no longer a bun virgin! You folks inspired me to try them. I have a bread machine that I used to use many many years ago, back when I had a metabolism. LOL All these posts about yeasts and how forgiving dough is made me brave. I figured I would give it a shot with the recipe in this thread. I used the bread machine to mix the dough. I confess that I never even thought about using the dough cycle, always baked the bread in the machine. I poured the ingredients in, walked away for 1:30 came back and dumped it on the counter and made cute little balls (thanks for the video link). Came back 1 hour later and baked these delicious rolls! Oh yeah, my yeast expired in May, I used it anyway. No problem. We are such city slickers and my Mom and her Mother were not cooks. So the most amusing part of making these rolls is my Mom saying "Wow you can do that? Make hamburger buns at home?" She was pretty funny. After they were done she kept touching them saying "I'll be darned, aren't they beautiful?" Here they are after 5 minutes of hands on. The results How easy was that? I think I'll leave the bread machine out. Thanks for all the encouragement. A special thanks goes to Ann T and Annie for being so encouraging to us novices about bread baking. And Maureen thank you for the recipe. I think next time I will weigh the little balls to get them the same size. Does anyone know how much hamburger sized buns should weigh?