Homemade Hamburger Buns – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

These homemade hamburger buns are so easy to make at home, and they come together and rise quickly! They are soft and fluffy but sturdy enough for a juicy burger.

This recipe works great for hamburger buns, hot dog buns, slider buns, or sub sandwich buns and is perfect for beginner or advanced bread bakers. The buns are so simple to make and so delicious!

Making Homemade Hamburger Buns

The dough for these hamburger buns is so easy! It can be made in a stand mixer or by hand.

Size of Hamburger Buns: for easier dividing, each piece of dough will weigh 4.5/4.7 ounces. This recipe makes buns that are about 3.75 to 4 inches in diameter after baking. If you want larger or smaller buns, divide the dough accordingly.

Shaping and Pressing the Buns

Shape each piece of dough into a round ball.

Place the balls of dough several inches apart on half sheet pans lined with parchment paper.

Press each ball of dough into a thick disc shape – about 1/2 to 3/4-inches in thickness.

Let rise until noticeably puffy.

Lightly brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional).

Bake until golden.

Tip: If the dough springs back after being lightly pressed, let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes to help the gluten relax and press again.

Picturesque homemade hamburger buns coming your way with this easy recipe! Like, WOW. These buns are perfection.

They are perfectly soft and fluffy while still holding up incredibly well to a burger and loads of toppings.

Because the dough is made from scratch, you can easily tailor the size of these buns to whatever you choose to serve on them! The dough is perfect for hamburgers, sliders, sandwiches, and more!

Certainly homemade buns are not attainable for every occasion (chaotic weeknight dinners, I’m looking at you!), but when you do have a little extra time and want to feel like a total rock star, these homemade buns are the ticket!

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Homemade Hamburger Buns

Yield: 10 buns

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 18 minutes mins

Rising Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 2 hours hrs 18 minutes mins

1 ½ cups warm water, 105 to 110 degrees F2 tablespoons sugar or honey2 tablespoons olive oil1 tablespoon instant yeast (see note)1 large egg (see note for egg-free version)1 ½ teaspoons table salt4 cups all-purpose or bread flour (see note)

Egg Wash + Topping:

1 large egg1 tablespoon water Sesame seeds, optional

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook or in a large bowl by hand, combine the warm water, sugar, oil, yeast, egg, salt and 2 cups of the flour.

Start the mixer on low speed. Continue adding flour gradually until the dough forms a soft ball and pulls away from the sides/center of the bowl. Knead for five minutes (if the dough starts clinging to the sides again during kneading, add a few tablespoons flour at a time until it clears the sides of the bowl). The dough should feel soft and sightly tacky to the touch but shouldn’t leave a lot of dough residue on your fingers.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in a warm, draft-free spot, 45 to 60 minutes.

Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper. Lightly grease with cooking spray and set aside.

Lightly punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly greased countertop.

Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces (about 4.5/4.7 ounces each). Roll each piece into a ball and place the rolls on the prepared pans – five rolls for each pan spaced several inches apart.

Lightly press each ball of dough into a thick disc about 1/2-inch tall and 2 to 2 1/2 inches across. If the dough springs back after being lightly pressed, let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes to help the gluten relax and press again.

Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until noticeably puffy, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For the egg wash, whisk together the egg and water. Lightly brush (so as not to deflate the risen buns) the top and sides of each bun with the egg wash. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds, if desired.

Bake for 18 minutes until golden.

Yeast: to sub in active dry yeast for the instant yeast, add the water, sugar, oil, and active dry yeast to the mixer. Mix briefly. Let the mixture rest until the yeast is foamy and bubbling before proceeding with the recipe. 
Egg: to make the buns egg-free, omit the egg and add 2 to 3 tablespoons additional water (and omit the egg wash). The buns will be slightly less sturdy without the egg, but they will still work great for burgers.
Flour: you can sub in half whole wheat flour (preferably white wheat variety). Knead for 1-2 minutes longer. Judge the exact amount of flour by the look and feel of the dough. The flour amount may vary slightly based on elevation, humidity, how the flour is measured. 
Size of Buns: These buns are about 3.75 to 4 inches in diameter once baked (the size is variable depending on how flat the buns are pressed prior to rising and baking). 

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Method: Bake

Serving: 1 bun, Calories: 232kcal, Carbohydrates: 41g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 37mg, Sodium: 366mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g

Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (took my beloved French bread roll recipe and adapted it to be a bit sturdier while still staying soft and fluffy)