Elevate your burger game with this delicious, homemade hamburger buns! These brioche-like buns are light in texture and high in flavour.
This is the only hamburger buns recipe I’ve used to make hamburger buns for years! While these buns are enriched with eggs and a bit of butter for flavour, they somehow still manage to be light in texture, yet sturdy enough to hold all the burger and the toppings.
I love that I can make these burger buns without a stand mixer. The simple dough comes together easily in a large bowl.
So if you’re looking to elevate your burger game this Summer, these delicious homemade hamburger buns are a great place to start. They freeze beautifully, so make a couple of batches and load up the freezer and you’re always ready for a leisurely Summer BBQ
Key Ingredients
Bread flour: You’ll get the best results if you start with bread flour and even better, if you start with unbleached bread flour. Here in Canada, that’s not the easiest to find on the shelf in grocery stores. I get mine at Bulk Barn. Failing that, bleached bread flour is fine. You can use just all-purpose, but your buns might not rise quite as high.
Active Dry or Regular Instant Yeast: Active dry yeast needs to be proofed (soaked) in warm water before using. I never use dry active yeast myself, but prefer to use Instant Yeast (such as SAF Brand). While Instant Yeast doesn’t require proofing in water before using, it doesn’t hurt if you do, so I just go ahead and proof the Instant Yeast in the same manner as described in the recipe. Instant Quick-rising or rapid-rise yeast will not work with these buns and are not recommended.
Video: How to make homemade hamburger buns
I think the one thing that tends to trip people up when making buns is the shaping of “the ball”. It’s quite understandable that someone might think that you just need to grab a piece of dough and form/squeeze it into a ball shape. In fact though, there is a bit of a technique to creating “a ball” with dough, that creates what’s known as surface tension or tightness on the top of the ball. It’s this tension that encourages the dough to rise higher, while also creating a lovely smooth top.
The technique for forming the dough into buns is shown in this video. It’s the easiest way I think and produces great results.
1. Stretch the top to create a smooth top.
2. Flip over and stretch the sides in towards the centre and pinch together.
3. Do this all around the edges, until the sides are smooth, too.
4. Flip the ball over, so your pinched part is down.
Baking Tips
- The first thing you need to know about this dough is that it is very moist and almost sticky when made as prescribed. To get the best (lightest) results, you want to avoid as best you can adding much more flour here. Add just the bare minimum you need to, so you can handle the dough.
- This dough is also a slow riser, so be patient and allow it to rise for however long it takes to double etc. In a warm Summer kitchen, it will probably rise a little more quickly.
- I like to weigh the whole dough before dividing into balls. I then divide the total weight by 8, to calculate the dough weight of each roll. Weigh them out separately and you will have 8 identically sized rolls!
- Right after egg washing the buns and just before popping them in the oven, top buns with sesame seeds, poppy seed or “everything” mix if you’d like to add some toppings to your homemade buns.
Top Tip!
Be sure to brush the egg wash on the dough evenly and thoroughly, being sure to get all around the bun and right to the bottom. Any bare spots left from your brushing will leave pale spots on the finished burger buns.
Making ahead, storing and freezing homemade hamburger buns
These are best enjoyed on the day they are made, but it is perfectly fine to make in the morning and enjoy for dinner.
Store rolls in an airtight container, until needed, up to 24 hours. Freeze for longer storage.
These buns freeze beautifully up to 2 months! Simply remove the buns from the freezer and thaw on the counter. It will only take a short time to thaw (30 minutes, or so).
Get the Recipe: Simply Perfect Homemade Hamburger Buns
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 g) water, warmed to about 105-110F
- 3 Tablespoons (45 g) milk, warmed slightly to lukewarm
- 2 teaspoons (6 g) active dry yeast or regular Instant yeast, not quick or rapid rise yeast
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons (33 g) white sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten with a fork
- 3 cups (375 g) bread flour, spooned and levelled
- 1/3 cup (45 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g) fine salt
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons (35 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
For egg wash:
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon water
- Poppy or sesame seeds, optional
Instructions
- Before you start! Scroll down to the Recipe Notes for some important tips for working with sticky dough.
- In a small bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, combine the warm water, warmed milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until bubbly, about 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the bread flour, all purpose flour and salt. Add the butter. Using your finger tips, rub the butter in to the flour mixture, making even crumbs.
- Add the yeast mixture and the beaten egg to the bowl and using a dough scraper or silicone spatula, stir until a moist, sticky dough forms.
- Using a silicone bowl scraper, scrape the dough on to a very lightly floured counter or work surface. At this point the dough is very moist and sticky and not really able to be kneaded as you traditionally would. You will be tempted to dust with flour, but resist the urge to start. Instead of traditionally kneading, use your dough scraper or silicone spatula to scoop up the dough and then slam it back on the counter. (Don't just drop it, slam it. It's therapeutic :) Use your scraper to turn it over a few times on the counter, then pick it up and slam it again. Repeat this slaming/turning action for a couple of minutes. You should find that it is a sticking to the counter a little less. If you feel it isn't progressing after a couple of minutes (is still super sticky), very lightly dust the counter with flour and turn the dough over it to flour very lightly (Not too much flour. Just a dusting). Continue doing the slam and turn action for several more minutes. At some point, after about 5 minutes or so of this routine, your dough should stop sticking to the counter. Though it will still be a quite moist dough, you should be able to form it into a ball. *If your dough is still sticking after 5-7 minutes of working it, dust with a tiny bit more flour, as needed, until it is no longer sticking, but is still nice and moist.
- Shape dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 1-2 hours. Note that this dough is a bit of a slow-riser. Allow it to rise until doubled, no matter how long that takes.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Using a dough scraper, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. (* I like to weight the dough ball and then divide that weight by 8, to get a weight for each piece. I then weigh out each piece to that weight, to get 8 exactly equal pieces. My last bake, the individual balls were 101g apiece. Yours may vary somewhat.)
- If your dough is still too sticky at this point to form into balls, very lightly dust with a tiny bit of four.
- Form each of the 8 dough pieces into balls (* See video above the recipe card on how to do this!). Place balls on parchment lined baking sheet about 2-3 inches apart. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled again, 1-2 hours.
- Set a large shallow roasting pan of water on the lowest rack of the oven. Preheat oven to 400F (not fan assisted) with a rack in centre of the oven, as well.
- When buns have doubled, beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush the buns thoroughly. * Be sure to brush the entire bun, top and sides, right down to the pan, as any areas you miss will be pale-coloured once baked. If desired, you could sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds at this point, as well. Bake, turning sheet 180 degrees halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes.
- Immediately transfer buns to a rack to cool completely.
Notes
Adapted from “Light Brioche Buns” by Jane Sigal as shared by the New York Times
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Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Wonderful recipe! I’m in a household of two, so I make a batch and freeze them for later use. My girlfriend loves the buns even more than I do!
Glad you are enjoying them, Rob :) Thanks so much!
A really good recipe! Great taste and softy bread!
So glad you enjoyed them, Isaura :) Thanks!
I made these this afternoon, turned out pretty good for a first time
Glad to hear, Douglas :) Thanks!
Hi Jennifer!
Well…. your’s is the fifth hamburger bun recipe I have tried and after making the dough (which I didn’t find very sticky) I was worried I was going to end up with another heavy bun.
BUT…. this is the best recipe I have found ever! The buns were soft, held together with my homemade burgers and tasted fabulous.
Your instructions and hints were very helpful. I now think that my previous attempts didn’t work so well because I rushed the rising, so thanks for that tip!
Our local bakery stopped making our favorite buns so I have been searching for a substitute… Looks like I found it!!
Thank you!
So glad to hear, Donna :) Thanks so much!
After mixing, rising and forming rolls can I cover and refrigerate overnight and bake the next day?
Hi Lillian, I have never tried it, so I can’t say with any certainty. I can tell you that if you bake these, let them cool, then immediately freeze them, when you pull them out of the freezer and thaw, they will be as good as fresh-baked. That’s the method I use to make them ahead.
Any idea what would happen if you substituted a little cake and pastry flour for the all purpose flour?
Hi Donna, I think cake flour is too soft for buns like this. What are you hoping to achieve with the addition of cake flour?
All of the recipes I have tried so far end up quite heavy (although I think most were American and I know their flour is slightly different)… I’m just looking for a bun that is slightly softer
But… I should add, I haven’t made yours yet ;-)…. but I’m about to start and I will follow your recipe… Looking forward to it!
Great recipe! Made them tonight. I really liked the kneading/throwing! It was fun and I didn’t expect the dough to stop sticking but it did. The dough stayed moist but was also workable and elastic. Thank you!
So glad to hear, Lissie :) Thanks so much!
Hello! I like your site very much! I just stumbled upon it as I was looking for a burger bun recipe. As my dough is rising right now, I was wondering, should I freeze these raw or already baked? Thank you for your wonderful work!
Hi Maria, I always freeze them after baking and as soon as they are cooled. You can just grab as many as you need, set them on the counter for 20-30 minutes and enjoy. They are just like fresh baked :) Enjoy!
Made these buns exactly per recipe yesterday. I admit that I was a bit skeptical about the extended slamming of the relatively moist dough instead of traditional kneading. However, they turned out exceptionally well. Light, fluffy, great crumb, really excellent taste and picture worthy! Not only will I be adding this recipe to my “keepers” file, but I may try the slamming technique on other loose/moist dough recipes I use – like for English a muffins. My thanks for a great recipe.
So glad to hear Sandy and yes, the slamming thing is different, for sure, but effective :) Thanks!
Finally a recipe that actually works on the first try, and is way better than most restaurant burger buns. Thanks a million!
So glad to hear, Tim :) Thanks so much!
I’m partway through making this recipe, super easy and its going exactly as noted :)…rookie question, after it has gone through the first rise, do I punch the dough down before then making the individual balls for the second rise?
Short answer, yes. Longer answer, I’ve never been much of a dough puncher, but you definitely need to de-gas it. I generally just press it down to flatten.
Wonderful recipe, method explained perfectly as well. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Shawnette :)
Awesome thank you! The buns turned out great, first batch turned into dinner balls lol as I didn’t follow instructions 🤪 second batch came out perfectly!
Nick
So glad to hear, Nick :) These are a little tricky at first, but you clearly have the hang of them now. Enjoy!
The buns turned out amazing. Thank you for sharing this recipe
So glad to hear, Rehana :) Thanks!
Quick question? I love the rolls but the bottom isn’t browning. Any suggestions?
Hi Latika and glad you are enjoying them. For browner bottoms, try lowering your oven rack down one position from where you have been baking them and see if that helps :)
These are the best and so easy. I put a little less sugar. I made them for company for smashed burgers and it was delicious. Brought my meal to a different level.
So glad you enjoyed them, Francoise :) Thanks so much!
I’ll never buy burger buns from the shop again! I love this recipe so much I usually half it as there’s just the two of us in a lil hous. There is something so satisfying about making your own bread and especially when it comes out as beautiful looking and delicious as these!! Thankyou so much for sharing it with us!
So glad to hear, Mhairi :) Thanks so much!
Can you use this recipe for making loaves of bread as well?