Homemade Hamburger Buns

This simple and straightforward homemade burger buns recipe is sure to become a family favourite this summer! Take your BBQ season and burger game to the next level in a couple of hours with just a few basic ingredients.

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I love a good burger as much as anyone else, but I’m not a fan of the dry, cookie-cutter, Wonder Bread-style hamburger buns you get from the grocery store. Not only are they a little lack lustre, but depending on what brand you buy, you may be getting all sorts of unwanted and potentially harmful additives too.

Not to mention, many store-bought burger buns and breads contain genetically modified ingredients like GMO corn syrup and vegetable oil. (For the record, Wonder Bread is now certified non-GMO, so that’s a step in the right direction).

For the longest time, I opted for better quality store-bought buns. And I’m not gonna lie – they were actually pretty good. But a pack of hamburger buns set me back $5 or $6, which can add up in the summertime when burgers are regularly on our menu.

All of the above led to finally trying my hand at making homemade burger buns from scratch a few months ago, and I was immediately sold.

Experimenting with burger bun recipes

The first time I made homemade burger buns, I used Jill Winger’s recipe from her Heritage Cooking Crash Course, and I was fully on board with making my own buns from that point forward. They were easy to make, called for just a few basic ingredients, came out great the first time, and tasted delicious. Oh, and they cost only about $1.00 to make per batch, max.

Needless to say, I started making homemade hamburger buns from that point forward, and while I was quite satisfied with Jill’s recipe, at some point my husband, Ryan, started testing out a recipe of his own.

We tend to have our areas of expertise in the kitchen, and while most of the baking and bread-making usually falls on me, Ry likes to make certain dough-based products, like our homemade pizza dough, homemade pasta and now, homemade hamburger buns too:)

He started making them from a different recipe, which he’s tweaked over the past few months until he got them “just right.”

This has become our go-to homemade hamburger bun recipe, and paired with our out-of-this-world homemade beef and bacon burger patties, has made it onto our regular meal rotation, especially this time of year when we eat homemade burgers around once or twice per week.

We’ve even started doubling the batch so that we always have some on hand when we’re in the mood for burgers, or when we’re short on time and need to get dinner on the table. The buns freeze really well, so we just throw them in the freezer until we’re ready to thaw them and use them. Otherwise we keep them in the fridge if we’re not using them all right away and they store well there for up to a week or so.

How to use your homemade hamburger buns

These homemade burger buns make great buns for breakfast sandwiches, sloppy joes,  or deli-style sandwiches too, and the dough can also be shaped into longer, skinnier shapes for hot dog buns. But at the end of the day they truly do make for the best hamburger buns I have ever tasted, and with summer holidays and BBQ season upon us, this is a great recipe that you’ll be glad to have added to your repertoire, too!

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Homemade Hamburger Buns

Yield: 8 buns

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Ingredients

• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2¼ teaspoons (one packet) active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (but not hot)
• 1 large egg
• 3 Tbsp. melted butter
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
• Sesame seeds (for sprinkling on bun)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the active dry yeast, ½ cup of flour and the warm water. Let sit for 10-15 minutes, until the yeast mixture appears foamy.
2. Add the large egg, melted butter, salt and sugar and whisk together until well combined.
3. Add remaining 3 cups of flour and mix together until the burger bun dough starts to come together. Then knead by hand or with a stand mixer until the dough fully comes together and forms a slightly sticky dough ball. It shouldn’t stick to your hands, but if it does, sprinkle with a pinch of flour and continue kneading. *If using a stand mixer, scrape the sides of your bowl part way through to make sure all of the dough is fully incorporated. Knead until dough wraps itself around your dough hook attachment (about 5 minutes).
4. Form dough into a dough ball, pulling and tucking the dough underneath with your fingers to form a round, tight ball.
5. Wipe out mixing bowl and place dough ball back in the bowl (or transfer to a clean bowl). Add olive oil and toss dough ball in oil until fully coated.
6. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm place to rise for two hours. (We place ours in our oven with the light on).
7. Turn dough ball out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into eight equal pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a round, tight ball, pulling the dough and tucking it under with your finger tips to form your buns.
8. Place buns on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, spaced about ½ inch apart from each other. Flatten each dough ball slightly with the palm of your hand.
9. Cover lightly with plastic wrap (or you can place them in a large plastic bag or cover lightly with beeswax wraps) and leave dough balls to rise for one hour.
10. Lightly brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 375ºF for 15-18 minutes, until buns are golden brown on top.
11. Remove from oven and let buns cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy fresh or let cool completely and store in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to about 3 months.