How to make fluffy homemade hamburger buns
Several years ago, I posted a recipe for homemade hamburger buns, but of late, I've been slightly modifying the dough from my honey-glazed rolls to make buns because I think they're slightly fluffier and more delicious.
In fact, these are so good, I might almost prefer one over a doughnut.
Seriously delicious.
They're good for hamburgers of course, but also work very well for BBQ beef or sloppy joes or lunch meat sandwiches.
And they're awfully good just toasted with butter and jam.
In fact, fresh from the oven, they're delicious all by themselves!
This is all you'll need. It's kind of surprising how little bread requires, isn't it??
Just a few ingredients and somehow, they turn into a pile of buns.
This is why homemade bread can beat the price of even super-duper cheap bread.
I'm going to give you a recipe for 24 buns, because while you're at it, you might as well make a bunch. If you don't eat them in a few days like we do, you can always freeze some for later.
Feel free to halve the recipe, though, if 24 buns is way too many for you!
So, in a mixer bowl, combine 3 cups of flour and two packages of yeast (that's 4.5 teaspoons.)
Then heat together your milk, fat, sweetener, and salt until it reaches 120 ° F.
You can use whatever kind of fat you prefer...butter is the tastiest, but vegetable oils work fine too (if you use coconut oil, use the refined kind so your buns don't taste super tropical!).
You can also vary the sweetener. Sugar works, but so does honey.
Add the hot liquids to the flour/yeast and beat for two minutes. This will make a really thin batter.
Next, add two eggs, and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough (the recipe calls for 7 cups total and at this point I'd added a little shy of six cups.)
Don't err on the side of adding too much flour-this is probably the most common mistake beginning bakers make. Tough yeast dough won't rise well because the yeast isn't strong enough to push against really stiff dough.
Tough dough is the enemy of fluffiness.
Flour your counter and dump the dough out.
FYI, I could have made this dough a hair stiffer than I did. If you're new to kneading, you might want to add just a bit more flour than this before you knead or you'll have difficulty handling the dough.
A bench knife/dough scraper makes the process way easier. Mine is almost exactly like this one, which sells for $5.99.
To start the kneading off, I run the dough scraper around the edge of the dough, folding the floury edges into the middle.
Once I do that, the dough is usually quite manageable. I knead my dough for about three minutes or so, only adding flour to the underside/outside of the dough, never to the middle.
It should look something like this when you're done. See how it flattens out a bit? Your dough should be soft enough to do that. If it stays in a tall round ball, it's too stiff.
You should need right about 7 cups of flour, with a little extra for dusting the counter. However, the amount of flour you need will depend a bit on the humidity levels in your home, so if you need to use a little more or a little less, don't worry about it. Yeast baking isn't terribly exact when it comes to flour.
Put the dough back into the mixing bowl (I don't bother washing mine!) and cover it with a wet tea towel.
Let it rise in a warm place for an hour.
Once it's risen, punch it down, turn it out onto the counter, and divide it into 24 pieces.
Shape each pieces into a ball, and then flatten the ball slightly.
To shape my dough into balls, I place a piece of dough in my hand and pull the outer edges to the middle.
You can sort of see how I did that if you look at the third dough piece in the picture below.
From left to right, there's a piece of unshaped dough, the top of a shaped ball, the bottom of a shaped ball, and a flattened dough ball.
Place the buns onto two greased baking sheets (I have two Vollrath baking sheets
, and I totally dig them. So incredibly sturdy.)
I do cover my dough with a towel in other circumstances, but sometimes, the towel can stick to small items like buns, so I like to put these into my oven, uncovered, with a bowl of steaming water below them. This keeps the air warm and moist, which is the point of the tea towel anyway.
This also is a handy way to give your dough a warm place to rise during the winter, when the air in your house is a little on the cool side.
The buns will probably take about 45 minutes to rise, although if you're making them in the summer, they could be done rising in as little as 30 minutes. It all depends how warm the air is.
They should look like this when they're done rising, though.
About 10 minutes before the buns are done rising (take them out of the oven first!!!), preheat your oven to 350 °F. Once the oven is hot, bake the buns for 13-15 minutes, or until they're nicely browned.
Remove them to a wire rack to cool.
On wire racks: I used to own two cheap and terrible racks, but I now own two of these Professional Cross Wire Cooling Racks
. I love them because they should last forever and because they fit perfectly in my half-sheet pans. And the cross-hatch pattern of the wires means nothing can sag between them.
Here's what the inside of a roll should look like...soft and fluffy.
Fluffy Homemade Hamburger Buns
Printable Homemade Hamburger Buns Recipe
7 cups all purpose flour (my favorite is Gold Medal Unbleached)
4.5 teaspoons (two packages) active dry yeast (I buy mine in bulk at Costco)
3 cups milk
½ cup butter or vegetable oil
½ cup sugar or honey
3 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3 cups of flour with the yeast. In a separate bowl, combine milk, butter, sugar, and salt, and heat (stovetop or microwave) to 120 °F.
Add hot liquids to flour/yeast mixture and beat for 2 minutes. Add eggs and mix to combine. Add enough additional flour to make a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes. Place dough in bowl, cover with wet tea towel, and let rise in a warm place for one hour, or until doubled in size.
Turn dough out on to floured surface and divide into 24 pieces. Shape each into a ball and flatten slightly. Place on greased baking sheets; cover baking sheets or place into oven with a bowl of warm water below. Let rise 30-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
Remove rising buns from the oven and preheat oven to 350 ° F. Bake buns, one sheet at a time, for 13-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.
Yum! I can't wait to try these! Thanks for sharing!
I'm totally going to try these. Thank you for the tip about too much flour. I've been scared to make yeast breads since the one time I tried as a newlywed...yummy little golf balls, they were. Now I'm motivated!!
These look delicious! For now I am dairy-free (I am nursing and my daughter seems to be lactose intolerant), do you know if substituting another liquid (water?) for the milk would work? Thanks so much!
Could you use lactose-free milk? Alternatively a dairy-free milk (almond milk, for example) might work, or you could always use water as well. Water will give you a slightly less soft product, but it should still be pretty darn delicious!
I've successfully used almond milk in almost any recipe that calls for milk. Muffins, pancakes, you name it. No one in my family was the wiser. 😉
These look wonderful. Yum!
We have dairy (and nut) allergies at our house. I usually substitute soymilk for the milk or ricemilk. We use earth balance as well for spread and that works fine instead of butter. I find that oil works good for small amounts, say 1-2 TBSP, but if there is more than that called for in a recipe, I usually use the Earth Balance (or Smart Balance).
Two questions for ya:
How do you make your 24 rolls have the same amount of dough? Whenever I make rolls I have varying sizes--which is ok for rolls but not for hamburger buns.
And ...
Have you ever subbed in some WW flour and did it work well in this recipe?
Thanks!
This is a great question-I never thought to explain that!
First I divide the big hunk of dough in half, then I divide each half in half, and then I divide those halves in halves, and then finally, I divide each chunk into 3.
So then the only really guess-filled part is the last, where you're dividing a hunk of dough into three parts.
I'm positive mine aren't exactly equal, but as you can see from the photo, this method gets me pretty close.
I haven't used whole wheat flour in this particular recipe before. You could try subbing up to 50% whole wheat. The end product will definitely be denser, though.
Thanks. I read SandyH's comment below about weighing her dough--honestly, when I eyeball things I am SO far off! I have the same problem with cutting cake slices evenly so I must just be proportion-impaired. This would be one time when my "good enough" tendencies might be improved by weighing it out so I get fairly close to the same size buns.
I'm going to have to give these a try. Baking bread in any form except in loaves gives me absolute fits!
That's so interesting, because I usually feel like big loaves are more complicated than small breads for most people...it just seems like there are more rising/baking issues to face with a big lump of dough than a small one.
I really hope these work out well for you! Just don't add too much flour and be patient with the rising time, and they should be nice and fluffy.
My perfection-hungry self uses my digital kitchen scale to weigh the dough, at least for the first cut in half.. I'm amazed at how far off I've been by eye balling it. Now I have to say I only bother when it's Thanksgiving and/or I'm taking the rolls for a special event...for "just us" eyeballing is what I do...mostly...
I always think, "Oh, I should weigh my dough!" and then when it comes down to it, my not-very-detailed self just doesn't want to bother with getting out the scale.
A perfectionist I am not. 😉
Our scale lives on the counter and sees a lot of use. Eggs get weighed, tortilla dough, bread dough for many different applications, meat for the freezer, many common recipes are recalculated by weight for ease and accuracy. It is a fabulous tool if you use it regularly.
Mine was very runny after adding 7 cups of flour... was that because I sifted it? It eas like milk shake that could pour??
That's definitely too runny! Did you maybe add too much liquid?
oh Kristen! Your site is always the highlight to my day! I have crockpot BBQ pork on the menu this week but had no buns/rolls so was just going to go with a baked potato or such for our starch. My rolls have not turned out very fluffy in the past so I have shied away from making them. The product always ends up coarse and dense. Your awesome tutorial has re-inspired me (as you always do!) and I am going to try these tomorrow. Thank you for saving me (hopefully!) from a trip to the store.
Yay! I hope yours turn out great.
You could also use half the amount of instant yeast and let it have an overnight rise in the fridge. That's how I prefer to make bread, I think it has a better flavor, less yeasty( if that makes sense).
Wow!! These are seriously delish. Thank God I did 1/2 sweet buns and the other sandwich tolls bcz I'd be making another batch right now for sandwiches otherwise. SO soft and light. Thanks!!
So easy I will make these for a party. Everyone loves "my" (your breads mostly) but we host 45-60 at our family gatherings! Now these, I can do all at once;)
They're so good, aren't they? Heavenly.
Hi Kristen,
Thank you for the recipe. Do they freeze well?
Hanna
Yes, indeed! I freeze mine in heavy duty plastic bags and when I'm done, I just shake out the crumbs and put the bag in the drawer to use again.
These were AMAZING!!!! Delicious and my kids (including my super picky one) loved them. Thank you!
These are the best hamburger buns I have ever made. Fantastic recipe!
I just took them out of the oven! They are so beautiful and feel so light! I can't wait to taste them. I can tell that these rolls will be better than any others I've ever made. Thank you for this fabulous recipe!
I had to send another comment. I just tasted one of the rolls, and they are the best, lightest tasting rolls I have ever made! Just gorgeous. I used that Platinum yeast made by Red Star and the dough rose so well, thank you again for this recipe.
Yaaay! Always so glad to hear of success with a recipe.
I just attempted these buns and my dough didn't rise at all.
I halfed the recipe, which included the yeast. Do you think that may have been my issue? Not enough?
Nope, halving it should have been fine. 🙂
Is your yeast expired? Were your liquids too hot? Liquids that are too hot will kill the yeast.
Another possibility is that you added too much flour. Yeast can't lift dough that's really stiff.
I am have my that same problem and I can see some of the little balls of yeast undissolved. I have never had that problem before and I have experience making yeast doughs! Usually the yeast gets dissolved in liquid then added to the flour. Will it still work?
When you added the liquids to the partial amount of flour that you put in the mixer bowl initially, the yeast should dissolve then. Did you maybe put the full amount of flour in the mixer bowl to start with?
It's possible that yours will still rise, but it'll probably take a while because the yeast will need time to dissolve and start growing.
I have the dough rising on my counter as I type this. This is my second time making them and it will be my go-to recipe from now on. Love them! Its time consuming but well worth the effort. Thanks so much for the detailed directions and pictures. I really enjoy your blog---thanks for all the time and work you put into your posts!
Awesome!! I halved the recipe and used the dough cycle on my bread machine, then baked in the oven (Cuz sometimes I'm lazy like that.) We had them with hamburgers last night, and I may, or may not have eaten one just slathered with butter. Love your blog, thanks Kristen!!
Wow! These really are fluffy! As fluffy maybe fluffier than the store kind with no preservatives or conditioners!! Woot!!
I thought it impossible but low and behold they taste great too.
My skinny kids age 6-ate 4 and age 2 ate 3!!
With a good portion of protien, veg and milk. 6-year old pleaded for one in her lunch tomorrow.
Normally, i do not get the full number a recipe says because I like big buns (and I cannot lie! Lol) anyway.... These did 24 large buns. I cooked all at one time on 350 convection, switched racks and turned around in middle. Took 3 extra minutes. Thank you. My new go-to bun. I think the store lost a custoner on these.
Note: i gave extras to neighbors. The dough was difficult to work with by hand. Use the scraper or metal spatula. I used about an extra cup flour during knead. My rise times were short in oven on warm.
Defrosted bread usually not great. Do I really want to freeze extras? Not sure. So thats why my neighbors got lucky. They raved about it.
I make these once or twice a month and freeze most of them. Since we are a small family, I just thaw what I need and leave the rest in the freezer, They taste as good as they do out of the oven!
Really good
I just tried this recipe, my dough is in a bowl on the counter right now,hopefully rising. I have to say, it was a little complicated. Everything was going great until I poured my dough onto a floured surface and tried to knead. I swear, everything looked just like your pictures up to that point, including the dough I poured out onto the counter. That's when the trouble started. No matter how much flour I kept trying to fold in with my spatula, it was just way too sticky and wet. When I tried to knead it was just a wet, sticky mess. I had dough everywhere! I finally had to pour everything back in the mixing bowl and add more flour. I'm now hoping I didn't add too much flour and the buns will still be soft. Did anyone else have this problem?
Update:
Just wanted to let you know regardless of the mess with the dough, the buns turned out great! My kids loved then! We had them for supper last night with a Lentil Cauliflower soup recipe I made. Then we all took sandwiches for lunch today. I froze the leftover buns and plan to take out only as many as needed for lunches on a daily basis, otherwise I fear my kids will eat them all up in a day!
I finally had a chance to make these yesterday, and my family thanks you. These are wonderful. I was concerned about adding too much flour or over kneading, and I was sure I had messed them up, but no! They worked and they are delicious! Right out of the oven they taste amazing with a bit of butter. With a hamburger, oh wow, they compliment the flavor perfectly. My family LOVED them and I will be making them regularly from now on. Thank you for the recipe and the blog post, it really helped in the making of them.
Yay! I'm so glad they turned out well for you.
Wow. All I can say is... Wow. I kneaded a little long (forgot to add the sugar and salt during the mixing process) but it still turned out gorgeous. So fluffy with just the right amount of chew and excellent flavor. I think with just a touch more kneading this could make a pretty respectable sandwich bread, too. Looking forward to making some whole wheat buns when my boyf and I polish these off.
I'm on my 3rd year of bread making. I must say; these buns are awesome. I'm so happy to have found the recipe. My search is over. Ty so much for sharing!!!
Can you give me the ingredient amounts for 12 buns instead of 24? Do you half all ingredients??
Yep, just cut everything in half!
I can't find a good hamburger bun recipe without eggs! My son is allergic to eggs and I have tried a few so far that have not turned out well at all. Any idea if there is a way to do this without eggs?
Yep, you can just make this without eggs (add 1/4 cup milk for every egg you leave out in yeast breads). The buns won't be quite as wonderful, but they should still be fairly tasty.
Have you ever tried this recipe with half the sugar? My father is missing the enzyme to digest sugar so anything with over 1 gram per serving can make him very sick. That also means sugar substitutes, he can't even eat peas, corn or carrots for example. Unfortunately the last bread he was able to eat just went to 4 grams per serving so I have been scouring the internet trying to come up with alternatives for him.
Thank you.
Yep, you can make it with less sugar! The buns will be less sweet, obviously, but they will still work out fine.
Wow, these are fantastic, but even better the great detailed dough instructions and photos. For the first time, I succeeded in getting a real second rise from my dough. The rolls are actually a bit too fluffy for my taste (this issue should be easy to correct), and would make super dinner rolls if you keep them small. Frugal Girl, you are the best!
Yay!! So very happy to hear this.
I was a bit worried when I started kneading the dough that it was too sticky.
Adding flour worked great and they turned out awesome. Hate to say it,
but better than the buns my mom used to make! Great job!! Thanks
Yay! That's awesome to hear.
Hello,
I have had terrible experiences with hamburger rolls and buns and anything like that in the past. I can not make small little things. Only my regular old loaves of bread ever turn out well.
I recently moved across the country and since moving nothing I bake has been turning out well at all. I don't know if it's the altitude or flour or yeast or what but everything turns out wrong.
BUT this recipe has given me back my will to bake. I tried this today for the very first time. I must admit that I didn't read all the directions before starting so I didn't realize at first how much dough I was getting myself into. I used my brand new kitchenaid (An engagement present from my grandmother) to make it, including the kneading because I was a tad too busy to knead by hand. I think I added a lot more flour than it calls for but they turned out fluffy and giant. I think I made them a lot bigger than you did but they are amazing! I am so happy I found this and even happier that you put this recipe out there on the internet for poore souls like me! Thank you so much! I am now going to be reading everything you post! You are a baking genius!
Here is a picture of the loot I made from this recipe (minus 1 hamburger bun that my father in law couldn't help but steal) This took me 3 baking sheets to do. I didn't put anything in the picture for a size reference but that can of black olives is a typical can size of any other canned vegetables so that kinda shows how GIANT they are.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126731647@N05/16453545745/
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!!!!
Yay! I'm so happy that they worked out well for you.
Finally found the best bun recipe ever. I'm really a novice at this, but they turned out great! Trial and error for this grandpa, but will use this again, grandkids are finally liking my bread! (Wife also)
Do you think a dough hook would work for the kneading part?
Yep, you can! I just have never gotten into the habit of using mine.
I just tried your recipe. I halfed the recipe as one dozen buns is all I need right now. They turned out wonderfully. I plan on grilling Mahi Mahi burgers tonight and they will be so yummy on these bun. Thanks so much.
Yay! So pleased to hear yours turned out well.
Hi! I was running low on yeast (I only had 1/2 t), so I ended up adding 1/2 c sourdough starter... these buns turned out perfect! I followed directions other than the sourdough starter 🙂
Thanks for sharing this! It's going in my recipe box.
Melissa
Did you use the same amount of liquid or cut back on something because you used starter?
I plan on making these tonight for my black bean burgers. Seems like a lot of people have had success with this recipe, I hope it goes well for me!
I am completely new to the world of baking. This recipe for buns is just the second baking recipe I have ever tried. They came out absolutely beautiful. My husband loved them and I sent pics to my family back home and they simply couldn't believe I baked them.
Thanks a lot for such a detailed recipe with photos. The tips and small snippets of info that you post in between also help a lot. I have favorited your blog and will be trying out more of your recipes in the coming weeks.
Yay!!! So glad that yours turned out so well.
I made these buns and they were great. My grandson loved them. I make the full patch and I only need 12 buns so I put the rest in a greased bread pan and made a loaf of bread. The bread was so soft and fluffy. I am making them again today. So yummy!
Hello,
I have a question,can i use all purpuse flour plus can i use a microwave instead
Sincerly,
Rose
Yep, all purpose flour is what I use.
But yeast bread isn't good for cooking in a microwave...you really need a hot oven to bake these.
Hi Kristen-
You add the active dry yeast directly to the flour? Without adding water or proofing first?
Thanks!
Yup! Works just fine.
Just wanted to clarify - do you use salted butter and add salt? Or should I use unsalted butter? I was told once long ago to never use salted butter when baking and now I overthink it.
I do use salted butter. I never think it makes any baked goods too salty, so I just always buy salted and call it good.
I made these today! I live in high altitude so I wasn't sure how it would go....It went just fine. They did cook for 30 minutes in the oven and I only cooked them until a very pale golden brown. That way, they don't dry out. The family loved them. I made shredded BBQ chicken in the crock pot to go with them as well!
Thanks for the recipe!!
I made buns with this recipe, came out really well however the bottoms were a little too brown. Any tips for even cooking?
If your baking sheets are pretty thin, that can cause overdone bottoms. You could try moving your oven rack up a notch or two to see if that helps a bit...getting the bottom of your pan farther away from the heating elements in the bottom of the oven can minimize burning of the bottom of buns.
Made these today and they turned out great!!! Underestimated how much they would rise and the buns were really big!! lol Just made the burgers bigger to fit. Will adjust next time. Thanks!!!!
These are so good and well worth the time! Thanks to Kristen, I am now a bread maker. Thank you!!!
Yay! So glad they're working out well for you.
I made half batch three and half cups of flour the dough was very wet I followed your recipe exactly I have to use almost one more of flour why did this happen?
The amount of flour you need could vary depending on the type of flour, or the climate where you live.
Bread dough SHOULD be fairly soft...like, if you mound it up into a ball on the counter and then let go, the dough should relax into a somewhat flattened ball.
I hope that helps!
Hi Kristen!
Have you ever tried just switching to the kitchenaid dough hook to knead these, or do you feel kneading by hand is essential?
They're beautiful! Can't wait till I have them coming out of the oven:)
I've not personally used my dough hook, but I think it'd work just fine if that's what you prefer. Go for it. 🙂
Thanks! I did end up using my dough hook, and they turned out great. I think it helped me to avoid adding any extra flour--not sure I could have handled such a sticky dough! I did flour my hands and bench scraper regularly while forming them.
The buns were totally delicious!
Yay! So glad they turned out well for you.
Haha! I was hoping someone had asked this question! I'm going to give it a try with the dough hook. Just not in a kneading mood today, I guess.
I just made a half-batch (12 buns) making just a few minor changes and, I must say, this bread is absolutely fantastic. I used King Arthur unbleached flour, instant dry yeast instead of active yeast, butter, and honey. I also placed the buns on non-stick parchment paper when they were raised and baked. Using the parchment paper it was easy to slide the buns off the baking sheet onto the cooling rack.
This has become my bun go-to recipe. This would also be great for dinner rolls and hoagie buns.
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I am currently holding the purse strings shut as I am buying a home in a few weeks. We are eating what is on hand to save money but also because I don't want to move it! I have everything on hand for supper except hamburger buns, so glad to find a recipe that makes soft rolls for lentil sloppy joes! I am adapting it by making 1/2 a batch and by using my ABM, as I have arthritis. Thanks again!
I have make a lot of buns over the years trying to find a good light bun recipe and I've just found it. Love this recipe, it is THE best out there!!!!!
Thank you so much for posting it.
God Bless!
The best bun recipe I have ever tried. Thank you!
Yay!!!
This is by far, the best recipe for hamburger buns that I've found anywhere. I did substitute lard, yes lard, for the butter (which helps to make bread fluffier) and they came out beautifully. I had to increase baking time and temperature though to 375.
Finally,! I can't believe how wonderful this recipe is! I have tried probably 10 different bun recipes over the past few years. My family always says they're good but they never really go crazy about it. Well it all change with this recipe they were falling on the floor saying they can't believe how good it is ,oh my goodness this is wonderful ,I just want to eat it plain with some butter, on and on and on... I also really appreciate your pictures showing your dough on the counter still all sticky, I think my problem with all the other recipes was I was adding the extra flour until it pulls away from the side of the bowl in the mixer like all the recipe say. I think definitely leaving it sticky made a huge difference. And don't you just love working with warm dough! Thank you this is now or forever recipe. PS I wonder if I could just put the dough into loaf pans for sandwich bread?!
yay! I'm so glad that this recipe worked well for you.
This looks amazing!
I have a party with about 80 people in a few days and have been searching for bun recipe..so glad I came across this! I'm wondering how long they have that "fresh out of the oven" taste and texture? Would I be able to bake them a day or two in advance and seal in ziploc bags and still have them taste fresh or do they need to be made the day of?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
xx
If you make them a few days in advance, I'd put them in ziploc bags in the freezer. They are the MOST fabulous the day you bake them, but frozen and then thawed is a close second.
How about freezing the dough. I'd like to make half and the then freeze the dough to make later. At what step would I freeze it?
If you want to freeze the dough, I'd follow the recipe through the step of shaping the buns. I'd freeze them on a greased tray until they were firm, then transfer them to a ziploc bag.
When you're ready to bake, let them sit at room temperature on a greased baking sheet, loosely covered, until they are thawed and have doubled in size. And then bake as usual!
I would bake them then seal in large zip lock bag
Are these mini sliders or regular sized burger buns?
These are regular size buns, but you could definitely make them slider sized! I'd bake them for less time, then.
Hello from a New Zealander living in Finland! 🙂
After baking about 8 different so-called 'best hamburger buns ever' type recipes in recent weeks, I was starting to get rather despondent at the results. What WERE the fast food / commercial bakers putting in their bread to make them fluffy and light?, and why couldn't this be replicated at home, without all the awful stuff that makes them last weeks or some brands, even months?!?
Living in Finland, where rye bread is king and white bread is available but mostly baked terribly (don't even get me started on the 'bagels' here!) I was beginning to despair (esp. as I can't eat high fibre food). I really missed soft, fluffy white rolls for lunches and for my awesome homemade grilled burgers... but the weak link was constantly the bun.
I stumbled across your recipe late last night and based on the photo showing the fluffy insides, I gave them a try this morning. Oh my goodness me!!! They are simply awesome!!!!!
You were right, the dough is a sticky mess to work with, and I'll definitely be investing in one of those dough scrapers, but I knew the gluten would start to work and bind things up, so I resisted adding too much extra flour and just kept kneading.
I've done a plain batch, and then done some with an egg wash/sesame seed top for that authentic burger look, and both turned out amazingly. I knew straight away when I lifted a bun off the baking tray that this was going to be 'the one', as it had no weight to it compared to recent efforts. But the taste test still awaited... and I wasn't disappointed! - soft, light, not too sweet, not too salty, not too doughy, not too dry. Just awesome! I'm so excited to finally be able to combine my burgers with these gorgeous things.
So anyway, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm going to drive my kids nuts with these gorgeous things! 🙂 They really don't like the local rye bread 'hockey pucks' that my Finnish wife eats either, so they're going to go mental when they taste these tonight!
thanks heaps!
Jared
I have made these many times and they are the best rolls I’ve ever made! Thank you for the fantastic recipe!
Going to try this recipe while isolating and social distancing! Can you use rapid rising (instant) yeast? That is all I have in my pantry.
Yes, that should work fine!
I'm making these right now, they're rising as we speak. But I was wondering when you knead the dough does it keep sticking to your hands the whole time or does it ever get to the point where the dough ball pulls the stuck on dough off your hands? I've made other dough recipes that do that, but I was afraid to add too much flour, so it just stayed sticky. It's pretty humid in my kitchen today.
So, generally I don't end up with tons of dough stuck on my hands. There's a little, but not a lot.
The key to this is in the kneading...keeping a light touch and keeping the bottom outside of the dough floured. I should do a video about it to better explain what I mean!
They were delicious! Definitely not as light and fluffy as yours look, but no one complained 😉 I would make these again for sure, and probably just work on my kneading. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I didn't buy hamburger buns at the store this week, and I'm not going back! I'm staying home! So this recipe came to mind. I am trying these tomorrow and I'm pretty excited. I used to do stuff like this all the time when mine were small, but with two of my grown/almost grown kids here for 'social isolation' I have someone to cook for! I'll let you know!
Woohoo! Happy baking to you...I hope your burger buns are delicious.
I finally got around to making these, and I'm so glad. I quartered the recipe, as 6 buns was more than enough for the 2 of us. I only had bread flour, and it worked out just great. (I also sprinkled a bit of kosher salt on top before baking - I do that for almost all bread.) They were easy and delicious. About a million times better than the cheap buns from the store. Thank you!
I meant to ask...have you tried this dough again for making hot dog buns or a maybe a hoagie-roll type of bun? I saw that you did try hot dog buns once, but weren't happy with the results. Any luck since then?
I tried this recipe and the buns didn't rise very well. The results were tasty, but not elevated. Thoughts?
The most common culprit when this happens is adding too much flour. Was your dough pretty soft? It should be soft enough so that if you mound it up into a ball on the counter, it should flatten out pretty quickly once you let go.
Dough that is too stiff will have a tough time rising because the yeast is not strong enough to lift it.
The amount of flour in a yeast bread recipe is always a guideline because the amount of flour you need will vary depending on the type of flour you use and even the humidity level of your home. So, I always go by the feel of the dough rather than the measurements of flour; those are just a guideline.
If that wasn't the problem, let me know, and we can try to troubleshoot further!
Beautiful recipe.
I made these today, and will again. These are so good.
I just made these. They’re in the oven and smell heavenly! I used half the dough for buns and the other half for a loaf of bread.
Your technique is a little different than what I am up used to (Yeast in the dry flour) but it works great!
Oh good! I'm so glad yours turned out well.
I learned how to make bread using an old Better Homes and Gardens bread cookbook, and their recipes pretty much all started with dry yeast in the flour. I know my grandma's baking recipes almost always called for proofing the yeast in a bit of water first, probably because yeast was less reliable back then.
I can’t wait to try this! But I don’t have quick rise yeast as the store only had the regular. How will that change the rising times? You’re recipe looks the best so if like to try it. Thank you!
The regular yeast should work just fine with these directions. 🙂
I hope you are delighted with the results!
OH...these look fantastic! Tired of going to store and either not finding them or I am at home and need some don't want to go to the store!!! I usually buy and freeze but these look so good. I love the detailed instructions on the wetness of the dough and how you knead it. I really needed that help with the "wet" dough. Going to try today!!! Thank you!
Hi! I love your recipe! I’ve made it several times and they come out great! Have you ever tried to use whole wheat flour? If so should i just use half whole wheat and half regular? Thanks for sharing:)
I haven't tried that with this recipe, but yes, 50/50 is usually a good ratio to start with. You can see how that turns out and adjust to your liking with any future batches. 🙂
This is the 2nd time I’ve made these, and was sure I messed these up!!! I inadvertently added the eggs to the milk/butter/etc mixture. Turned out absolutely perfect. Also made some into hotdog buns, and with what was leftover? Made mini cinnamon rolls!!! Spectacular recipe!!!
I made these yesterday for a small bbq. The hamburgers buns were so soft and yummy. I cut the recipe in half thinking a dozen would be plenty for our gathering. Big mistake! Everyone loved them and I sent the few remaining buns home with our guests. I will definately make these again soon!
I made them last week with bread flour, as I was out of AP flour and the dough was incredibly thick and stiff, after just 5.5 cups. They were delicious, but certainly not fluffy.
I just made them again today and used add the same equipment with AP flour and noticed there was WAAAAAY more liquid in the pot with the milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Clearly I only added 1 or 2 cups of milk the first time
Fluffy, light, and delicious! Super easy!
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I’d been searching for a hamburger bun that was soft and light rather than dense and this recipe is it! The buns turn out fluffy and soft. I usually add an egg wash and sesame seeds on them, prior to baking. My husband is now completely spoiled and never wants store bought again. 🙂
Yup - best ever. I have made a decent amount of breads in my lifetime, but I think this is one of the best.
Thanks so much for sharing
These buns are the best! You’ve totally spoiled us! And what’s even better is that they freeze amazingly well...so much better than trying to freeze store-bought buns! We live in the country and whenever we would decide to grill burgers (which should be a rather quick meal), I would either have to make a special trip to town for buns or pull some store-bought usually freezer burned buns out of the freezer. I have thrown out a countless number of store-bought buns that I unsuccessfully tried to freeze! You are definitely helping me save pennies! I wrap these gems in foil and then place in ziploc bag and they will freeze well for months! We also use them for sandwich buns! I try to keep a supply of them in the freezer at all times! I like to weigh each dough ball out to get uniformity in size and I like having the option of making different sizes. The size I use most are 2 oz dough balls which makes 36 buns. 1.5 oz dough balls make slightly smaller buns great for 48 sliders. 3 oz dough balls make 24 larger buns. The smaller ones take less time in oven so watch them closely.
Thank you, Kristen, for an excellent recipe along with such helpful tutorials!
Hi
Would it be possible to swap the milk for a non dairy milk and if so which type? Many thanks
Yes! I often sub coconut milk in my yeast recipes (Sonia has a dairy issue). Oat milk also works well. I haven't tried nut milks, because Sonia has a nut allergy.
I make bread, a lot of bread. I have made hamburger buns but came upon your recipe on Pinterest. I will never use another recipe for hamburger buns again. They are incredible. Light and soft and delicious.
Add an egg wash and sesame seeds and this recipe is golden. Messy, for sure, but light and fluffy. I cut them into 16 pieces, gives me 4 oz buns. Excellent
The only bun recipe I ever use.....YOURS.
It is the best that I've found. Especially like the rising in the oven.
I'm so glad it's working out well for you!
In a blizzard and wanted hamburgers tonight but had no buns! Tried this recipe and it is amazing….definitely a keeper. So easy to prepare and They are just like the pictures very light and airy…thanks for saving the day.
Oh yay! So glad to hear this worked well for you.
These are my go-to buns! They turn out soft every time and turn our burgers gourmet! I often substitute chia seeds for the eggs and almond milk for the milk to make them vegan. Perfect.
This is my go-to recipe for rolls and buns! So light and fluffy every time. I often make them dairy-free (almond milk and oil) with chia seeds instead of eggs. My kids prefer them with the tiny seeds. I love them either way!