I had a fun baking 900 meat buns. Yes, that is right, this is not a typo, we made 900 meat buns for my sister by loves nieces wedding this past fall.
We used her sister's recipe which I modified just a little.
It makes 75 Dozen 2" in size. Personally, I like them a bit bigger.
However, 1 recipe of dough using 3 lbs of ground beef makes about 300 meat buns.
The recipe can be cut in half easily to make less. But believe me, 300 meat buns get eaten rather quickly. Especially at Christmas time.
This was not a one person job, I had help from my brother, sister by love and their girls. It is always more fun doing it as a group. I made the dough recipe 3 times, the meat filling recipe 2 times, and 1 recipe of sauerkraut and bacon.
Now that Christmas is approaching, get your friends and family together and make a batch or two. Put on the Christmas carols and hot cocoa and have fun together. Feel free to half the recipe which is very easily done if you don't need a large quantity.
Dough
- 1 cup warm water
- 5 cups warm milk
- 1/2 cup margarine
- 1/2 cup lard
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast
- 1 egg
- about 12 cups of flour divided
- In a large bowl add about 9 cups of flour, sugar, salt and dry yeast. Mix well.
- Add the lard and margarine and mix with a pastry blender to cut the fat into pea sized pieces.
- Add the warm water, milk and beaten egg. Place the bowl of dough in a sink of warm water for about 15 minutes until the dough bubbles.
- Continue adding the remaining flour until you have a soft dough. You can do this by hand or in a large dough mixer with a dough hook.
- Let rise until double in bulk for about 45 minutes.
- Take a piece of dough, roll thin, and cut with desired size cookie cutter.
- Fill with the following fillings, pinch the seams together. Using about 1 rounded teaspoon.
- Let rise on greased pans or pans lined in parchment paper for an hour.
- Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until they are browned to your liking.
- These freeze very well by placing them in zippered plastic bags. Remove as much air as possible.
- If you want to use both filling options as written, you have to make 2 recipes of dough.
Meat Filling
- 3 lbs of lean ground beef
- 4 envelopes of onion soup mix
- 2 tablespoons flour
- enough water to make a thick gravy
- 2 cups of dried fine breadcrumbs ( I did not use the full 2 cups)
- black pepper to taste. No need to add salt since the soup mix is salty enough.
- In a very large frying pan, brown ground beef but do not drain.
- Add the onion soup mix and flour.
- Add enough water to make a thick gravy about 2 cups.
- Simmer about 40 minutes.
- Sprinkle in enough breadcrumbs to absorb the gravy.
- Cool filling.
Sauerkraut Filling
- 1 pound bacon, finely diced
- 2 medium onions, finely diced
- 2 - 2-litre jars of sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
- In a large frying pan, brown the bacon, drain most of the fat but leave a little, maybe 2 tablespoons.
- Add the onion and cook until the onions begin to soften.
- Add the drained and rinsed sauerkraut and continue to saute until the cabbage takes on a light brown colour.
- Cool.
- Follow baking instructions for the meat buns.
Wow! So how many does this one recipe make?
ReplyDelete75 dozen, 2" in size. It's in the description below the picture :)
ReplyDeleteActually I think it would be 25 doz. If I understand correct she tripled the dough recipe which gave her 75 dozen
DeleteStated in the post: "1 recipe of dough using 3 lbs of ground beef makes about 300 meat buns"
DeleteI wouls love to make these but will dial it waaaay back and assume that you can freeze them? My grandmother was from SW Nebraska where they serve runzas. I think this is similar--love them. She served them with a hamburger gravy over it which is a bit like gilding the lily. LOL
ReplyDeleteI don't want to appear silly, but how does one eat these? As a hamburger bun or dinner roll or by themselves? They sound so good. My daughters and I get together to made to make about 10-12 dozen peirogi on a day. So this is another one to try! Thank you, Judy
ReplyDeleteThat is not a silly question at all. Generally people eat them by themselves sometimes served along side a bowl of soup. Some like to serve it with mustard to dip into. Often they are served as appetizers as well. I hope my answer clarifies this a bit for you.
DeleteThese look soooo good! Two questions: How long can these be frozen for, and with 4 envelopes of onion soup mix for only 3 lbs. of ground beef, wouldn't these be too salty?
ReplyDeleteThese can be kept in the freezer for about 3-4 months. If you feel the salt content of the onion soup mix is to high use less and add a couple of sauteed onions. That is the beauty of this recipe. It can be tweaked a bit without to much change in the flavor.
DeleteI am impressed with you make so many of these. They look delicious and must have been well received. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Wishing you a very happy Sunday :)
ReplyDeleteI love how you say "sister by love" instead of sister-in-law! I have been baking for my brother and sister by love, their daughter, my sweet niece for her wedding that is coming up next weekend! I've made 980 cookies for her reception as a wedding gift to them. Was so happy to do it too! I will now refer to my sisters -in-law as my " sisters by love".
ReplyDeletesorry ...line 4 ... in the dough part.... should that read add remaining flour to the dough
ReplyDeletethanks... they look delish...
thank you for catching that. it is now corrected and says flour.
DeleteHow thin do you roll out the dough?
ReplyDeleteWhen you make these in large amounts, like for a wedding, how did you reheat them?
ReplyDeleteDo you bake them frozen or thaw them first? Do you serve them buffet style in slow cookers?
reheat from frozen in a 350 over for 10-15 minutes. I have not ever served them buffet style in a slow cooker so I can't speak to that. If you try serving them in a slow cooker please leave a comment as how that works out.
Deletecould you use a taco seasoning for the meat? Also, could oatmeal or even quinoa be substituted for the bread crumbs to absorb the liquid?
ReplyDeleteRecipes are guidelines and should be experimented with. Taco seasoning sounds like a delicious addition and I believe that oatmeal or quinoa could be used instead of bread crumbs. I myself have not tried that but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Be adventurous :)
DeleteCould mashed potatoes be used as a thickener instead of breadcrumbs ?
ReplyDeleteYes Mary it can. Add as much mashed potato to make the picture stick together. I am not sure exactly how much that would be.
DeleteHi. I'm making your recipe and noticed the dough calls for 1 egg but the dough direction step 3 says eggs. How many eggs do I use? Did I read this wrong?
ReplyDeleteThanks for finding the typo, the error has been amended. The recipe is only one egg. I hope you have success with the recipe and enjoy the meat buns.
ReplyDelete