If you’re looking for the ultimate hamburger bun, look no further. These Homemade Hamburger Buns are not only quick and easy to make, but also light and fluffy. Topped with sesame seeds or plain, they’re beautiful to look at and perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients for Homemade Hamburger Buns:
I used the following ingredients for these amazing hamburger buns: Milk, water, unsalted butter, egg, granulated sugar, salt, all-purpose flour, and yeast.
Making the Dough for the Homemade Hamburger Buns:
These hamburger buns are a snap to make in your bread machine. Basically, I added the wet ingredients, followed by the salt, sugar, and flour to the pan of the bread machine. The last ingredient that I added was the yeast. I set the bread machine on the dough cycle, and walked away!
Finishing the Homemade Hamburger Buns:
When the dough cycle ended, I dumped the dough onto a floured piece of wax paper, and cut the dough into six pieces. This recipe makes either 6 large (whopper-size) buns, or 8 regular-size buns. I decided to make the large ones, so I weighed the dough and divided the weight by six. Each bun took 3.4 ounces or 97 grams of dough. Yes, I know – I’m a foodie nerd. I weigh almost everything! After I partitioned the dough into six pieces, I rolled each piece into a ball, and placed it on a parchment lined baking sheet. I knew that the rolls would rise quite a bit, so I left a lot of room between them. I flattened each piece with my fingertips, covered the pan, and placed it into my electric oven that I had heated for 1 minute and 45 seconds (a trick I learned from Julia Child).
After about 35 minutes, the buns had risen nicely and were almost ready to cook. I brushed each one with egg white, and sprinkled sesame seeds on three of the buns. The Master Taste Tester doesn’t like sesame seeds on his buns, so I left some plain!
Into a preheated 400°F oven the buns went for about 12 minutes, until they were golden brown.
I ended up with six large and perfectly delicious hamburger buns. I don’t think that I’ll ever use store-bought buns again. Yum!
Homemade Hamburger Buns (Bread Machine)
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup water enough such that the total of the milk, egg and water is 8 ounces
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon white sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups (12-ounces, 340 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/8 teaspoon bread machine yeast
Instructions
- Add all ingredients pan of bread machine in the order listed. Program the machine for the dough cycle, and press start. When the dough cycle has finished, transfer the dough to a floured surface. Using either a pizza cutter or a dough scrapper, cut the dough into 6 (3.44 ounces, 97 grams) or 8 (2.5 ounces, 71 grams). Form each piece into a ball and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Using floured fingertips, flatten each piece until it is about ½-inch thick. Cover; allow to rise in a warm place* until doubled in size, about 30 to 35 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven; transfer to wire rack to cool.
- Yield: 6 large or 8 regular-sized hamburger buns.
Can you use GF all purpose flour instead of regular flour?
Honestly, I don’t know. In general, I haven’t had much luck using GF flour in bread recipes. Sorry.
When you say you are using Julia Child’s trick of heating the oven for 1 minute, 45 seconds….I assume after that time you turn it off. But, what is the temperature? Thanks!
I have an electric oven. I turn it on to 350° F, which is the default temperature for my oven. After 1 minute and 45 seconds, I turn the oven off. By that time, the temperature has reached about 101° F. I’ve found that it’s the perfect temperature to proof dough. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the information…I, too, have an electric oven.
These hamburger buns are amazing!
I’ve searched for a long time for a perfect hamburger bun recipe with the right texture, and now I’ve found it! Thank you so much. These were wonderful! And the tip about pre-heating the oven was something new to me, and also worked perfectly. Yay!!
I’m glad that they worked out for you!
Love this recipe. The buns are tasty, light and fluffy. Is there a comparable bread recipe for bread machines.
I suspect you could use the quick cycle on a bread machine with this dough, although I haven’t tried that. Let me know if this works for you.
Best bun recipe ever! !! Been looking and trying for a few years now, so happy I finally found this!
Best bun recipe!!! Light fluffy, family loves em!
Thanks! I make them all the time – so simple and so good.
Have you tried it as a loaf bread?
No, but I suspect that it would make a delicious, soft loaf of bread.
I tried the loaf, it was great!,
Wow! Thanks so much for letting me know. I’ll have to try it!
Have you made these and frozen the dough for later?
I haven’t frozen the dough for later use. However, I have made the dough the night before, and refrigerated it.
does the 1 egg go into the dough and a second egg is used to brush on?
Yes. The dough includes one egg. If desired, you can use a second egg to brush on.
I’m going to give this a shot without using a bread machine. I don’t know what in a bread machine as it does its dough cycle.
Will use dough hook and trusty stand mixer to create dough. Will let it rise, punch it down, then let it rise again. Will shape and let rise as recipe suggests. Then, bake as directed. Think it will be just fine!!
Anyone else use this recipe for stand mixer dough?
Reno Dave
I think that it’ll be totally fine making the dough in a stand mixer. To me, the most important part of ensuring a consistent product is weighing the ingredients! After that, either the stand mixer or the bread machine will do a good job kneading the dough.
These came out beautifully, thanks for including weight for the flour, so no guesswork needed!
I always weigh my ingredients. You’re right – no guesswork is needed. I’m so glad that they turned out for you!
Is it the same temperature of 350 & one minute 45 seconds in a gas oven to let the 6 buns rise?
To be honest, I don’t have a gas oven. The only reason that I use 350° is that it’s the default temperature when I turn on my oven. Basically, when I turn on my oven, its starting temperature reads 100° F. As soon as I see the temperature start to rise above 100° (which takes 1 minute and 45 seconds), I turn off the oven. Because the oven is electric, it takes a finite amount of time for the heating elements to stop heating. During this time, the oven continues to heat a little bit so that the final temperature when I add the rolls to rise is closer to 107° or 108°. With a gas oven, I assume that once you’ve turned it off, it is off and doesn’t continue to heat. What you’re trying to achieve is a temperature around 107° or 108°. Hope this makes sense!
It’s in the bread machine now just waiting to cook it
Excellent! What would we do without our bread machines? I use mine all the time. These hamburger buns are incredible. Hope your’s turn out! Chula
What do y’all think of using bacon grease instead of butter?
I’ve made these several times and they’re AWESOME!!!
Just wanted to change em up a little
Made these several times and they’re AWESOME!!
Making more today, using bacon grease instead of butter….
Tried asking what y’all thought about it, but, apparently my comment didn’t post!
Janet, I think that using bacon grease instead of butter would be an interesting twist to the hamburger buns. In other breads that I’ve made, I’ve successfully use vegetable oil and olive oil. Therefore, I suspect that bacon grease would work as well and provide a Yummy taste to the hamburger buns. Let me know how they turn out!
Chula
Hey there!!! They turned out fine,..didn’t add any bacony flavor I was hoping for tho…..
Hi Janet, I’m surprised that they didn’t have the bacony flavor. However, I’m glad that they turned out!
Chula
I’m going to try this recipe for hot dog buns….
What a good idea! I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know how the hot dog buns turn out!
Chula
Can you double this recipe in the bread machine?
Thanks.
Cheryl, if your bread machine is large enough, you can definitely double the recipe. My bread machine makes a 2-pound loaf and is plenty large enough to accommodate a double recipe.
Chula
These rise without yeast?
Sherry, at the bottom of the ingredients is 1 1/8 teaspoons of bread machine yeast. I put it at the bottom because the yeast is the last thing that I put into the bread machine pan.
Chula
I just tried this recipe. Oh MY GOSH. These buns are amazing. I didn’t have unsalted butter so I decreased the added salt by a 1/4tsp. I also weighed the milk,egg, water mixture to 8oz. (depending on the egg the water is not quite a 1/4c.) I make my own bread so I learned early on to always weigh the flour. (It can be a difference of a 1/4c or more if you just measure so be careful)
These buns will definitely be a staple in my kitchen. Can’t wait to try a loaf and hotdog buns with this recipe.
Thank You for passing this along!
Shari,
I totally agree with you about the importance of weighing the ingredients when making any type of bread – and cakes and cookies for that matter! I’m so glad that the recipe worked out for you. I’d love to hear how the hotdog buns and loaf turn out!
Chula
Great recipe. Daughter wanted to go to Five Guys for her birthday, but with the current coronavirus lockdown, this was not going to happen. So I decided to make their burgers at home with this recipe for the buns. Worked a treat. Slight variation on the recipe: I doubles the sugar and added another egg (using the white from these to paint the tops). The Five Guys’ buns are described as slightly more eggy and slightly sweeter than a normal burger bun, but I didn’t want to go as sweet as a brioche. I used bread flour too, not “general purpose flour” (aka plain flour in the UK).
I used the “turned off hot oven” for the proving, after a radiator or putting it in front of the log fire failed. The own method worked really quickly.
Awesome Jason! Happy Birthday to your daughter.
Mine are rising now. No buns at store due to coronavirus. No sesame seeds. Going to top with everything bagel seasoning.
Yum! Let me know how the bagel seasoning works out!
Made these today, they are amazing. I’ll never buy store bought buns again.
The husband loved these with everything bagel seasoning. Definitely a keeper
Thanks so much Julie for letting me know. I’m definitely going to try this!
So glad they turned out for you Denise!
Thank you for this recipe! Very easy, very tasty. I may never buy from the store again!
Emily, I can’t remember when I last bought hamburger buns from the store. This is definitely my go-to recipe. So glad that they turned out for you! Chula
Do you mix the egg before putting in machine or let machine mix it?
Hi Mark,
Basically, I add the water and egg to the bread machine and stir it with a small silicon spoon to break it up. You could also mix the egg before adding it to the bread machine. Chula
Thank you for this recipe! For whatever reason, humidity or variations in flour, or my bad measuring, I had to add about four more tbs of flour as the bread machine kneaded. I recommend always monitoring stickiness or crumbliness with machines. This recipe was wonderfully easy and good!1
Why have I been buying hamburger buns? These are fantastic. Thank you.
Wallace, I totally agree with the variations in humidity and flour. That’s why I weigh everything! So glad that the recipe worked out for you! Chula
Pat,
I can’t remember the last time that I actually purchased hamburger buns. This is definitely my go to recipe. Thanks for letting me know that they worked out well for you!
Chula
Chula,
I made these buns per your recipe (using a kitchen scale) and they turned out great. Thanks! Made 7 buns…can they be put in a freezer bag & frozen and if so are they as good once thawed out? I’m going to try your PO-boy buns recipe next….
Thanks again,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Yes, I freeze these wrapped well in aluminum foil and put in a ziploc bag. They’re not quite as good as freshly baked, but are close! You’re going to love the P’Boy rolls!
Chula
Hi Chula,
Any suggestions in making this recipe work for an Onion Roll/Bun?
Hi Mike,
I would try adding 1 teaspoon of onion powder and 3 tablespoons of dried minced onions to other ingredients.
Chula
I wish I could post a photo to show you how beautiful my hamburger buns turned out! I did not think to order buns when I made my weekly online grocery order and, at my age (68), I am trying so hard to not actually go into the stores. I was able to make 8 decent sized buns, and as I only made 6 burgers, my husband and son both ate one each with butter. They loved them!
These were awesome! I put some Smokey seasoned salt and dried hatch chili pepper into the dough. Brushed with egg and butter and sprinkled with dried scallions. They were incredible!
YUM! I’m going to have to try that!
Donna – I wish I could see a photo as well! Based on what you said, they turned out incredibly well. Stay safe!
Chula
I am a terrible, horrible cook, baker, kitchen person… and these came out PERFECTLY! If I can do it, anyone can!!! Thank you for such a great recipe. We’re grilling burgers tonight to go with them.
Excellent!
Thanks for this recipe. I love my bread machine and I also have an electric oven and often let things rise by just turning on “oven light”. I’ll try the 1 mon 45 you mentioned though! Any suggestions for subbing whole wheat flour, rye flour or even bread flour? I’m low on AP flour and haven’t seen any in stores.
Thanks!
Made these buns during lockdown and they turned out beautifully and made the hamburgers so much nicer. Great recipe and so easy.
Annie, so glad that they turned out for you!
Chula
Carly, I’ve not tried these with either whole wheat flour or rye flour. However, bread flour should work fine. In fact, I actually use bread flour for most of the breads that I make. Also, when I’ve used bread flour in place of all-purpose flour in bread recipes, I’ve not detected any difference. I do have a recipe for Honey Whole Wheat Rolls that use a combination of whole wheat flour and bread flour (https://pudgefactor.com/honey-wheat-rolls-bread-machine) that you might try. Chula
My bread dough cycle automatically rises at the end of its cycle. Should I let it do that? Or should I take it out before hand?
Jenni,
The dough cycle includes both the kneading of the dough and the first rise. Therefore, let it go until the end of the dough cycle and then shape the hamburger buns.
Chula
Made these tonight, put them on the pizza dough 45 minute cycle, turned out AMAZING! Mixture was quite gloopy when I opened the breadmaker and I was a little worried but I didn’t need to be – FAR OUT they were great!! Will absolutely make again (and again and again).
Outstanding! I so glad that they worked out for you Lana.
Chula
Trying these as I type this, waiting for the oven to preheat, I’m excited!
Just wondering if I were to add cornmeal how would I do that?!
Hi Ness,
Unfortunately, I don’t know how adding cornmeal would work with these buns. If you figure it out, I’d love to know though!
Chula
These were great, I let the breadmaker do another dough session to make sure that they were correctly kneaded and then let the rolls rest in the refrigerator for 4 hours before taking out for the final prove; They came out perfectly
Oh my goodness but these were good! I feel so accomplished serving something that looked this elegant and tasted so very delicious! These buns were out of this world. Many thanks for publishing this awesome recipe! I’m a novice baker but these were pretty easy and well worth the effort.
Birgit, I’m so pleased that the buns turned out for you!
Chula
Adrian, I’m a huge believer in the bread machine doing most of the work. So glad that they came out perfectly for you!
Chula
I have made these hamburger buns twice in my bread machine. They are excellent! I can start them by 3:00 and have them for burgers at 5:30. They are so much better (fresher) so they hold together through the whole burger.
Since COVID happened, you can’t just dash to the grocery store if you are in the elderly group so this recipe has been used twice rather that jeopardize our health.
They are really nice hamburger buns. Thank you!
You’re totally right Geraldine – COVID has definitely altered my dashing to the grocery store! I’m so pleased that the buns worked out for you. Stay safe.
Chula
Do you happen to know if substituting active dry yeast in place of bread machine yeast in the same ratio works or is there an adjusted amount you would recommend?
Christine, the rule-of-thumb is that one unit of active dry yeast is equivalent to 0.75 units of bread machine or instant yeast. Turning that around would mean that 1 unit of bread machine or instant yeast is equivalent to 1.33 units of instant yeast. For example, if the recipe calls for 1.5 teaspoons of bread machine yeast, then you would use 2 teaspoons (1.5 x 1.33 = 1.995) of active dry yeast. Hope this helps.
Chula
Thanks for the recipe. I was a little confused when taking the dough out of the bread machine. My bread machine has both a dough cycle (which is mixing only) and a leaven dough cycle (which is mix and rise). I initially used just the dough cycle, but knew it needed a second rise. I was still able to use the dough, but it was a bit confusing.
Sorry about that Jessica. I guess every bread machine is potentially different.
Chula
Hi,
I want to know if you made this in a 1 pound loaf machine. I have a Zojurushi Mini – which I am very thankful for. I want to be able to make hamburger buns and am searching for a recipe for a 1 pound machine.
Thank you! AC
Hi AC, Yes, I made this in my mini Zojurushi bread machine. I absolutely love my mini. Everything that I’e made in it has turned out amazingly well.
Chula