You say buns, I say yum!

I was perusing the blogs and I saw Smitten Kitchen found a recipe for some fabulous buns. She prompted me (and all of you), to make these amazing buns. I so happily agreed. Matter of fact, I jumped out of bed, ok, I rolled out of bed because of all that weeding yesterday and made these buns. Can you smell them? Oh, I wish you could. You see, I too, have been looking for an amazing bun recipe. Either the crust has been too hard or the bun too dense. I wanted light. I wanted melt in your mouth. I wanted people to say oh, it is oh so worth it to make these at home. I wanted the Grand Dame of Buns. I got it. Yes, these buns are yum!
Light Brioche Buns
New York Times recipe from Hidefumi Kubota, Comme Ça, Los Angeles

3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1. In a glass measuring cup, combine 1 cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat 1 egg.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, unfloured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours.

5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Yield: 8 buns.