Homemade Hamburger Buns

Take your burgers to the NEXT level with this homemade hamburger recipe! These buns are worth every second of time that it takes to make them. They’re soft, airy and incredibly delicious. You won’t be able to go back to store-bought ever again.

Recipe for Hamburger Buns

We love a good burger at our house. More than I can even say. But something we don’t love? Dry hamburger buns. We have tried all the different brands, and they’re just okay. The biggest complaint that my kids and husband have with store-bought hamburger buns is how dry they are. And my biggest complaint is the fact that they have a very short shelf life and then they go stale.

So, one day, I decided I was going to make my own burger buns from a bread recipe I’ve been making for years. It was the best thing that I have done! Although it’s not as easy as opening up some premade buns for your BBQ, it WILL be better. I promise that.

The Cowboys’ Rating: 10/10

Every time I make a new recipe, I have my family rate the recipe out of 10. By the time, these recipes make the blog, they’ve been tried and tested by some of my hardest tiny critics!

What Ingredients Are Homemade Hamburger Buns?

• Bread Flour or All-Purpose Flour – I use all-purpose flour or bread flour for this recipe. Either works great.
• Yeast – The yeast that I use for this homemade bread recipe is active dry yeast.
• Warm Water – Although I never check the actual temperature of my water, lukewarm water is what I use. This activates the yeast.
• Egg – The egg helps bind the dough together and makes the bread soft and fluffy.
• White Sugar – Sugar helps the texture and flavor of bread. Additionally, it also helps bread rise so it has a fluffier consistency.
• Butter Flavored Shortening or Salted Butter – 9/10 I will use butter flavored shortening. The major difference between shortening and butter in bread is the textures they create. Butter creates bread has a denser texture whereas shortening has a more tender and crumbly texture. Either will work in this recipe.
• Salt – Salt is very important for bread. It has a few roles in making homemade bread turn out. First, it helps to control the rate of yeast fermentation which is very important. Additionally, it strengthens the gluten in the bread. And finally, it helps with taste! If you have every tried bread that the salt has been left out of, it is not good!
• Nonfat Dry Milk – I have always used nonfat dry milk instead of regular milk in bread recipes. I swear by it. I think that it gives the bread a better, fluffier consistency.

Tools You’ll Need

• I always use my KitchenAid to make bread, but you can use a Large Mixing Bowl with a Danish Dough Hook
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Liquid Measuring Cup
• Spatula
• Bread Scraper
• Baking Sheet
• Silicone Baking Mat
• Flour Sack Dish Towels to cover dough

How to Make Hamburger Buns

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, combine warm water and yeast together. Set aside and let sit for 5 minutes until frothy.
3. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, nonfat dry milk, and salt and mix until well combined.
4. Add in shortening and work into the dry ingredients until it is crumbly in appearance.
5. Add water and yeast mixture along with egg to the dry ingredients and begin mixing.
6. Gradually add flour one cup at a time to form a soft dough. Once all flour has been added, continue kneading or mixing for another 2-3 minutes. When done, the dough should be slightly sticky to the touch.
7. Cover the dough with a towel and let rise until double in size (about an hour).
8. Once dough has risen, generously flour a surface on the counter and scape the dough out of the bowl and onto the floured surface.
9. Knead a few times, then cut dough into two even pieces.
10. From there, cut dough into 12 even pieces.
11. Form balls, making sure to tuck the ends of the dough underneath.
12. Place dough on a silicone baking mat on a baking sheet and lightly press down on the top of the dough to slightly flatten it.
13. Repeat process until all buns have been made.
14. Place the buns in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the top of the buns are golden brown.
15. Remove buns from oven and transfer to a cooling rack and let cool.
16. When buns have cooled, cut lengthwise into two slices.
17. Serve with hamburgers and desired fixings.
18. Enjoy!

Storage and Freezing

I store my homemade hamburger buns in a gallon Ziploc bag on the counter. At our house, homemade bread of any kind never lasts more than a day, so I don’t usually store it in the fridge. However, if you don’t have a pack of boys who eat everything in sight, you can store these homemade buns in the fridge in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag. It will last up to 7 days.

These hamburger buns also freeze as well. I place the buns in a Ziploc bag and make sure to press out as much of the air as possible. Then I put them in a second Ziploc bag and place them in the freezer. These can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To thaw out the hamburger buns, I just take the desired amount out of the freezer and let them thaw on the counter still in the bag. As it comes to room temperature, it absorbs the moisture in the bag and is perfectly moist and delicious.

Try Our Favorite Smash Burger Recipe!

This recipe is perfect to go with my homemade hamburger buns! You can find the recipe here.