These Homemade Hamburger Buns are better than store-bought and so simple to make. These rolls are soft, pillowy, golden-brown, and perfect for burgers and sandwiches!
Table of Contents
These Homemade Hamburger Buns are my Mom’s Homemade Buns transformed into burger buns with egg wash and sesame seeds.
These rolls are soft and fluffy and can be made with either all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour! They take just 25 minutes to prep and are the perfect way to serve burgers, chicken, deli meat, you name it.
Make these once and you’ll never use store-bought hamburger buns again!
Serve them up with this Chicken Burger recipe, The Best Burgers, or Sloppy Joes for a fun and delicious meal.
Love homemade rolls? Try these Homemade Dinner Rolls next!
Ingredients Needed:
- Warm Water, Instant or Active Dry Yeast, and Granulated Sugar: you’ll whisk water, yeast, and sugar together to activate or “proof” the yeast for the buns.
- Warm Water: you need the warm water to help the yeast work its magic for softer, fluffier buns.
- Butter: use unsalted butter. Be sure to melt it first so it incorporates easily!
- Granulated Sugar: sugar not only adds flavor, but it also helps speed up the activation of the yeast.
- Salt: enhances flavor.
- Flour: you can use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour or a mix. Whatever you prefer!
- Egg and Water: makes up an egg wash which helps the tops of the buns get deliciously golden-brown.
- Sesame Seeds: we’re giving these homemade hamburger buns that classic look with a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top.
How to Make Homemade Hamburger Buns
Making your own hamburger buns might seem daunting, but this recipe takes just 25 minutes to prep!
- Proof the yeast: Whisk together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit until bubbly.
- Combine wet ingredients: In your stand mixer, combine warm water, butter, ⅓ cup sugar, and salt. Add the yeast mixture and stir.
- Add the dry ingredients: Add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Continue adding flour until a smooth, slightly tacky dough forms.
- Let the dough rise: Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover, and set in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour.
- Roll and let rise: Uncover the dough, punch it down, then roll it out into 18 rounds. Place onto a lined baking sheet and set in a warm spot until doubled.
- Bake: Whisk water and egg together, brush over the dough, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Set the oven to 350ºF, then bake until golden-brown.
FAQs and Tips
The ingredients in this recipe are really simple, therefore we want to use the best ones we can. Butter, salt and sugar along with our choice of flours gives us most of the flavor, so don’t skimp 😉
Sorry, no. Although you can swap the sugar for honey for a natural sweetness if you prefer.
The sugar aids the yeast and both the sugar and the salt give these burger buns incredible flavor.
The egg wash! A simple egg wash can give any yeast bread or bun that golden glow we all love. Simply whisk together an egg and a bit of water and brush it over the buns just before baking.
Leftover hamburger buns will last in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To use frozen buns, simply thaw them on the counter for about an hour, them warm in the oven or microwave!
I used 100% all purpose flour in these photos, but I often do up to 50% whole wheat flour. You can use 100% whole wheat flour, but I find adding in some all purpose flour makes for a lighter, fluffier bun.
Tips and Notes
- Use warm water. Warm water is needed to activate the yeast. Without proper activation, your rolls will be dense and flat.
- Let the dough rise somewhere warm. Yeast works its magic in a warmer environment. When you give it time to rise, set it in a warm spot for the best results. I place it in the oven with the light on!
- Do the egg wash! While this is totally necessary for the overall flavor of the Hamburger Buns, the egg was is what gives the tops of the buns that golden-brown finish. Without it, the buns will be pale and colorless.
- Use another topping. Sesame seeds are a classic hamburger bun topping, but feel free to use something else. Poppy seeds or Everything Bagel Seasoning are both great options.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve these Homemade Hamburger Buns any way you’d serve store-bought ones!
Serve them with Air Fryer Burgers, Grilled Turkey Burgers or make them into a chicken sandwich with the Best Oven-Fried Chicken or Air Fried Chicken.
They’re also great to have on-hand for a quick deli meat sandwich. You really can’t go wrong!
More Homemade Bread Recipes to Try
Homemade Hamburger Buns
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
To proof the yeast
- ½ cup warm water (105-110 degrees F — warm but not hot)
- 1 tablespoon instant or active dry yeast (either works in this recipe — instant may rise more quickly)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
To make hamburger buns
- 2 cups warm water
- ½ cup melted unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 6-7 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
Instructions
Proof the yeast
- In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the warm water, yeast and sugar.
- Let sit for 10 minutes or until bubbly — this is how you know your yeast is working. This step is technically not required when using instant yeast, but I do it anyways, so that I know my buns will be a success.
Make the dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a very large bowl if you are kneading by hand), whisk together the 2 cups warm water, butter, ⅓ cup sugar and salt.
- Add the bubbly yeast mixture and stir to combine.
- Place the bowl in the stand mixer and put the dough hook on the machine. You can also knead by hand.
- Add the flour, one cup at a time, and mix until nearly combined before adding more. You can use all purpose or whole wheat or a combination. Start with 4-5 cups flour, mixing until each is incorporated.
- The closer you get to your dough being ready, the less flour you will add at once. We want a smooth, soft dough, never stiff, so we need to watch and stop adding flour at just the right moment.
- Add up to 6-7 cups flour total, very gradually at the end, until the dough comes together in a smooth, soft ball and does not stick to the sides of the stand mixer. When you touch it, it should be smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky.
- Place dough in a large lightly greased bowl (you can use the same bowl and grease it), and cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel.
- Set in a warm spot (I use the oven with the light on — turn the oven on to preheat for 2-4 minutes before turning off and adding the dough) and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Roll and bake
- Uncover dough, punch down, and roll out 18 rounds — smoothing the top and pinching the seam in the back to smooth (see video for additional details). I find 90 grams per bun is about the size I want.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let rise (you don’t have to cover them) in a warm spot for 30 to 90 minutes (instant yeast will be quicker) until doubled.
- Whisk egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush gently over the tops of the buns. Sprinkle immediately with sesame seeds.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
Notes
- Use warm water. Warm water is needed to activate the yeast. Without proper activation, your rolls will be dense and flat.
- Let the dough rise somewhere warm. Yeast works its magic in a warmer environment. When you give it time to rise, set it in a warm spot for the best results. I place it in the oven with the light on!
- You can make these burger buns as large or as small as you like, you will simply need to adjust the bake time.
- Flour: I used 100% all purpose flour in these photos, but I often do up to 50% whole wheat flour. You can use 100% whole wheat flour, but I find adding in some all purpose flour makes for a lighter, fluffier bun.
- Eggs: you can skip the egg wash to make these egg-free, they just won’t have that golden brown top
- Dairy free: a firm, vegan margarine works great in these buns!
Nutrition Information
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Zai says
So glad i came across this site.
This recipe and the techniques used here were perfect for us.
They came out glossy, soft and yummy.
The kids love getting involved with baking and I have found with many recipes they don’t quite give us the expected result (well lots tends to happen along the way with them baking!). But I feel that with your page here knowing the techniques to use and textures to expect really helped us acheive the correct result!
So, for us:
– We forgot to melt the butter, but it was very soft. So the whisking part was super messy, in the end i had to work it, by hand, into the first cups of flour we put in.
– We had to add more flour, i think initially I did close to 6 cups (we had to estimate as we are travelling so don’t have many resources with us). But as you mentioned the dough should be tacky we knew what we were looking for.
– we didn’t have sesame seeds at hand, so hopefully next time.
– for everything else we more or less tried to stick to your instructions!
Many thanks for this super recipe and the instructions. This is now our go to recipe for buns!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Zai! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Amy says
Turned out perfect! I’m regretting making these because now my boys aren’t going to want to go back to store bought! They are soooo much better!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Amy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Niyah Love says
Wow….I do not typically leave reviews for recipes, but this certainly deserves one.
I made this today (3/28/23), and I am so impressed with this recipe! They are soft, fluffy, and literally perfect in every way!
I used 7 cups of white spelt flour, and they taste even better than what you can buy from a grocery store. I do a lot of cooking and baking, as I am a Personal Chef in Atlanta, and I love experimenting with new recipes.
All in all, I will be using this recipe whenever my family (or clients) want burgers!
Thank you so much for the fantastic recipe. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a reliable and delicious hamburger bun.
MEDHIMA! (Amazing – Hebrew)
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Niyah! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for the review!
Zai says
So true! Same I don’t usually right reviews, actually this is my first ever review. It truly did deserve full stars!
The Recipe Rebel says
Really appreciate it! Thank you!
Amanda Green says
I love your bread recipes. I’d like to make one suggestion tho – please separate the egg and water part to another section. Often times I’ll just incorporate everything into the dough before realizing the egg was actually for egg wash lol I’ve made that mistake so many times.
Alessandra says
They turned out perfect! They are so soft and tasty. I ended up using at least 8 cups of flour. Thanks so much for this great recipe!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Alessandra! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Linda says
Would you separate this in 1/2 & make cinnamon buns with second portion? Thank you!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Linda, I actually wouldn’t. I have a separate recipe for cinnamon buns. Here you go: https://www.thereciperebel.com/best-cinnamon-buns-recipe/