Ingredients:

• 100g milk (warm, but not too hot)
• 200g water
• 20g sugar
• 120g sourdough starter
• 500g bread flour
• 6g salt
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

Toppings:

• Egg wash (1 egg, plus 1 tbsp water)
• Sesame seeds (optional)
• Poppy seeds (optional)

Put the bowl of your stand mixer onto your kitchen scale. I love this wooden bowl since the wood helps insulate and keep the dough warm for a consistent rise. Add your milk, water, and sugar and stir with a spoon to dissolve the sugar.

Next add your starter, flour, salt, and butter. Put the bowl on your mixer and, using the dough hook, start mixing on low. Once the ingredients start to come together, turn it up to 2, and mix for several minutes until dough comes together in a ball and is pulling away from the side of the bowl. The dough will be stretchy and elastic.

Cover your bowl with plastic or a damp tea towel to rest until it has risen by about 50%. It took about 4 hours in my kitchen at 74F.

After it has risen, turn your dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Divide your dough into 10 even sections. They should weigh about 97-98g each.

Shape your buns by forming the dough segments into balls, then pressing them flat and rolling them up. Pinch the seam together and transfer them to a parchment paper lined baking sheet or hotdog bun pan. They should have a small gap between them, but still be pretty close together.

Cover them with a tea towel for their second rise. They should double in size, be puffy, and should be touching each other after the second rise. This took about an hour in my kitchen.

While the dough is doing its second rise, preheat your oven to 350F.

Prepare your egg wash and brush the buns. If you are adding toppings like poppy seeds or sesame seeds, now is the time to add them.

Bake your buns for about 20-25 minutes, or until the tops have started to turn a nice golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before separating and slicing.

You can brush the tops with melted butter right from the oven if you’d like, but they are also delicious without.