In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the water, yeast, sugar and salt. Set aside for a few minutes until bubbly. (If you are using instant yeast, this will happen almost immediately but still give it a few minutes while you measure out your flour. If you are using active dry, it could take a bit longer).

With the mixer on medium speed, add 2 tbsp butter (partially melted - just stick it in the micowave for about 30 seconds so its nice and soft with a little bit of melted parts) and flour and allow the mixer to knead the dough until it is a smooth ball that is still a bit tacky. It should be sticking to the sides a bit. If you are not using the gram measurements for flour, make sure to add 2.5 cups and then slowly add the remainder until the dough is the correct consistency.

Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size, about an hour and 45 minutes. But this will depend on how you kneaded your dough, the water temperature you used, and the temperature of your kitchen. So focus less on the timing and more on the size of your dough.

After the dough has doubled in size, separate it into 8 equal size pieces. I weigh the full dough on my food scale and divide by 8 and then make sure each ball is the correct size. But this is just because I'm particular, you can just eye ball it.

Gently pat down the dough balls until they are 3 inch discs. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and let them rise in a warm spot until they are noticeably puffy (about 45 minutes to an hour). Again, this will depend on a number of factors, so I take a picture of the buns as soon as they are formed and then check to make sure the buns are nice and puffy by comparing to my original photo. If you want the buns to be more of a "pull apart" style, place them on the baking sheet less than 1 inch from each other. If you want each bun to be separate, space them out more.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Melt the remaining 3 tbsp. of butter.

Once the buns are puffed up, use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the buns with about half of the melted butter.

Bake in the oven for about 13-15 minutes, until they are golden brown on top and cooked through. If you gently squeeze or poke the bun, the bun should bounce right back.

As soon as the buns are out of the oven, brush the tops with the remaining butter.

Set the buns aside to cool completely. Slice when you want to use them and leave unused buns unsliced to maintain their freshness.