Soft And Sturdy Hamburger Buns

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Hamburger buns need to be soft and fluffy, yet sturdy enough to hold a burger and not get smashed. These buns are both soft and sturdy! Delicious, beautiful, homemade hamburger buns will take your burgers to the next level!!

NATURAL YEAST ADAPTATION

Yes, you can make these sourdough style! See my SOURDOUGH HAMBURGER BUNS POST.

WHY MAKE YOUR OWN?

After you make your own hamburger buns (specifically THIS recipe), it is really, extraordinarily difficult to ever enjoy a burger on a store bought bun ever again. These homemade buns are such a massive upgrade. They are soft and tender yet sturdy enough for your burger. The flavor is so much better. After you get used to eating these, you’ll be convinced that store bought buns taste like plastic and feel like cardboard! 

LET’S CHAT INGREDIENTS…

FLOUR

This recipe can be made from many flour options, such as bread flour, all purpose flour, whole wheat flour or Kamut flour.

BREAD FLOUR: This option contains more gluten in it than All-purpose flour, so the finished product results in a tall buoyant rise, and bread that is soft with a beautiful stretch. Many grocery stores sell bread flour. I most often make this recipe with organic bread flour that I get from a local mill, LEHI MILLS.*  (Affiliate coupon code is AMBERSKITCHEN for 10% off) I prefer their products because they source their wheat from farmers who do not use glyphosate on their wheat crop. 

ALL PURPOSE FLOUR:
This can be used as a straight across substitute for bread flour.

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR:
This can be used in place of bread flour, however generally you will need slightly less flour because of the weight and absorbency of whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour is a very thirsty flour! Instead of using 8.5 cups of flour, you may only need 7.5 or  7.75 cups. (Just an example, but be sure to check by texture when you are adding flour to see if you have the correct amount of flour).

KAMUT:
Kamut, or Khorasan,  is an ancient type of wheat that hasn’t been genetically altered as much as many of the common types of wheat we use today. It is very tasty and has a slight nutty flavor. For the most part, it can be substituted for all purpose flour- but not straight across. It is more absorbent than all purpose flour, so if you use kamut, reduce the total amount of flour by about 10%-15%. In my experience I notice that Kamut doesn’t rise quite as high and it can tend to be a tad more crumbly. I buy my regeneratively grown  Khorasan locally from KHORASANMILLS.COM (not sponsored)  I believe they ship all over the United States! 

*This is an affiliate link and I may receive a commission on your purchase with no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping through this link.

SALT

I am very picky about Salt! I love to use fine sea salt from Redmond Real Salt. It’s the only salt I ever use! I love it because it is full of naturally-occurring trace minerals, it is pure, unprocessed, has no fillers, no anti-caking agents, no additives or unhealthy pollutants. Sadly most commercial table salt has a lot of not great things added to it, is processed, and has no trace minerals. Redmond real salt has been mined from an ancient sea bed in central Utah- making it true sea salt! I get my salt HERE*. To make it more cost effective, I buy in bulk and order a 25 POUND BAG OF SALT* every few years. I store it in mason jars and it lasts me a few years.

My affiliate Coupon code “AMBERSKITCHEN” saves you 15% on any Redmond products. 

*This is an affiliate link and I may receive a commission on your purchase with no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping through this link.

WATER

Use room temperature to slightly warm water. The temperature matters! If it is too cold it will take too long for the dough to rise and if it is too hot it could aggravate or even kill the yeast. The slight warmth of the water will help the dough ferment a little faster.

BUTTER OR COCONUT OIL

For years I made this recipe with butter, because butter had more of a savory flavor that pairs well with a burger. But when I make them with coconut oil, the softness factor is out of this world. So you can choose which you would rather have, buttery savory flavor with a slightly stiffer bun, or a softer bun made with coconut oil. 

If your butter or coconut oil is cold, try melting it in the microwave,  for 10-20 seconds 

If for whatever reason you can’t use either butter or coconut oil, my next recommendation would be to use either extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil. 

EGG

The egg makes the texture of the bread soft and prevents it from getting crumbly.

*If* you cannot use egg, you have a few options!

#1 Skip the egg altogether. It will be fine without the egg. Really.

#2 Use 1/4 cup of Aquafabainstead of an egg. Aquafaba is water in which chickpeas have been cooked. Surprisingly, this liquid very closely mimics egg in baked goods. It is used widely in the vegan and egg-allergy community. To use it, simply open a can of chickpeas and drain 1/4 cup of the liquid and use that liquid in place of each egg. 

#3 Use Flax egg  replacement instead of an egg. For flax egg substitute, simply combine 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed meal, (ground raw flaxseed)  and 2 1/2 Tablespoons water. Mix together and let sit for 5  minutes to thicken. This can be used as a substitute for one Egg.

A question I often get asked is if someone were to half this recipe, should they do half an egg or a whole egg? I tell them that the egg in this recipe is very forgiving, even if halving the recipe you could add an entire egg, or you could entirely skip the egg and it would still turn out great either way.

SUGAR

Granulated sugar works great for this recipe, however you could use honey or even coconut sugar. When using honey or coconut sugar, feel free to substitute straight across. If you want to entirely skip the sugar, that would be fine too. 

MOMMA’S SLOPPY JOES

Burgers aside, these sloppy joes also make an AMAZING filling for your hamburger buns!

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Can I refrigerate the dough before baking? 
A: Absolutely! Just put the dough into an airtight bowl or bag after the first bulk rise for 12-48 hours. When it comes time to make the dough, pull it out of the fridge and form the cold dough into buns. Cover with plastic or a clean dish towel. Let the dough come to room temp, then rise until doubled. You can do the egg wash right before baking. Enjoy! 

Q: Can I freeze the dough? 
A: Unfortunately, I get really inconsistent  results when it comes to freezing the dough. It doesn’t always rise after thawing. If you are determined to go for it, be my guest. But I can’t necessarily recommend it. 

Q: Can I freeze the buns after they are baked and cooled?
A: Yes! Absolutely. They actually freeze really nicely in an airtight bag when left in a freezer space that doesn’t smash them or compromise their shape. When you want to use them, simply pull out of the freezer and let them defrost. It will really make them shine if right before serving, you cut open, butter and toast the inside of the buns on a griddle. 

Q: What is the best way to store leftover buns? 
A: These buns are best the first day. There are no preservatives in this dough so they don’t stay as fresh as store bought buns do.  Having said that, they are still pretty good on the 2nd and 3rd day. To freshen them up, I always recommend that right before serving, when you cut the bun open, that you butter the insides of the bun, then toast the inside of the bun face down on a pancake griddle or frying pan just for a minute or until it becomes slightly golden and toasty. 

Q: Can I use this recipe for hot dog buns?
A: Yes! you absolutely can. They can be difficult to form consistent sized and shaped buns so I would recommend using a  *HOT DOG BUN MOLD. Cooking time will need to be reduced by a minute or two, so keep an eye on them at the end. 

Q: I’m a visual learner, do you have a video of you making these? 
A: You can find a (very old) video on my HAMBURGER BUN HIGHLIGHT BUBBLE on Instagram.

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Soft and Sturdy Hamburger Buns

Delicious, beautiful, homemade hamburger buns will take your burgers to the next level!!

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breads

Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 3-3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (baby bottle warm)
• 3 T melted butter
• 3 T sugar
• 1 large egg beaten
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• plus one more egg for brushing onto the rolls before baking

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Instructions

• Combine the water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Gently stir just enough so that the yeast isn’t floating at the top of the water. Cover the bowl, and let dissolve and proof for ten minutes. 
• Add the salt, butter, and egg to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine.
• Gradually and slowly add the flour, about 1 cup at a time, mixing/kneading well as added, being careful not to add too much flour. Add just enough flour so that the dough is still tacky but doesn’t stick to your fingers. When the dough stops sticking to the bowl, you have enough. 
• Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes by hand or 2-3 minutes if using a stand mixer.
• Put into a lightly oiled bowl (or leave it in the mixer), then cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise for two hours or until doubled in size. 
• Take the dough out of the bowl and onto a lightly floured surface. Gently divide the dough into 10 or 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a smooth ball, tucking any seams underneath. Then using your fingertips, gently flatten each ball so it is about 1/2 inch tall, forming a disk. 
• Put onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and let rise for one hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Take a raw beaten egg and gently brush it onto the dough. if desired, Sprinkle with sesame seeds or Everything but The Bagel seasoning.
• Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden. Let cool completely.
• Right before serving, slice buns in half. *optional but recommended: Butter the insides of the bun and toast on a pancake griddle or a frying pan*. Assemble the buns with your burger and toppings and enjoy!  

Notes

 Makes 8 huge, 10 good-sized or 12 medium-sized buns.