Homemade Hot Dog Buns from Bread Machine Dough

We are in crazy busy activity mode with several nights a week spent going from one activity to another.  Between baseball, Kung Fu, garden club, cub scouts, and soon to be added to this list t-ball, I am having to come up with portable meals that can be eaten on the run.  

On one of our busy nights, I decided we would have grilled smoked sausages. Since I didn't plan ahead as I should have, we did not have any buns in the house.  The last thing I wanted to do during our precious time at home was drag the little boys to the store for one package of hot dog buns.  I decided to try and make my own.  I started thinking about all of the bread dough recipes I have made and thought that my bread machine bread stick recipe might work if I adapted it slightly.  The bread sticks are always soft and kind of fluffy like hot dog buns.  I would have to make them larger and wouldn't pour melted butter over them, but I thought it would work.  

And it did.  I cut them quickly with a pizza wheel and did not reshape the buns, but next time I may try to shape the buns in a more rounded shape if I have time.  Either way, they are delicious.

Put these ingredients in your bread maker in the order listed.  

1 cup warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3 TBS brown sugar or sucanat
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1.  Once the dough cycle is finished, roll the dough to about a 10" X 10" square on a large lightly buttered baking sheet.

2.  Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 pieces.  Round edges to make hot dog bun shapes if desired.

3.  Let rise for about an hour.

4.  Bake at 375 degrees F. for 15-18 minutes until golden.

Linking up at Create with Joy and Do Tell Tuesday and a big Thanks to Money Saving Mom for featuring this recipe!