These Homemade Hot Dog Buns will take your barbecue to the next level! They are soft and fluffy and way better than store bought!
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Ever since I snagged my Mom’s Homemade Buns recipe, I’ve been dreaming of all the things I can turn them into!
The dough is so perfectly soft and fluffy, and so easy to work with, that I knew it would be a perfect match for our favorite hot dogs.
Lately, I’ve found store bought hot dog buns just don’t live up to my expectations.
They’re dry and flavorless, and who knows how long they’ve been sitting on the store shelf!
With this hot dog bun recipe, you’ll never have to settle again, and your family will be begging you to make these for every barbecue.
Serve them up with these Air Fryer Hot Dogs!
How to make hot dog buns:
There are a few different ways you can make these hot dog buns, depending on your level of patience. I wanted to crank out a batch of hot dog buns as quickly as I could, without sacrificing results.
So I tried using instant yeast and doing two quick rises, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the results.
If you’re eating any buns or bread fresh out of the oven, you can sacrifice some rise time and still have an amazing product.
But if you want to enjoy them the next day, or a couple days later?
Longer rises will give you the fluffiest results that stay fluffy for a couple of days.
Here are the basics:
- Stir together some flour, yeast, sugar and salt — instant or quick yeast is required for this method. See my tips below for swapping in active dry yeast.
- Stir in the warm water and melted butter — this can easily be done with a spoon or whisk. Ensure your water is warm but not hot! We don’t want to kill the yeast.
- Gradually stir in the remaining flour until a soft dough forms. First, we’ll add in a few cups, and then we’ll add the last couple of cups in gradually, so that we are never past the point of having a nice soft dough. The most important thing when making yeast dough is not to add too much flour — we want our dough just past the point of being sticky. It will be incredibly soft and smooth.
- Let the dough rise in a quite warm place (I like to turn my oven on to preheat and leave it for 3-5 minutes before turning it off) for an hour and a half.
- Roll out your hot dog buns (I roll mine the same way I roll my regular buns, just longer and thinner — about 6″ by 1.5-2″) and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet 1″ apart — we want them to touch as they start to rise and bake so they will help lift each other up.
- Let your buns rise until doubled again — about 45-60 minutes.
- Bake until golden — if you want, you can brush the tops of your buns with an egg wash before baking (an egg, beaten with a bit of water), but I don’t bother as I find sometimes it can cause my buns to deflate somewhat. You can also brush with melted butter once they’re out of the oven.
Can I use active dry yeast in these hot dog buns?
You can definitely use active dry yeast in this recipe, but it will require a couple of swaps.
First, you’ll need to proof the yeast by dissolving it in warm water. Active dry yeast has larger granules so it needs to be completely dissolved before adding to your flour mixture.
To make this recipe using active dry yeast, you will follow this Homemade Buns recipe exactly, but reducing the sugar to ¼ cup. Once your dough has risen in the bowl and you are ready to roll your hot dog buns, you will come back to finish the recipe here.
Can I use whole wheat flour in these hot dog buns?
You can definitely use whole wheat flour for this recipe, and I do now all the time when I am making them for our family.
I prefer to first test a recipe with all purpose flour, to see how using whole wheat flour might change it, but we tend to eat mostly whole wheat breads.
You can start with 2-3 cups of whole wheat flour for a light whole wheat dinner roll, or use up to 100%.
When I make these for our family, I tend to stick with 50-75% whole wheat flour. I find adding even a bit of all purpose flour makes them fluffier than 100% whole wheat flour.
How to store homemade hot dog buns:
KEEP AT ROOM TEMPERATURE:
These buns will keep at room temperature in an airtight plastic bag for 4-5 days. I will warn you though — they’re so delicious fresh out of the oven that you might find they don’t last that long!
You will notice that after the second day they are not quite as fluffy and fresh-tasting, so I recommend making them as close to the day you want to serve them as possible, or reheating in a low oven (200-250 degrees F) just before serving.
HOW TO FREEZE BUNS AND BREAD:
We usually make a batch and freeze some of these for later, because it takes us a while to get through this many hot dog buns!
Let cool completely — I usually let mine sit for 4-6 hours on a wire rack on the counter. Place in an airtight plastic bag and freeze up to 3 months.
To thaw, place on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb any extra moisture and let sit at room temperature for an hour. You can also thaw at a low temperature in the microwave, just be careful not to make them too hot or they can dry out.
What to serve in these hot dog buns:
Obviously, plain old hot dogs come to mind, but you don’t have to stop there! Here are a few more options that we love these for:
- meatball subs, loaded with Italian meatballs and lots of cheese!
- Smoked sausages and peppers
- this insanely flavorful Italian Beef, just be sure to toast them first!
- Use them in a chili cheese dog casserole, knife and fork required!
Hot Dog Buns
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 6-7 cups all purpose flour (you can sub in whole wheat) divided
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant or quick yeast
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups warm water (noticeably warm but not hot)
- 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
Instructions
- In a large bowl (the bowl of a stand mixer if you're using one), stir together 1 cup of flour, sugar, yeast and salt.
- Add water and butter and stir until combined.
- Add two more cups of flour and stir until combined.
- Place bowl in stand mixer, and gradually add remaining 3-4 cups flour, 1/2-1 cup at a time. As your dough gets closer to finishing, reduce the amount of flour you add at once so that you don't add too much. You can make this dough by hand as well — just stir in flour gradually until you can no longer use a spoon, then knead it in by hand, just until a soft and smooth dough forms. We want to stop adding flour when our dough is just past the sticky point.
- Cover and place dough in a warm spot for 1.5 hours or until doubled (I like to turn my oven on to preheat for a few minutes, then turn it off before placing my dough inside). Punch dough down.
- Uncover dough and divide into 4 even sections. Divide each section into 5 equal sections so you have 20 pieces. Keep remaining pieces covered to prevent drying out while you roll each bun. (For smaller hot dog buns, divide each section into 6 pieces, for a total of 24 buns)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball, pinching the seams in the back and rolling until smooth. Place ball on the counter and roll back and forth with both hands to make a cylinder that is roughly 5-6" by 1-1.5". For hot dog buns that are not as thick, press down to flatten slightly. Line up on baking sheets about 1-1.5" apart.
- Once your hot dog buns are all rolled, let rise for 45-60 minutes until doubled again.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, until light golden brown. Optional: brush wth melted butter upon removing from the oven.
- Let cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.
Nutrition Information
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Tiffanie says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I make all my own bread, and we make and smoke polish sausage dogs. My bread is to heavy for buns, your is amazing. Putting meatballs in them for dinner.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Tiffanie! I’m glad you liked it!
KM says
These buns are AMAZING!
Past attempts at hot dog buns have always failed but I really didn’t want to go to the store so I thought I’d give this recipe a whirl. Unlike every other try, these are soft and fluffy and just plain perfect. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks KM! I’m so glad you liked them!
Rebecca says
I halved the recipe to make 10 and added an egg wash and sesame seeds because we like them. Delish!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Rebecca!
Renee says
HI Ashley,
Could I use margarine instead of butter? I have some family members that can’t have butter
I can’t wait to try these!!!
Ashley Fehr says
Definitely! It will work just fine 🙂
Tabetha says
Just finished making the dough, it’s really humid here so I had to add more flour to get to just past sticky. Really hoping it didn’t ruin it but I guess we’ll see after they’re baked up.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m sure they will be great! The texture is the most important thing 🙂
Tanya B says
Followed the recipe to a T! Not even in the oven ten minutes and the bottoms burnt! Man I was so mad! I was excited to make my husband homemade hotdog buns for camping 😪
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Tanya! I’m sorry that happened, but it sounds like a problem with your oven and not with the recipe.
Alex says
These were awesome, and fast! I bought a pack of hot dogs and forgot the buns but I put these together in time for lunch with minimal effort. I used 1 cup whole wheat flour to 5 1/2 cups white flour, and I love the texture and taste it added. They’re light and fluffy, but sturdy enough to stand up to lots of toppings. With only two of us, we’ve wound up with a lot more buns than we have hotdogs, but I’m looking forward to using some of the more misshapen ones for subs and freezing others for later. Also, I kneaded all by hand and it wasn’t difficult at all. Didn’t have unsalted butter so I used salted and then added 1/2 tbsp kosher salt to the dough and they were seasoned perfectly.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Alex! I’m so glad they turned out well!
Sherry Watson says
Oh my gosh!! The only things I’ve ever baked in my life were from a cake or brownie BOX MIX. These were easy, thanks to your very detailed instructions, and they came out awesome!!! My husband can’t believe a baked bread! Mercy, I am beyond ecstatic!! Thank you so so much for sharing!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Sherry! I’m thrilled to hear that!
Sherry Watson says
Can you put this in a loaf pan and make bread, or is that a whole other recipe?
Ashley Fehr says
That is another recipe. You can roll them into rounds for buns though.
Cindy says
I tried this and these were phenomenal! I’ll never buy store bought again. I shaped these into both hamburger and hot dog buns. Only thing I did differently was I rolled the dough out onto a lightly greased surface instead of a floured surface. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Cindy! I’m glad you liked them!
Patricia Kalinowski says
Can you make the dough in a bread machine?
Ashley Fehr says
You probably could, but I haven’t used a bread machine in years so I’m not much help
Stacey says
I put all the ingredients in my bread machine and they worked out perfect. Nice and soft!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Stacey!
Ella says
Recipe halves well and was so easy! Would do again for sure.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Ella!
Nykki says
I halved this recipe for 10 buns….came out great! I have a family of three and really didnt want all the leftovers. They were a huge hit, and way better than store bought! Thanks for the recipe. The few I have left are for subs tomorrow.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Nykki! I’m so glad they turned out well!
Stephen Spencer says
Hello, i am a 68 year old man who has never baked anything, your recipe has taken the fear of baking out of me. I will attempt your bun recipe as soon as i gathwr all the ingredients up, hopefully mine will be close to yours!! They loik so good!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Stephen! I’d love to hear how it turns out
Mike P says
I made a pot of chili (Pioneer Woman’s Chili recipe. It was good too!) and really felt like using the leftovers in a chili cheese dog. However, I forgot to buy buns. Searched and found this recipe. Decided to try it because I had all the ingredients. I make bread frequently and used a Kitchenaid mixer. I made the full recipe but substituted two cups of whole wheat flour that I’m trying to use up. Whole wheat usually makes the dough dry and tough but the final dough was still very soft. I made 12 hot dog rolls and 6 hamburger rolls. I had Ballpark bun length hot dogs and they fit perfectly. Today, I had a Costco sirloin burger on a hamburger roll that was stored on the counter, in a ziplock sandwich bag, for two days. It was still soft and delicious. Thank you Ashley!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Mike! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for your review!
Michele says
Hi I’m new to bread making. I see the recipe calls for 1 tbsp of instant yeast. How many packets is that?
Ashley Fehr says
One packet is 2 1/4 teaspoons, so one tablespoon is about 1 and a quarter or 1 and a third packages.
Angela says
I halved the recipe, and it came out very well.
I shaped four hot dog buns and six hamburger buns… I got the best of both worlds.
They are delicious. I’ll definitely be making these again. Thank you for your easy recipe and very clear instructions.
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Angela! I’m so happy to hear that!
Linda says
Could you somehow make into hamburger buns!
Ashley Fehr says
Yes, definitely! Just form into rounds and press down lightly.
Venice says
Hi we are only a family of four, do you have a recipe that calls for a lesser serving? Thanks
Ashley Fehr says
Unfortunately I don’t, but they freeze great 🙂
Kathy says
My son and I made these buns yesterday. They were so good! What a difference from what you get at the market! These were the best and very easy to make. We will be making them again for sure.
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Kathy! I’m glad to hear that!
Beth Pierce says
What a great idea! I will definitely be using this for the summertime and parties. Thank you!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Beth!
Emily says
These were amazing, so much more flavor than store bought buns!
Ashley Fehr says
I totally agree! Thanks Emily!
Krissy Allori says
I have never even thought to make my own hot dog buns. What a great idea. Thanks for all the effort to find out which one works the best. I’m saving this for BBQ season.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Krissy! We’ll be making lots of them too!