Burger Buns

Preparation time

2h 10m

Servings

4 - 16 servings

Soft burger buns, which are still dense enough to hold a good amount of sauce and toppings without disinterating in your hand. These turn out perfect literally every time. This same recipe can be used to bake four extra large buns, 16 small ones for sliders, or any number and size in between.

Ingredients

  • 240 ml milk
  • 8 g dry yeast (or 16 g live yeast)
  • 15 g sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 60 g butter (softened)
  • salt to taste (5 g for me)
  • 450 g all-purpose flour

Optional toppings

  • melted butter
  • egg wash
  • sesame seeds

Directions

  1. Bring the milk to body temperature (make sure it's not too hot or it will kill the yeast).
  2. Add sugar and yeast, mix well, then leave alone for 5 - 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
  3. Transfer the yeast mixture to a large bowl, add egg, butter and a third of the flour. Mix together until homogenous, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the remainder of the flour and the salt, then start to knead.
  5. After a good 10 - 15 minutes of kneading, when the dough is soft and elastic, put it in a bowl, cover with a towel and leave to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour. The dough might still be sticking to the bowl slightly and that's ok. We'll be introducing more flour later on, so I suggest leaving the dough a bit sticky before the first proof.
  6. When the dough has doubled in size, cut it into as many pieces as you'd like and form them into balls.
  7. Put the dough balls onto a baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a baking mat, making sure to leave enough space around them so they won't stick while expanding (about one radius' worth of space). Leave to proof for another 20 minutes.
  8. Preheat your oven to 180°C.
  9. After the second rise, top the dough balls with any toppings you wish, then put them in the oven for 12 - 30 minutes, depending on size. The way I most often make these (6 balls around 130 g each), they take around 15 minutes to bake.
  10. Once baked, put them on a wire rack immediately, to prevent soggy bottoms.

Notes

The sequence of adding ingredients is not strict with this recipe. In a pinch, you can simply do the yeast activation step, then add all of the ingredients at once. It's a bit messier this way, but the results should still be the same.

Use room temperature ingredients to make the mixing a little bit easier.

Or just use a standing mixer. I know this isn't an option for everyone, but seriously. If you have the option, do yourself a favor and buy one. It doesn't need to be a fancy KitchenAid, just make sure it's got enough torque (not just high wattage) if you want it to handle dense doughs like bread etc.

Check the inner temperature of the buns with an instant-read thermometer if you want to be 100% sure they're baked. For brioche buns, like these, they can be taken out of the oven when they've reached 88°C.

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