Hamburger Buns
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I am definitely a “meat and potatoes” kind of girl. Given the choice of chicken, beef or fish, I’ll choose beef every day of the week and twice on Sundays. As far as chicken and fish go, if you batter and fry them, I’ll enjoy them. Otherwise, I’m totally “meh” about both of them. Oh, but beef. Steak, cheeseburgers, tacos, stew… so much goodness no matter how you prepare it, and when you throw a baked potato, French fries or home fries into the mix? I can’t resist. I realize it’s not very girly of me, but then again, I’m not terribly girly most of the time (example: I currently have an ugly skinned knee from a street-hockey-on-rollerblades mishap last week). One of my favorite meals is a juicy bacon cheeseburger with all of the trimmings. The best thing about eating a burger at a really great restaurant is usually the bun. They’re a little over-sized, sturdy enough to handle the burger, and typically buttered and toasted. For a long, long time, I’ve been wanting to make hamburger buns at home, and I’m happy to finally able to cross them off my list. I thought that summer would be the perfect time to tackle them since the grill is usually in full swing, and we eat a lot of hamburgers at home. These hamburger buns could not have turned out more perfectly, and I’m excited to keep them stocked for summer grilling!
These hamburger buns are light yet sturdy, very tender and moist. The dough is enriched with milk and butter, which gives the buns all of their amazing flavor. I love that these can be made in an afternoon and with very little hands-on time. Between the mixing, shaping and baking, you’re only looking at maybe one hour total, if that. The rest of the time is inactive, letting the dough rise and do its thing, while you do your thing. Like laundry. Or browsing Pinterest. Or watching reruns of your favorite TV show.
You’ll see in the directions to press down lightly on the top of the buns before their second rise to give them their final shape. If you don’t do this, you’ll end up with really round buns, which will look more like dinner rolls. How much you press down is really up to you and how flat or round you prefer your hamburger buns. I pressed down lightly twice, and you can see the general shape that my buns took. For me, they were perfect; I like my buns with a little height and substance, but wouldn’t want them any larger. Hopefully, you can use that as a starting point for getting yours to the perfect height and width for your preferences.
Once you have the buns finished, it’s party time! Time to build your favorite burger. Mine has cheese melted onto the burger while it’s still on the grill, lots of bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, mayonnaise and ketchup. With a side of chips and a pickle, of course. Maybe you like blue cheese and bacon? Or a classic with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles? Perhaps a BBQ-style burger? Whatever your favorite burger is, one thing is for certain – this will definitely become your favorite hamburger bun.
I’m already excited for my next burger on one!
One year ago: Sweet and Salty Brownies
Hamburger Buns
Yield: 12 hamburger buns
Prep Time: 4 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
Ingredients:
4¼ cups bread flour
1½ teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 egg, slightly beaten, at room temperature
¼ cup butter, at room temperature
1½ cups buttermilk or whole milk, at room temperature1 egg, whisked with 1 teaspoon water until frothy, for egg wash (optional)
Sesame or poppy seeds for garnish (optional)Directions:
1. Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Pour in the egg, butter and milk, and mix on low speed until all the flour is absorbed and the dough forms a ball. If the dough seems very stiff and dry, trickle in more milk until the dough is soft and supple.
2. Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook), adding more flour, if necessary, to create a dough that is soft, supple and tacky, but not sticky. Continue kneading (or mixing) for 6 to 8 minutes. (In the electric mixer, the dough should clear the sides of the bowl, but stick every so slightly to the bottom.) Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
3. Ferment at room temperature for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
4. Remove the fermented dough from the bowl and divide it into twelve 3-oune pieces. Shape the pieces into tight rounds. Mist the dough lightly with spray oil and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Allow to rest for about 20 minutes.
5. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Gently press down on the tops of the rolls with your fingers to flatten slightly. Transfer the buns to the sheet pans.
6. Mist the tops of the dough with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Proof the dough at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the buns have nearly doubled in size.
7. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the buns with the egg wash and garnish with poppy or sesame seeds, if desired.
8. Bake the buns for approximately 15 minutes, or until they are golden brown and register just about 180 degrees F in the center. The buns should cool for at least 15 minutes on a rack before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight zip-top bag. If you want to freeze them, I would wrap individually in plastic wrap and then store in a zip-top bag. Thaw at room temperature.
(Recipe adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice)
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Yum! I totally want to try this.
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I’ve pinned you! I’ll be trying this with my bread machine soon.
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congrats on today’s Foodbuzz top 9!
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Such a fun thing to make! I need to get on this!
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Wow, these really look like the perfect hamburger bun. I definitely want to try to home make buns at some point.
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How fantastic do these look! will absolutely be trying these!
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Nice buns ya got there!! Wow… guess there was no way NOT to take that wrong! LOL
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These look, hands down, better than the commercial ones!
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I cannot wait to try these!!! Thanks for posting this!
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These look soooo good! Even at 7am haha!
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Have you been to Meat and Potatoes downtown? you must try if not… it’s amazing.
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Michelle on June 6th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Hi Katelyn, I haven’t yet. My sister has been there multiple times for dinner, lunch, brunch, happy hours, etc. and she loves it. My mom had brunch there and wasn’t a big fan. Any menu recommendations??
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Oh, these look good! So much better than the store bought ones!
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I think one of the things that I enjoy most about your site is that you make real food for real people. Thanks for that.
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These look great! I also have been wanting to make my own hamburger buns forever now. And this recipe looks easy. Thanks for sharing!
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Now this are some beautiful looking buns, I could eat them as dinner rolls with some butter too!
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I’ve never had a stronger craving for a hamburger in my life! These hamburger buns look so amazing!
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What a great idea to make homemade hamburger buns. They look so delicious…just like in some of my fave restaurants.
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They look perfect!
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these look great. it really enhances the burger to make homemade buns.
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wow that is such a delicious looking burger!! those are beautiful buns:) haha…but seriously they are gorgeous! thanks for sharing!
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The buns are just perfect, you got a perfect color on it. This recipe is so great.
And you know something, even I like meat so much, it’s not part of my day to day menu, I mean, I used to eat chicken or fish, more fish as we are in the coast. But each time we have a BBQ, it’s absolutely meat time…!!!
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Yum… looks delish and super easy to make. Can you make them smaller for a ‘slider’ style burger?
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Michelle on June 6th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Absolutely! Just reduce the baking time.
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It is a rainy day here in the South and I am whipping these bad boys up right now!
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Those look tasty! I just discovered a great trick for toasting buns (it’s probably really well known, but I can be a bit slow on the uptake
– melt some butter, spread over the inside of the buns and heat on a griddle! It ensures no burnt spots and the cleanup is a cinch. Anyway, with this recipe and toasting on the griddle, I don’t see how a meal can go wrong!
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Michelle on June 6th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
I agree! I like to brush the buns with melted butter and then toast them in either in a cast iron skillet or griddle. They come out perfect every time!
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I might have to try this. I like making my own “grocery items”
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I wish I had this recipe when we made burgers this past weekend!
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They look perfect!!
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Oh, heck yes! Definitely trying these this weekend as we’re planning to cook burgers on our new grill! Gorgeous, Michelle!
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I can see us eating a lot more burgers this summer if I were to make these buns. They look positively perfect!
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These look like they’re from Fatheads! And now, I really wish I didn’t move away from the Burgh, haha. Thanks for sharing!
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Michelle on June 7th, 2012 at 11:05 am
Ahhh, I love Fatheads! The Colossal Club is my go-to sandwich there; my boyfriend always gets the South Side Slopes
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Wow. I have so got to try these. Hamburgers are for sure my favorite food. Unless ice cream counts as food, and then that’s more favorite.
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These look perfect! Now that I usually do homemade hamburgers, store-bought buns just don’t cut it anymore!
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I’m totally a beef girl too!
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These are beyond gorgeous, they’re pretty much the most perfect hamburger buns ever! I have a favorite homemade recipe, but I am definitely thinking these need to happen in my kitchen – and soon
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How would you adapt these to a bread machine? I want to try almost every bread you post, but sadly don’t have a stand mixer. My office mates and I absolutely love your site!
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Michelle on June 7th, 2012 at 11:07 am
I have never used a bread machine, so unfortunately I can’t give you any guidance. I would recommend checking out the user manual to see how you would adapt recipes for the machine. That being said, you can totally make any bread recipe without a mixer. Just mix the ingredients with a large wooden spoon and then when it’s time to knead, just dump out the dough and use your hands!
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Ooooohhh!! Thank you for sharing this. Thinking of making some sliders and finding the right size perfect buns are always difficult or expensive. Loooks sooo great. Do you know how long these are good for? Can I freeze them and reheat if needed? Love my bacon cheeseburgers! Add a little bleu cheese and it is over.
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Michelle on June 8th, 2012 at 10:28 am
These will stay for about 3 days stored in an airtight ziploc bag. You can definitely freeze them as well and reheat as needed.
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Mei-I @ Gastronomic Nomad on June 11th, 2012 at 7:08 pm
Also, can I replace the bread flour at all with all-purpose? Or would you not recommend it?
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Rachelanne on June 11th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Mei-l,
I would not recommend it personally. I have seen recipes with 1/3c APF added, but quite frankly, I can’t imagine why. The texture of these is quite perfect in every way. I am a fan of modifying every recipe, but adding APF may affect the rise on these, and trust me, you won’t want that – they are spectacular as is!
Just my humble opinion ( =
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Michelle on June 12th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Hi Mei-l, I would not substitute the all-purpose flour. Bread flour has a higher protein content; substitute AP flour would affect the texture of the buns, as well as how much they rise.
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Fried chicken and fried fish are all about my childhood, YUM! Now if asked give me the beef too, lol!
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I have made so so many of your recipes over the last two years. You are without a doubt my go-to blog for baked goods. But these were the most joyful baking experience I have had in so long… I make veggie burgers from scratch that I felt deserved buns of their caliber… They came out so amazingly good, my husband ate one plain! Thank you for this, I will never but store bought buns again!
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Am trying this as I write since I have all the time in the world. Wish I would have read this better before I printed it out because I certainly wouldn’t have started a recipe that takes 4 hours in rest and rise time. Not a recipe I will try again.
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Adrianne on June 15th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
These are definitely worth the wait when you have the time to spare..
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Made these half wheat half white (was bread flour though) and these are our new favorite buns. In fact I probably wont look for any other recipe except to see if I can pull off an all wheat version. Perfect for a nice thick burger that the juices just run out off. Thanks so much for sharing
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Just made these! They are absolutely fabulous! Great Recipe!
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I made these burgers for dinner tonight. They were really good. The only thing I would do different is drop the oven temperature to 350-375. My cooking time wasn’t even complete and the buns were VERY brown on the verge of burnt. But the dough was nice texture and tasted graet
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Hi! I have always baked my own bread, but for some silly reason I am quite lazy to make burger buns:) Are these okay when frozen?
I do not own mixer and I knead with hands so I tend to make a large batch then freeze the bread. I tried your honey oat loaf. Love it, freeze it, n it’s just awesome.
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Oopps sorry.. I didn’t read that lower bit about freezing tip:))
My bad. Apologies for the incovenience.
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Made these today..they were perfect.
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Have you tried freezing the dough and baking as needed? Any suggestions on how to do this?
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Michelle on March 21st, 2013 at 2:01 pm
Hi Liz, I haven’t tried freezing the dough. Hopefully someone else has and can lend some insight!
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Liz on April 16th, 2013 at 9:27 am
i tried freezing the dough and it worked great! I froze them right after shaping, then pulled out what I needed, let thaw and proof, then baked as usual. Also baked some the regular way for comparison. I couldn’t tell any difference. There is nothing like a warm fresh baked bun!
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