It’s grilling season but if you’re still buying your hamburger buns from the supermarket, your smash burgers are seriously missing out. They deserve something better. Today I’m sharing my recipe for homemade burger buns. They’re buttery, rich, super soft and fluffy (similar to a brioche!), and easier than you probably think. If this is your first time working with yeast or making bread, I recommend you watch my how-to video in the recipe card, I think that could be helpful!
What You Need:
This recipe is a cross between my homemade bread (but enriched to be a bit more like a brioche) and my dinner rolls. They’re soft, fluffy, and buttery, and the ingredients play a key roll in this.
Water & milk. We’re using mostly water, but a splash of milk to enrich the rolls and make them more tender. You’ll combine the two liquids and heat to 105-115F, just the right temperature for activating your yeast. Yeast. I use active dry yeast, but instant could be substituted. You will not need to proof the yeast if you use instant. Keep in mind the dough will rise faster. Sugar. A pinch of granulated sugar helps feed the yeast and activate it faster, but we’ll also use some in the actual dough. This doesn’t make the rolls sweet, but does makes for a better flavor. Salt. for flavor. Eggs. We’ll use one egg and one egg yolk to enrich the dough, it makes it similar to a brioche dough. Save your egg white, you can use it to brush over the burgers before baking for shiny tops! Butter. You guessed it, to enrich the dough. This also gives our rolls incredible flavor. Flour. While all-purpose flour would work, I highly recommend using bread flour. I talk about this a bit more below.
You can make this recipe in either a stand mixer or by hand. I generally recommend a stand mixer since the dough is fairly sticky, but in my video I demonstrate making the recipe without a mixer.
Tips
Watch your yeast! Your water needs to be warm, but not too hot or it will kill the yeast. A pinch of sugar helps the yeast to activate faster. If you don’t get a foamy cap after 5-10 minutes (see video for visual), discard your mixture and start over; your yeast is likely dead and your burger buns won’t turn out properly. Sticky dough = soft buns. This recipe yields a much stickier, softer dough than many other yeast recipes (like my pizza dough). You want the dough to be manageable, but don’t add so much flour that it’s no longer a bit sticky, or the rolls will be denser and tougher than is desirable. Bread flour > all-purpose flour. Bread flour lets the rolls rise higher for a fluffier and more rounded burger bun, better for slicing in half and for your hamburger needs! All the wonderful, flavorful ingredients that we’re adding for rich rolls (butter! eggs! sugar!) weigh down the bread, so a high gluten bread flour really helps give them lift. Brushing your burgers with egg white yields a shiny, golden exterior. You can sprinkle poppy seeds or sesames seeds over the egg white and they’ll stick perfectly. Brushing the rolls with butter instead yields a softer, not-shiny exterior that seeds won’t stick to. Not as pretty, but my taste testers liked the butter-brushed buns best (say that 5 times fast).
If you’re more of a visual learner or are nervous about baking with yeast, watch my how-to video in the recipe card!
Making in Advance
This dough may be made in advance. To do so, after kneading the dough, placing it in the oiled bowl and covering, transfer to the refrigerator for it to complete its first rise overnight. Return the dough to room temperature before deflating and continuing as instructed in the recipe.
Storing and Freezing
For freshest taste, I recommend serving these buns within 3 days of making them. Allow them to cool completely then store in an airtight container until ready to use. They may also be frozen. Allow to cool completely and then freeze in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
Summer Salads To Accompany Your Cookout:
Broccoli Salad Macaroni Salad Corn Salad Caprese Salad Potato Salad
If you try your hand at making homemade hamburger buns, I’d love to know what you think of them! Please leave me a comment or share a photo of your creation on Instagram and tag me @sugarspun_sam! Enjoy!
