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These Homemade Hamburger Buns are incredibly fast, easy and delicious! In less than an hour, you can have soft and fluffy hamburger buns without going to the store. Make this 40 minute hamburger bun recipe for your next cookout!
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Anyone else baking up a storm lately? I normally buy hamburger buns, but recently I had a craving for burgers and didn’t want to go to the store. Instead, I whipped up this 40 minute hamburger bun recipe and I was astonished by how easy there were, not to mention delicious!
The best hamburger bun recipe
I was suspicious that a recipe with such a short rise time could be good, but I was in a pinch and needed burger buns fast. After making these several times, and some other recipes with longer rise times, my husband swears up and down that this is the best hamburger bun recipe I have ever made.
How do you make hamburger buns from scratch?
This recipe for hamburger buns is surprisingly easy. Simply mix the yeast with some warm water, sugar and oil. Then let it sit for 5 minutes. This step “wakes up” the yeast, and the sugar is food for the yeast to start creating gas. After five minutes, you will see that the mixture has become foamy. This means your yeast is doing what it is supposed to do!
Next, you mix in an egg, the flour, and salt. Continue to add flour until you have a soft dough. You can do this step by kneading with your hands, or you can use your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, which is what I did.
Then you will quickly shape the dough into a ball and divide into 8 pieces. I use a bench scraper to do this. Shape each piece into a ball, then arrange on a greased or lined baking sheet. Cover and allow rise for 10 minutes. While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
How to make an egg wash
In order to make the most beautiful burger buns, I decided to use an egg wash for a nice shiny and golden top, sprinkled with sesame seeds. To make an egg wash, simply mix one egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush the mixture over the tops of the burger buns, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
After the 10 minute rise time, then being brushed with the egg wash and sesame seeds, the burger buns are ready to go into the oven. After 8-12 minutes, you will have soft, fluffy and golden hamburger buns, fresh from the oven.
Next time you want to grill some burgers, be sure to make this 40 minute hamburger bun recipe first. I suggest adding my Best Ever Grilled onions to your burger. And speaking of burgers, have you tried my Shallot White Cheddar Burger?
40 minute hamburger buns
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water about 110 degrees
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
For topping
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 TBSP water
- 2 TBSP sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add yeast and warm water to a large bowl. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, mixture should be foamy.
- Whisk in egg. Slowly mix in the salt and flour. Continue to add flour until you have a soft dough.
- Using a dough hook, knead in a mixer for 3-5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. (If you don't want to use a mixer, you can knead by hand on a lightly floured surface.) Do not let rise. Divide into 8 equal pieces; shape each into a ball. Do not let the dough rise.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the dough balls on a greased or lined baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, brush the buns with an egg was, then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until golden brown, 8-12 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
adapted from Taste of Home
This recipe is amazing and fool proof !!! The best part it is how fast you can have fresh baked buns at home , without all the questionable ingredients ! Yummy fluffy almost brioche like !!! Thanks so much this is now a staple in my home 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that!
What is the purpose of not letting the dough rise? Would it go wrong if it were to rise for an hour or so after shaping?
Hi, these have a large amount of yeast in them in order to make them rise quickly. If you use the amount of yeast in the recipe and let them rise an hour, they will over proof and then deflate in the oven. If you want to let them rise a shorter amount of time, I would recue the yeast to a more standard amount such as 2 and 1/4 teaspoons. If you have baked bread before it will be easier to play with this number because you will know the signs of when the dough is ready. I haven’t tested this recipe with a different amount of yeaast, but you can check out my whole wheat hamburger bums which use a smaller amount of yeast and a longer rise time. https://www.foxandbriar.com/whole-wheat-hamburger-buns/
2 Tbsp of yeast for 3.5 cups of flour sounds like a massively unnecessary amount (that’s like nearly 3 packets worth). Is this a typo in the recipe card and supposed to say 2 tsp or are we really tossing a large heap of yeast into this?
It is correct, that is what makes them rise so fast. If you want to use less yeast you can, but you will need to let them rise a longer amount of time.
For some reason I cannot get buns right! Despite having made dozens of homemade breads. Please help! A couple of my observations: 1. I spoon and level my flour, 3.5 cups the dough was still very sticky I added roughly 4 cups til the dough ball formed. 2. At 12 minutes in the oven the dough looks underbaked but the egg wash has cooked on top, instead of browning it literally looks like yellow glaze on top of the bun. Any suggestions? Other comments seem to think this is a fool proof recipe so it’s definitely me lol please help!!
Hi Amelia, are you using 2 tablespoons of yeast or two teaspoons? Just trying to troubleshoot with you here. The dough is very sticky, I do find it easiest to mix in a stand mixer, then turn out onto a floured surface and quickly turn to coat in flour. You don’t want to add too much flour or the buns will turn out dense. When you say you added 4 cups do you mean a total of 4 cups? Or 4 additional cups?
Can you use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil?
I think that would be fine!
These buns come out great.
So happy to hear that!
I will never buy hamburger/sandwich rolls again!
Came together quickly and beautifully. Family gobbled them down.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hey! Can I omit the sugar? Or would that mess with it
Hi Katherine – I have not tested this without the sugar, but most bread recipes will still work without sugar. I think it is worth a try. If you try it out, let us know how it goes!
I was making sloppy joes for dinner but didn’t have any buns or bread and didn’t want to go out for it. I searched for a quick bun recipe and was so glad I found this one. It was so easy and delicious. Anxious to try more of your recipes.
I’m so glad you loved it Anne!
I found this recipe a few years ago when I planned to make burgers but realized we didn’t have buns! I think it was snowy out so going to the store sounded like a bad idea and I decided to made these. My husband is so obsessed with them that store bought buns no longer suffice! Thank you for creating something he and I love so much 💕
Hi Emily – aww yay! so glad you both love them!
THE MOST PERFECT, FLUFFY, YUMMY, BUNS EVER!!!!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Just made two batches of these for a bbq dinner tomorrow and they came out fabulous! I made 9 balls instead of 8 but thats just a size preference thing for me! Definitely will keep this in the arsenal as its just as easy to do as going to the store and buying ready-made. One thing I did do was convert everything to metric to save on the cleanup.
So glad you loved them!
This was amazing! Quick, easy, almost fool proof!
So happy to hear that!
These were very good and easy to make. Are they supposed to split open when baking? Some of mine did but I may have tucked them too much when making them into a ball.
Hi Tara – that can happen because they rise so fast.
Can I sub avocado or olive oil for vegetable oil?
That should work!
If I don’t want to add sesame seeds do I still do the egg wash?
Hi, the egg wash helps them get nice and golden on top, so I would still do it even if you don’t add the sesame seeds.
Great quick recipe ! Turned out amazing
So glad you loved it!
These were the best buns I’ve made. These were soft but not the mushy buns you get in the store. Thanks for the recipe.