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These homemade hamburger buns with a soft and fluffy brioche like interior will take your burger game up a notch! They are done in 2 hours from start to finish!
Love a buttery roll with your dinner? Then you will definitely want my Garlic Butter Dinner Rolls!
I suspect that, for many of us, making our own homemade hamburger buns doesn’t seem to be a necessity when they are so easy to come by in grocery stores. But I’ve been waiting for far too long for barbecue season to come along, and I want to do it right!
And doing it right means big, juicy burgers that store bought buns just can’t handle! That’s when I turn to my own buns, which I know are up to the task.
This simple recipe always gives me the best burger buns, soft and fluffy on the inside but a lovely chew on the crust. Plus they taste amazing, and are so much more than just packaging for the burger and toppings.
Better yet, these soft and delicious hamburger buns take 2 hours from start to finish!
Hamburger Bun Recipe
This recipe comes from my mother as all best recipes do. I took her master yeasted dough recipe and tweaked it a tiny bit to fit my purposes.
And we were absolutely smitten with the results! These buns are all you want to cradle your burger. They boast a sturdy and glossy exterior with soft and fluffy interior crumb.
The most important quality in a burger bun to me is to to be able to soak up the juices without falling apart in your hand while not being unyielding to the bite! Right there is the perfect balance for me.
How to Make Them
This recipe is not too dissimilar to a brioche recipe, and that is why it creates a soft and buttery bun. Essentially it’s an enriched with eggs and oil yeasted dough.
I don’t want you to be afraid just because I mentioned the word “brioche”, which is strongly associated French bakeries and might sound intimidating. This dough recipe is seriously simple!
The main difference is the process has been simplified by adding vegetable oil straight to the dough instead of incorporating soft butter slowly.
The yeast amount has also been increased to create a fast rising dough. So you can have your buns ready in 2 hours flat.
What flour should I use?
For best results I recommend using strong bread flour for its higher protein content. Protein is essential for gluten to develop properly, and gluten is essential for bread that has a fluffy interior with a pleasantly chewy crust.
However all purpose flour for the US and Canadian readers will also work. Plain flour will be an acceptable substitute for the UK readers if no bread flour is available. Although it’s worth noting that it will produce a tighter crumb.
You can also use whole wheat or spelt flour to make these hamburger buns. Or use a half and half combination of the white and whole wheat flour.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- All purpose flour can be used for these buns but for the bread flour will give the best results. Bread flour contains more protein, which allows for more gluten development. More gluten development is what is needed for really satisfying bread, both for stretchier dough and a good rise when the dough rests and the buns bake.
- You may use whole wheat or spelt flour to bake these buns or a 50:50 ratio of white and whole wheat or spelt flour.
- Traditionalists will love kneading the dough by hand, but I prefer to use a This is an affiliate link.stand mixer. Not only is it far less effort, but it also takes about half the time.
- Dough needs to be in a warm place for the yeast to go to work and cause the dough to rise. If it isn’t rising as you would expect, moving it to a warmer part of the house.
- An egg wash before baking may not be an essential step, strictly speaking. But it is the egg that gives the buns their lovely golden shine and makes them visually striking.
- As tempting as it is to crack into warm, freshly baked bread or buns, it is actually better to let them cool down first. A lot of the moisture in the baked buns is in the form of steam when they are first baked, and they need to cool down for this to be reabsorbed into the dough. Once it is reabsorbed it will contribute to the lovely soft and light texture.
Serving suggestions
I made these buns with burgers in mind, so I would start by pairing them with:
But why stop there? They are just as perfect for sandwiches made with Asian Pulled Pork with Carrot, Zucchini and Radish Slaw! Or fill these buns with a fried egg, tomato and a slice of cheese to also make the best breakfast sandwich.
Storage and leftovers
Wondering if you can freeze these buns? Yes, you absolutely can! You can easily double the recipe and freeze half of it for another day.
If you do double the recipe, all you have to do is to double all ingredients. Everything else remains the same.
Easy Bread Recipes to Try
2 Hour Hamburger Buns
Ingredients
- 220ml/1 cup warm milk, whole or skimmed
- 7g/1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.active dry yeast
- 1½ tbsp sugar
- 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp salt
- 400g/3 cups + 2 tbsp white bread flour or all purpose flour, read notes
- 1 egg for brushing
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds or poppy seeds
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the warm milk, yeast and sugar and let it stand for 5 minutes. Then add the oil, salt and 1 egg. Mix with a fork.
- Add the liquid to the flour, mix until rough dough forms, then take it out of the bowl onto a floured surface and start kneading until smooth and elastic dough is formed for approximately 8-10 minutes. If using a stand mixer, knead using a dough hook attachment for 1 minute on low speed, then switch to medium and kneed for 4 minutes longer.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and rub the bowl with vegetable oil, then return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let it rise for 45 minutes in a warm place until it more than doubles in volume. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- After the dough doubles in volume, take it out of the bowl onto a floured surface and divide into 8 equal parts. (You might want to weigh them to ensure they are all the same.) Roll into balls and place on parchment-lined sheet 2 inches apart from each other. Cover with a tea towel and let them rise one more time for 30 minutes.
- Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds or both and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Then cool on a wire rack.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi – I’ve been looking for great bun recipe and this look fantastic – just wanted to ask. About how big are the baked buns when divided by 8 ? Having a gathering and need to look at how many batches I’ll need …looks delicious
They are pretty standard size, so if you divide the dough into 8, the buns would be a bit small in my opinion.
I have not even tasted these yet but they have turned out exactly as I wanted! Little crusty but super pillowy (is that a word) soft. I can barely make the burgers fast enough. This recipe will be going in my “mom’s recipe book” for sure.
Thanks for sharing
So happy to hear it, Jenn!
Hello! Do I freeze the dough or the baked bun?
Baked ones, Yvonne.
I have been experimenting with tons of bread recipes lately, I made these last night to go with the pulled pork I made, the buns were perfect, light and fluffy. Definitely a keeper recipe and so easy to make. My son used the leftover buns to make a breakfast sandwich and he said it was excellent!
I will definitely be making these often. Thank you so much for sharing! I’m excited to try your other recipes, so glad I found you.
I am so excited to hear that, Debbie! Welcome to my website!! 🙂
Great recipe Julia, thanks! The instructions were well explained, and the buns turned out great. I made them today for supper. This is definitely a keeper recipe that I’ll make often! I’ve been subscribing to your blog for awhile and really enjoy it. Take care and stay safe!
I am so happy to hear your feedback, Michelle. Thank you for your support for such a long time!
Thanks Julia and my pleasure! Take care!
Hqmburger buns that aren’t dry and tasteless is exactly what I’ve been looking for! I had been buying them instead of making them, because I hadn’t found a recipe that lived up to my expectations. I have high hopes for this one as you’ve never failed me before. I attribute that to your Russian sensibilities. My family is Swedish, but the matrilineal line is Sami. Maybe that explains my love for all things Russian, including Vikalinka.
Oh I am so excited for you to try these, Christine! I’ve done a few batches testing the recipe my kids use them for breakfast sandwiches, for lunch or just eat them with a bit of butter on top. They are that good. And yes, there is definitely a cultural overlap when it comes to food between Russian and Sweden. We spent one of our best summer holidays in Northern Sweden right on the border with Norway and kids absolutely loved it! So happy for you to follow along with my culinary creations! 🙂
If you use whole wheat flour, shod you add more water?
Hi Christine, I would follow the recipe as it is but if you use 100% whole wheat flour that is particularly coarse I would add just a splash of water but it really depends on the flour or even humidity in your house.
I have been experimenting making my own bread. Can’t wait to make these next! They looks amazing and I’m sure way better then store bought.
These are the best buns for hamburgers! Love them! way better than store bought
They are delicious, aren’t they! Thanks, Rachael!
These buns were so delicious and so simple! My family loved them! Thanks for sharing!
So pleased to hear it, Chelsea!!