Name: Homemade Burger Buns Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 3 h 28 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 420 g all-purpose flour, organic unbleached preferred; 1 egg; 175 g water, room temperature, approximately, see notes; 1 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt; 2 tbsp butter, softened; 30 g cane sugar, organic unrefined preferred, about 2 tbsp; 2.5 tsp active dry yeast powder

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Homemade Burger Buns are easy, yummy, and healthy. A must-have to enable your deluxe burger experience at home.

Making burger buns can be seriously easy and the active work time is merely less than 15 minutes when you own a Stand Mixer to knead the dough. If you make the dough by hand, it takes longer. The rest is just waiting time.

Ingredients required to make homemade burger buns

I use extremely simple and limited ingredients. All you need is all-purpose flour, salt, cane sugar, butter, water, and active dry yeast powder.

Do I need a Stand Mixer to make Burger Bun dough?

Simply put, it is not a deal breaker. However, a stand mixer makes it much more effortless to make a perfect dough. It works the dough more thoroughly. Because of the consistent kneading from all directions, it can potentially use less water and create a more spongy & airy dough.

I have to admit that myself is a later adopter. We own a Stand Mixer and I use it initially for other usages, such as grinding pork at home, making homemade whipped cream, whipping egg white for Chinese bakery cake, etc.

I used to spend at least 30 minutes kneading & working the dough nonstop, including slapping the dough against the hard surface to stretching the dough. Now all this can be done using the Stand Mixer in less than 10 minutes.

Having said that, don’t worry if you do not own a Stand Mixer, you can still make a perfect burger bun by hand, as long as you follow the below tips.

How to make burger bun dough by hand?

Tip No.1 is to rest the dough till they become stretchy before adding yeast

One of the secrets behind fluffy buns is fully stretched dough. Mix egg liquid, water, sugar, salt, and all-purpose flour until you get a somewhat sticky dough, but not too sticky, and then cover it with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest. During summer, you may only need one hour; during the winter, however, you may need 2-3 hours.

When you can easily stretch the dough without breaking them, it is a good indicator that the dough is ready for the next step.

Tip No.2 is to dissolve the active dry yeast powder first thing first

Never add the active dry yeast powder directly to the dough. Always dissolve it in a small bowl with room temperature water until it is fully blended and dissolved first. This is the key to unleashing the full strength of the active dry yeast powder.

Dry Active Yeast and water smooth paste — dissolve active dry yeast powder in water

Tip No.3 is to work on the dough thoroughly after adding butter and active dry yeast paste

Stretch out the dough and lay it flat on the dough mat and then add the soft butter and dissolved active dry yeast powder paste.

place the softened butter and active dry yeast paste on a stretchy dough

Wrap the dough around the softened butter and the yeast paste, then pull the dough apart and knead/press and force them together again. Repeat this a few times. This step further helps the dough to reach its full potential of stretchiness. Keep in mind that the more stretchy the dough becomes, the fluffier the buns will get.

Pull dough apart and then knead together

Tip No.4 is to divide the dough and fold each portion into a somewhat hollow dome shape

This recipe makes 8 burger buns. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions, each portion weighs about 90 grams. For each portion, continuously knead and fold the dough inward toward the center, until forms a smooth ball.

Then use both hands to toss to make the dough round and tall.

fold burger bun dough into a hollow dome shape

Tip No.5 is to let the dough rest in an enclosed area until it doubles the size

My favorite baking pan set is this stainless baking pan set which comes with one large and one small pan, which can both perfectly into the same level in the oven. This unbleached parchment paper is great to use as a liner.

Place the folded buns on the parchment paper in the baking pan, making sure you leave enough spaces in between for them to rise to double their size. During the summer, it may take about 2 hours, more or less. During the winter, it may take as long as 3-4 hours.

Homemade Burger Buns Recipe

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Additional Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 28 minutes

Homemade burger buns are easy, yummy, and healthy. A must-have to enable your deluxe burger experience at home.

Ingredients

420 g all-purpose flour, organic unbleached preferred
1 egg
175 g water, room temperature, approximately, see notes
1 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt
2 tbsp butter, softened
30 g cane sugar, organic unrefined preferred, about 2 tbsp
2.5 tsp active dry yeast powder

Instructions

Step 1 Prep Work:

Gather ingredients. Use a kitchen scale to measure out flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Measure out the water in a bowl and active dry yeast powder in another small bowl.
Crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk well. Add some water from the bowl into the active dry yeast, about 1/4 cup, and mix well until it dissolves and turns into a smooth paste.
Add the butter to a small glass bowl, using either microwave (20 seconds on high) or a boiling water bath to soften the butter.

Step 2A - Making Burger Bun Dough Using a Stand Mixer:

Add everything into a standard mixer bowl - the flour, egg, butter, sugar, salt, and the remaining water, Use a silicone spatula to fold and mix everything together. Then set the Mixer on low until it forms a dough or about 10 minutes.
Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for about 1 hour.
Knead and press down the dough to get rid of the air. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions, each weighs about 90 g.

Step 2B - Making Burger Bun Dough By Hand:

You can also knead the dough by hand, remember to pull the dough apart and press them together constantly to ensure the flour absorbs the water. You may feel the dough is somewhat dry, just remember this, it takes time for the dough to absorb the water. Once it does, the dough will become much softer. Therefore DO NOT add water too much too fast.
Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest until the dough becomes super stretchy. During the summer, this may take between 30 min to 1 hour. It will take longer during the winter.
Stretch the dough out to a sheet and then add the softened butter and the yeast paste in the middle and then wrap the dough around them. Slowly fold the butter and yeast paste into the dough.
Pull the dough apart and then knead them back together. Repeat this a few times. This step helps the dough to reach its full potential stretchiness.
Hold one end of the dough and then slap really hard against a hard surface such as a granite countertop. Then knead the dough together and repeat slapping. You will notice the dough becomes softer, smoother, and stretchier as you continue to slap the dough.
After a few times, once the dough becomes super smooth and soft, they are ready. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions.

Step 3 - Fold the Bun:

Line the stainless steel baking pan with unbleached parchment paper. For each portion, knead the dough inward toward the center a few times and then fold it into a somewhat hollow ball.
Use both hands to toss to make the dough ball round and tall and then place it on the parchment paper. Make sure you leave enough space in between for them to rise and double their size.
Repeat until you've done folding all 8 buns.
Place the baking pans in an enclosed area and rest until the dough doubles its size. This may take about 2 hours during the summer and up to 3-4 hours during the cold winter.

Bake Burger Buns:

Set the oven temperature to 375 F degrees and bake for 18 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and cool the buns on a wired rack before slicing them into halves and serving. Enjoy a yummy and healthy homemade burger bun!

Notes

The water required depends largely on the type of flour and the humidity level of the environment. Add water slowly while kneading to allow the flour to absorb the water. You may or may not need the entire water.