No matter how frugal I try to be I always seem to end up with hard or moldy forgotten, leftover hamburger buns that invariably end up in the trash. Cooking for three often means even a package of just six buns is sometimes too much. Freezing them seems to be hit or miss for me. Sometimes they end up soggy and mushy or dried out with the texture of sawdust after I thaw them. They’re just never as good as fresh. I confess, I am a self professed bread snob so I prefer freshly baked bread to accompany the meals I prepare. I often have everything I need for dinner except for those fresh buns. Since I’m too lazy to run to the store just for buns, I decided it was high time to learn how to bake them up from scratch at home so I can have them nice and fresh anytime I need them.
How To Make Homemade Hamburger Buns From Scratch:
It’s not difficult at all to make your own hamburger buns, especially if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook that can do the hard work of kneading the dough for you. With a little planning ahead you can easily serve up your favorite hamburgers or sloppy joes on freshly baked buns that you made yourself. They taste far superior to anything you can purchase at the store and will cost you a fraction of what you would pay for them at the market. Plus you know exactly what’s in them, no unpronounceable chemical additives or preservatives in these.
Want to give making hamburger buns a try? Keep reading for the easy to follow step-by-step instructions to find out how to do it.
This is a yeast dough that uses a commercial yeast so the time it takes to make these buns in a much, much shorter process than when you’re baking with a sourdough starter. You can bake up a batch of these buns in under 5 hours, that’s pretty quick when it comes to baking bread from scratch.
Start by combining the yeast and sugar with the warm water in a small bowl.
Stir to combine and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast. It should look bubbly like the picture below.
Pour activated yeast water into the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add the oil and salt along with 2 cups of the flour to the bowl.
Using a dough hook stir together the ingredients on low speed until combined. You can also knead the dough by hand if you do not have a stand mixer.
Continue adding two cups of flour at a time until all the flour is incorporated into a sticky dough.
Increase the speed of the mixer to medium.
Knead the dough for 6 minutes or until you have a smooth, elastic dough.
Remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a ball with your hands.
Place ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl.
Cover loosely and allow dough to rise, until doubled in size, about 1½ hours.
Punch down the dough and cover it. Allow dough to rise a second time for 45 minutes to an hour.
Divide dough into 12 equal sized pieces. You can eyeball it or if you want to be more precise, weigh out the dough on a digital food scale.
For larger buns, cut the dough into 8 pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into a round ball.
Flatten dough ball slightly forming them into a disc shape and place on a baking sheet.
Allow the buns to rest, covered, for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350℉.
In a small bowl whisk together the egg with a splash of water.
Right before placing the buns in the oven, brush the tops of them with the egg wash and sprinkle the buns with some sesame seeds.
Bake buns for 20-25 minutes or until they are a light golden brown.
Remove from the oven and transfer buns to a wire rack.
Allow them to cool to room temperature before slicing them in half.
For Long Term Storage: Cut buns in half and freeze in an air tight container for up to 3 months. Place bun halves in a toaster to thaw.
Add an all beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions to this sesame seed bun and you’ve got an absolutely delicious Big Mac burger. Learn how to make the special sauce at home, so you can serve up burgers that taste just like the iconic Big Mac burger, only better!!!
Whether you’re using these buns for your favorite burgers or for Sloppy Joes, they are soft and fresh right out of the oven and a thousand times better tasting than anything you can get at the market. Try making your own hamburger buns at home, you won’t go back to the store bought variety once you do.
Easy To Make, Homemade Hamburger Buns
Equipment
- stand mixer with a dough hook
Ingredients
- 1½ cups warm water
- 2½ tsp active dry yeast, (or one packet of yeast)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil, plus more to grease bowl
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp water
- 2 tsp sesame seeds, optional
Instructions
- Add yeast and sugar to warm water in a small bowl. Stir to combine and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast.
- Pour activated yeast water into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the oil and salt along with 2 cups of the flour.
- Using a dough hook combine the ingredients on low speed until combined.
- Continue adding two cups of flour at a time until all the flour is incorporated into a sticky dough.
- Increase the speed of the mixer to medium and knead the dough for 6 minutes or until you have a smooth, elastic dough.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a ball with your hands. Place ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl.
- Cover loosely and allow dough to rise, until doubled in size, about 1-1½ hours.
- Punch down the dough and cover it. Allow dough to rise for 45 minutes to an hour.
- Divide dough into 12 equal sized pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough into a round ball.
- Flatten slightly forming the balls into a disc shape and place on a baking sheet.
- Allow the buns to rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- In a small bowl whisk together the egg and water.
- Right before placing the buns in the oven, brush the tops of them with the egg wash.
- Sprinkle the buns with sesame seeds.
- Bake buns for 20-25 minutes or until they are a rich golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and transfer buns to a wire rack. Allow them to cool to room temperature before slicing them in half.
Notes
Did You Make This?
Be sure to snap a pic and tag it #naturewayblog I love, love, love hearing from my readers! Please, don’t forget to leave a comment and a review below, and be sure to follow me on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, TELEGRAM or TWITTER for all the latest happening here at Nature Way!
May I ask a small favor? If you enjoyed this blogpost would you be so kind and like the page? Just click the “like” button down at the very bottom, at the end of the post. It lets me know what you are enjoying the most. It also helps me focus my attention on creating content that will be most meaningful and beneficial to you, my readers. And don’t forget to subscribe:
When you sign up you’ll never miss out on all the latest that’s happening here at Nature Way. I promise to never spam you, ever! Cross my heart. Thank you and God bless!
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31
Remember…Jesus ❤️’s you!