Instructions

1. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the flour, salt, and dried onions. Using a whisk, gently combine. Add in the butter, eggs, honey, milk, water, and yeast. Mix on low scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the flour.
2. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 8 minutes…the dough should be tacky and look pretty sticky. You can add a tablespoon of flour or so if you feel it’s too sticky (some dough will just barely stick to the sides of the bowl). Don’t add too much flour as the dough should be tacky and look almost wet. It’s a very soft dough.
3. Continue kneading for an additional 2 more minutes (10 minutes total – this is important!) The dough will ‘climb up the dough hook’. That’s OK. Scrape the sticky dough that clings to the sides of the mixer bowl and then form all of the dough in a ball. Lightly butter a bowl and put the dough in that. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until at least doubled in bulk and is nice and puffy about 1 to 2 hours.
4. Place the puffed dough gently onto a floured countertop. Lightly sprinkle a bit of flour on top as well. Using a dough scraper, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (mine were about the size of a lemon). These really puff up! Flour your hands and form the pieces into balls and place them on a lightly oiled parchment-lined baking sheet. Arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on the baking sheet as they will rise some more. *You can also place them in a prepared larger muffin or hamburger bun pan for more uniform, puffier tops. Flatten the balls down a bit ( to about 1 1/2-2”). Lightly spray the dough balls and cover loosely. Let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours or until puffed again.
5. minutes before ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400F with rack in center.
6. Light brush each bun with egg yolk mixture and top with sesame seeds. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking until tops are golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
7. Transfer to a rack to cool completely and freeze, if desired.