One of my favorite things about the warm weather is heading outside for some grilling. There’s nothing better than some burgers and hot dogs! So for your next barbeque, why not make it a little extra special with some homemade buns? The way I show these buns in this post, they will make hamburger buns. But you can shape the same dough a little differently to make hot dog buns too! You can also forego the butter topping and replace with an egg wash so you can add some toppings (sesame seeds! everything but the bagel seasoning! pretzel salt!) There’s infinite ways to make these your perfect bun.
First you are going to assemble your dough – I like to use my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook for this step, but you can also use a bread machine or your hands! The amount of flour you use here is incredibly important. Too much flour, and while they will still taste delicious, these buns will be more like dinner rolls than hamburger buns. I found the sweet spot to be 415g, but not everyone has a food scale. The problem here is, flour is very finnicky in cup measurements. If you scoop your flour directly out of the bag, the flour has a tendency to pack into the cup – meaning 415g is closer to 3 cups. But if you fluff your flour and scoop it into your cup measurement, 415g is closer to 4 cups. So I really prefer using the gram measurement here. If you don’t have a food scale, I would recommend starting with 2.5 cups flour and slowly adding the additional flour until you reach the correct consistency of your dough. The dough should be smooth and round and it should feel tacky. It should be sticking to the sides of the bowl a bit, but still workable. If you can’t get touch the dough without getting your whole hand stuck, you need more flour.
Once the dough is done, you will set it aside, covered in a warm spot, to let it double in size. Once it has doubled, you will separate it into 8 equal size pieces and roll them out into smooth balls. Then you will flatten the balls into 3 inch wide discs and again set aside to proof. This time you will wait about an hour, or until the buns are noticeably puffy.
Dough doubled in size 
Balls flattened to discs 
After about an hour, the discs are noticeably puffed up
Once the buns are ready, you’re going to top them off with some melted butter (or egg wash) to give them a nice golden top while they bake. They need about 13-15 minutes in the oven at 375F. They are fully baked when they are golden brown and when you poke the dough, they feel soft and squishy but they immediately pop back out. When they come out of the oven, you’ll top them with more melted butter to give them a nice sheen.
First butter topping 
Immediately out of the oven 
After second butter topping
Let the buns cool on a wire cooling rack. When you are ready to use them, slice them in half and put your burger on top! Don’t slice them until you are ready to use them though, this will keep them very soft and tender.
Hamburger Buns
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water about 110 degrees
- 1 tbsp instant yeast I use SAF instant yeast, but you can also use active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter separated
- 415 g all-purpose flour This is about 3 cups of flour, but I really recommend using the gram measurement. If you add too much flour, these (while still delicious) come out like dinner rolls instead of hamburger buns. If you don’t have a food scale, I would start with 2 1/2 cups of flour and slowly add more flour until the dough is the right consistency. It should be a smooth dough that is slightly sticky but workable.
Instructions
- In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the water, yeast, sugar and salt. Set aside for a few minutes until bubbly. (If you are using instant yeast, this will happen almost immediately but still give it a few minutes while you measure out your flour. If you are using active dry, it could take a bit longer).
- With the mixer on medium speed, add 2 tbsp butter (partially melted – just stick it in the micowave for about 30 seconds so its nice and soft with a little bit of melted parts) and flour and allow the mixer to knead the dough until it is a smooth ball that is still a bit tacky. It should be sticking to the sides a bit. If you are not using the gram measurements for flour, make sure to add 2.5 cups and then slowly add the remainder until the dough is the correct consistency.
- Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size, about an hour and 45 minutes. But this will depend on how you kneaded your dough, the water temperature you used, and the temperature of your kitchen. So focus less on the timing and more on the size of your dough.
- After the dough has doubled in size, separate it into 8 equal size pieces. I weigh the full dough on my food scale and divide by 8 and then make sure each ball is the correct size. But this is just because I’m particular, you can just eye ball it.
- Gently pat down the dough balls until they are 3 inch discs. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and let them rise in a warm spot until they are noticeably puffy (about 45 minutes to an hour). Again, this will depend on a number of factors, so I take a picture of the buns as soon as they are formed and then check to make sure the buns are nice and puffy by comparing to my original photo. If you want the buns to be more of a “pull apart” style, place them on the baking sheet less than 1 inch from each other. If you want each bun to be separate, space them out more.
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Melt the remaining 3 tbsp. of butter.
- Once the buns are puffed up, use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the buns with about half of the melted butter.
- Bake in the oven for about 13-15 minutes, until they are golden brown on top and cooked through. If you gently squeeze or poke the bun, the bun should bounce right back.
- As soon as the buns are out of the oven, brush the tops with the remaining butter.
- Set the buns aside to cool completely. Slice when you want to use them and leave unused buns unsliced to maintain their freshness.
