Super soft, but firm enough to support your burger and all the fixins! Sprinkle the tops with seeds to make them gourmet! Be the star of your next barbecue by bringing these fantastic buns!
Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a food blogger? We have to come up with original things to say about each recipe that we post. I get writer’s block A LOT. I mean, how often can you say, “These are the very best (insert food item here) in the world! Your family will love it!” On the other hand, what if you ramble on about your current life happenings, and all people want to do is GET TO THE DARN RECIPE ALREADY! Well, I’ve got you covered, because every recipe on my site has that handy “jump to recipe” button at the top. But you might not want to reflexively punch that button right away, because lots of times, my recipes have handy step-by-step pictures and tips that you won’t get if you just skip to the recipe. (See Easy Mini Cheesecakes and How to Make Stuffed Meatloaf for perfect examples of this–and also to get my most famous recipes!)
This post for Home Made Hamburger Buns is no exception. (By the way, does anybody else find the word “buns” a little funny? I can’t count the time I’ve said to my kids, “Get your buns over here!” And I’m not talking about bread products). I’ve got lots of pictures and helpful hints for you so that you can impress everyone at your next barbecue with your gourmet, artisan hamburger buns that are WAY better than anything you could buy at the store! But you don’t have to be a trained chef to make them. They’re actually really easy! Let’s get started!
Ingredients for Home Made Hamburger Buns
- flour
- yeast
- water
- salt
- eggs
- mashed potatoes (leftovers are great!) Don’t have any leftover mashed potatoes? You can fix that problem by making my Garlic Mashed Potatoes. You could also whip up some instant potatoes if you’re in a big, fat hurry.
- olive oil
- sugar
- seeds (like poppy, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, flax, etc.) for topping (optional)
How to Make Home Made Hamburger Buns
There’s nothing complicated about making these buns! All you need is a mixer (or your arm and a spoon!) and some cookie sheets.
- First you’ll proof your yeast in warm water. I like to run hot tap water and then turn it down so it’s not hot, but still pretty warm. Like “I could take a bath in this” warm. But you’re not going to take a bath in it. Your yeast is, and the warmer it is, the faster your yeast will bubble and turn frothy. (This is what you want).
2. While your yeast is getting all cozy and foamy, put your dough hook into your mixer (or get out a big bowl and wooden spoon and give your arm muscles a pep talk). Put an egg, some salt, mashed potatoes, water, and melted butter into your bowl or mixer. Stir until everything is incorporated. Then add your proofed yeast and mix again.
3. Lastly, add your flour and mix on low speed until it comes together and cleans itself from the sides of the bowl. Let the mixer keep running until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. (If you have been stirring by hand, you’ll want to turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for 3-5 minutes).
4. Now put the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover it lightly with plastic or a tea towel. (I find that covering with plastic typically helps it to rise faster). You can leave this at room temperature until doubled in volume. If you want to speed things up, you can do this instead:
Heat your oven to 200 degrees and then turn it off. Make sure your dough is in a metal pan, and then cover it with a tea towel and put it in your warm oven until doubled in size.
5. Once your dough has doubled, punch it down. Remove it from the bowl and then divide it into twelve equal-sized pieces. (You can eyeball it, or be super precise and use a kitchen scale. Just plop the whole thing of dough on first to see how much it weighs, and then divide that number by twelve to see how much each bun should weigh).
6. Grab a large cookie sheet and grease it with butter and then sprinkle with cornmeal (not corn starch).
7. To form the dough into balls, pick up the dough with both hands and repeatedly move your thumbs from the top of the roll to the bottom, pulling a little dough with them each time. Rotate the roll as you do this, and pinch the dough at the bottom. This will give you a nice, smooth top.
8. Now place the buns on your cookie sheet and cover with a tea towel. Let rise until almost doubled in size.
9. Now comes the fun part. Just before baking, brush the tops with lightly-beaten egg, and then sprinkle with seeds.
10. Bake for about 20 minutes, until nice and golden. Let them cool a bit before removing from the baking sheet.
Let me tell you, these buns are so soft and delicious, yet firm enough to support a burger. They’re not like those super cheap buns that disintegrate after five minutes and can’t handle a little ketchup. (I know we’ve all experienced “bun failure.”) So the next time you have a barbecue coming up, plan ahead and make these impressive, delicious home made hamburger buns. Everyone will ooh and ahh. Then they’ll thank you for quite possibly the best burger they ever had.
This recipe adapted from Homemade Burger Buns on A Treats Affair.
Super soft, but firm enough to support your burger and all the fixins! Sprinkle the tops with seeds to make them gourmet! Be the star of your next barbecue by bringing these fantastic buns!
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
- 3/4 cup warm water, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 eggs (one for brushing the top of the buns)
- 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 cups flour (bread flour is great if you have it)
- seeds of any variety (poppy, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, etc.) (optional)
- butter and cornmeal (for greasing and dusting)
Add yeast to 1/4 cup warm water and set aside to proof. Yeast should get frothy in 5-10 minutes.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, add your sugar, salt, egg, mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup of warm water, and olive oil. Mix until everything is well-blended.
Add your proofed yeast and mix again. Then add two cups of the flour and mix well using a dough hook on low speed (if using a stand mixer.)
Once all that flour has been mixed in, add the other two cups of flour and continue to mix for 3-5 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a tea towel and leave to rise until doubled.
When dough has doubled in volume, punch down. Divide into 12 equal portions and form into balls.
Grease your cookie sheet with butter and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place the buns on the cookie sheet and cover with a tea towel to let rise. (Plastic wrap can stick to the top of the buns).
When rolls have almost doubled in size, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
Brush the buns with a lightly beaten egg, then sprinkle with seeds.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly before removing from the cookie sheet.
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Natalie says
These buns look so good! Fluffy and perfect for hamburgers 🙂
Julie Evink says
These look delicious!!!
Danielle Green says
Nothing completes a burger more perfectly than home made buns!
Malinda says
I hear ya on writer’s block!! Writing posts is my least favorite part of blogging (except for social media, ugh!) and I struggle every time I sit down to write a post. It’s part of the reason I’m not very consistent with posting. Now these buns look absolutely perfect and I just love all the different toppings!!!