The following bun recipe created quite a stir when it was first posted in our original online community. Baker after baker tried these buns and declared them THE BEST. Soft, vaguely sweet, and lightly golden from the butter and egg, these simple buns are perfect for burgers, but also fine for any kind of sandwich.
Brushing the buns with melted butter will give them a soft, light golden crust. To instead give them a shinier, darker crust, brush them instead with an egg-white wash (1 egg white beaten with 1/4 cup water). For seeded buns, brush the buns with the egg wash prior to sprinkling, as it’ll make the seeds adhere–and feel free to add the extra yolk to the dough, reserving the white for the wash.
Credit for the original version of this recipe goes to “Moomie” (Ellen), one of the original members of our online community, The Baking Circle. Thanks, Moomie, for the joy you’ve brought to bun lovers everywhere!–The Bakers at King Arthur Flour
LC Size Matters Note
We all know that one-size-fits-all cliché is a bunch of baloney. Take hamburger buns. Sometimes you need something that’ll accommodate a brontosaurus-sized burger. Sometimes you need something that’ll suit wee sliders. And sometimes you need something that’s perfectly in between. We understand. So do the folks at King Arthur Flour, who suggest that, for slightly larger buns, you divide the dough into 8 pieces instead of 12 and bake the buns for 15 to 18 minutes. And for those wee slider buns—about 3 inches in diameter–divvy the dough into 24 pieces and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Hamburger Buns Recipe
Hands-On Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes, not including resting | Makes 12 beautiful buns
Ingredients
- 3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
- 1 large egg
- 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 3 tablespoons butter, plus more for the baking sheet
Directions
- 1. Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients except for the melted butter by hand, mixer, or bread machine until a soft, smooth dough forms. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until it’s nearly doubled in bulk.
- 2. Gently deflate the dough and divide it into 12 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball, then flatten it to a squat round blob about 2 1/2 inches across. (Another easy way to shape buns, besides rolling them into balls and flattening, is to gently deflate the dough and form it into a smooth 8-inch log. Using a serrated knife, slice the log into 12 pieces. Gently tug the edges of each piece underneath the ball of dough to form a squat ball.) Place the buns on a lightly buttered or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until noticeably puffy.
- 3. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- 4. Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter and bake until golden, 12 to 18 minutes. As soon as you remove the buns from the oven, brush them with the remaining melted butter, which will lend the buns a satiny, buttery crust. Place the buns on a wire rack to cool completely.
Hungry for more? Chow down on these:
- Hot Dog Buns from Annie's Eats
- Homemade Sandwich Bread from The Hungry Mouse
- Semolina Pizza Dough from Leite's Culinaria
- Feather Light Rolls from Leite's Culinaria
Hamburger Buns Recipe © The Bakers at King Arthur Flour. Photo © 2010 Karen Wacaser Lyons. All rights reserved.
