Homemade buns/bread

I'm going to explain how I make buns/bread in very simple terms and I challenge you to give it a try.

Recipe:
This will make 4 loaves of bread or 36 hamburger buns roughly.  I use a bosch mixer.  If you use a kitchen aid please cut this recipe in half.  Don't want to over work the kitchen aid.
Start by putting 4 cups of milk in the microwave and heat for 4 minutes.  Once heated, pour into your mixer bowl.  Add 1 stick of butter.  You can actually use any oil you want just as long as it equals 1/2 cup.  Now put 2-4 cups of flour. If you'd like to put oatmeal in your bread/buns put that in place of the flour.  Add 1/2 c. of sugar, honey, molasses or whatever you like to use.  Now add 4 T. of yeast.  Don't put the yeast right on the hot milk, you'll kill it.  That's why I'll add some flour or oatmeal to help cool the milk down a bit. Mix for just a minute or so and walk away.  Now is the time were you go and chat on facebook, your favorite etsy thread or maybe label some soap as I've been known to do.  Let the yeast come alive for about 30 minutes.
Start the mixer going, add 4 eggs.  Slowly add more flour.  Notice I don't say how much, it really depends on your weather.  You'll go through 12-16 cups for the whole recipe.  But add slowly.  All of a sudden you'll notice the sides of your bowl coming clean...STOP ADDING FLOUR!!!  Let everything rest for a while.  You don't want to add too much flour because you'll end up with bricks...trust me I know.  Walk away again, label more soap or chat some more.  Again, depending on the weather your dough might rise quick or slow.  Depending on how your dough feels and looks after walking away, you might need to add more flour.  Start the mixer back up to punch down.  Now you can shape into 4 loaves or 36 buns.  To make the buns, make sure you really squish the dough down to about 1/2 " when shaping...you don't want buns to look like balls when they come out of the oven.

Please excuse the messy counter top...I've been busy today.  These buns are about 1/2 way through rising.

This is how they look after baking for 23 minutes at 350 degrees.  If you are making bread bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.
LOL...you can see soap in the background that I was working on labeling while doing these buns.
Stay tuned for a special gut scrubber variation.  My kids call it that because I'll use freshly ground whole grains.  :)