Heart Shaped Mini Cheese Burgers With French Fries

I had gone to bed and was trying to think of some instructables I could make for a couple of the contest. I wondered if anyone had made some edible mini cheese burgers. I got up went online and searched instructables to see. Nope! I was so excited! I went back to bed and was trying to figure out how I would want to make them. A sesame seed bun would be a must! I wanted them to be very small like 1 1/2 inches across. OK! Lettuce, cherry tomato's, baby dill, green onion, and let's see . . . . ah mini fries, and heart shaped buns! I was good to go to sleep so I drifted off into instructables dreamland.

The next day I was trying to decide what bread recipe to try and did not want to spend a day experimenting in the kitchen with bread so I looked online and could only find one recipe that was small enough to try and wouldn't you know it, He made mini bacon burgers with BBQ sauce! I was somewhat disappointed but decided to try his bread recipe just the same. I enjoyed his little video because he had such a cute accent and a great presentation! But his recipe was in metric so I still needed to experiment but at least the recipe was small enough in case I had to re-make the buns.

This recipe will rock your guest! Seriously, they turned out so awesome! My hubby even enjoyed them! I almost wanted to throw a party! I'll bet these little babies would work perfectly in a Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler!

Here is the link and if you want metric you can get the recipe here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxCBGlPgr5o

Let's make some mini cheese burgers and fries!

Ingredients

For the mini hamburger buns you will need:

1 Tablespoon melted butter
2 Tablespoons beaten egg
2 Cups unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
Sesame seeds
Warm water explained in next steps.
This recipe will yield about 40 mini buns.
Parchment paper

Frozen dough might work for these but I am not sure.

Cheeseburger:

2 Cups hamburger will yield about 36 mini burgers. I did not make that many so this is an estimate.
Thinly sliced Cheddar
Thinly sliced tomato's (I used cherry but I think the next size up would be better.)
Thinly sliced green onions ( leek or maybe shallot would be perfect but I could not find any here.)
Thinly sliced baby dills
Spring lettuce (I used romaine because that is what I had, but spring lettuce would be thinner.)
Ketchup or mustard
Salt and pepper
Tooth picks
2 Sizes of Heart shaped cookie cutters (the kind that you can buy that fit inside each other would be perfect.
I made my own from a Pepsi can because I could not find the size I needed. The hamburger shrinks when it is cooked so that is why I suggest 2 different sizes. I used one size and cut down the heart shaped dough using kitchen scissors and it worked out nicely.
Parchment paper

Fries: I could not resist making mini fries because this is an instructable. I am not sure if anyone is interested in making them. I cut the potatoes into short thin slices and fried them, but aren't they adorable? It only took a few minutes for them to cook and they were good! My hubby thought canned shoe string potatoes would go good with the mini cheese burgers.

Potatoes
Frying oil

Start Yeast Mixture

Add sugar and add 1/4 cup warm water to the yeast mixture and mix well to get the yeast started.
Set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Flour Mixture

Add salt to the flour and mix well.

Add Egg, Butter,Yeast, and Water to Flour Mixture

Add the egg, butter, and yeast mixture to the flour.
Slowly add the warm water and mix until the mixture is like bread dough.
Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is soft and pliable.
Cover and let set rise for 1 hour.
Save the left over egg mixture for the egg wash.

Prepare the Hamburger

Add salt and pepper to the hamburger and mix well.
Roll out the hamburger between 2 sheets of parchment paper ( he said about 1/2 centimeter, I am guessing slightly less than 1/4 inch?)
Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Shaping the Buns

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. He cooked his at 350 but don't know if it was F or not, I cooked mine at 325F
Roll out the bread dough, slightly less than 1/4 inch.
Cut out the heart shapes using the cookie cutter.
Give the tops an egg wash.
Sprinkle a few sesame seeds onto a small plate.
Dip the bun tops into the sesame seeds. He sprinkled the sesame seeds but I wanted more coverage.
I let my buns rise a little before I put them in the oven.
Bake 8-10 minutes. Watch closely you don't want dry buns!
Remove from the oven and after they are slightly cooled cut them in half.

Aren't they adorable?

Shaping the Hamburger

Using the cookie cutter, cut out the hamburger hearts.
Fry them on a (low - medium heat.)
Turn them over and cook the other side.
Add cheese just before they are finished cooking to make them prettier.
You can fry the potatoes when you fry the burgers.

I used a soap mold for the patties because the cookie cutter was smaller. Just in case you are wondering what I used.

Assemble the Burger

Place the burger on the bun.
Layer the lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle on the bun.
Spread ketchup or mustard on the top of the bun.
Secure with a toothpick.

You can see from the picture I had to add three slices of tomato and onion to the hamburger because they were too small, that is why I think a slightly larger tomato and scallions would have worked better and would have been easier to assemble.

Sunshiine's Final Thoughts

Of course I always have so much fun making instructables, but these were over the top! This would be a great recipe to make with the kids! The Pepsi in a shot glass and the brown bag came to me as I was taking pictures! The fries were very good! I would love to see pictures if anyone makes these.

Thank you! Instructables, our sponsors, and our loyal readers for making this the best place to share on the internet! Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy belated Valentine's Day! I tried to make these before Valentine's Day but I have been getting over the flu!
sunshiine