Among Friends Thursday - Maria's Cheeseburger Stuffed Buns

This is fun food! Maria, like I have said on the Low Carbing Among Friends Facebook page, is a substitution genius. She invented this recipe for a nutritional client who loved cheeseburger pockets wrapped in regular bread dough. I remembered my mom trying out the German version of these--Bierocks, which included cabbage too. I remember those being hard to make, trying to get the stretchy, gluteny dough to wrap around the filling. ( and just as tough to get it to stay wrapped) We did love them though, and I could imagine how great they would be as all American cheeseburgers. If Maria could invent it, we could give it a try.

Normally I don't like messing with bread doughs that rely on whipped egg whites. Beyond trying to get the timing right on how long to beat the eggs, there is a texture that just doesn't do it for me. I couldn't imagine any other way to get the wrap around job done for this recipe though. So I took Maria at her word and began to follow her recipe. The dough was easy enough to put together--much like the oh so popular Oopsies from Cleochatra, or the original Revolution Roll from the Atkins books--but with additional whey added for stability and a few other alterations.  Like I said, Maria is a genius. While this is still not my favorite bread replacement, no other bun would work for this application. And these are delicious all put together!

I think I made mine a little too big on the base, because I ran out of fluffy dough before I could cover them all over the top. Still, I think they look even better with some ground beef and cheese peeking through.(I also had to substitute some shredded cheese instead of sliced, but I don't think this made much of a difference) You can pick them up with your hands and chow down. Or, you can plate them over some lettuce and add your favorite burger fixings. I like them best that way. Sure, I had to eat with a fork--small price to pay.

These stuffed buns would be extra quick if you already have your Minute Beef  prepped. Just whip up the dough and bake. One note: I liked these best after I had let them cool off. When they were still hot from the oven, the bun stuck to the roof of my mouth. That did not happen when I ate another a couple hours later. I think cooling enabled them to get rid of a little more moisture. Perhaps letting them cool with an open oven door would be a good idea. Not a big issue, and certainly nothing to spoil the fun of eating these family friendly burgers. I had hoped to freeze them to see if they would hold up to be good lunch box food, but we ate them all. Maybe that it a good sign. I will just have to try it again. If you want to try them they are on page 120 of our Low Carbing Among Friends Cookbook. If you don't have it yet, order it soon. It would be fun if more of you would join me on Among Friends Thursdays and send me photos of recipes you are using from our book, or links to photos from your own blogs.