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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
Hello
Recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of yeasts. Is that correct or should it be 2 teaspoons?
Hi, 2 Tablespoons is correct. That is how they rise so quickly.
I have made these buns twice now, and am going to make again today. I use 50/50 wheat and ap flour. They turn out great and have a nice flavor. Very easy to make. Won’t be buying hamburger buns again.
So happy you love them!
I loved them too! Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that!
Perfect!!! Used bread flour. Made half recipe with no issues. Super easy to follow. Came out fluffy, soft, and so delicious. Will never buy store bought buns again. Thank you! 🙂
So glad to hear that!
Great recipe soft buns hi from beautiful and sunny Greece
So happy to hear that!
My god, these were amazing! I accompanied them with Shrimp Burgers, and will be using the remainder for breakfast sandwiches. Tonight I will be making sliders. this week I will be making buns for smoked pork…..I think I’m obsessed. And for good damn reason. Never again will I enjoy a store bought bun. What the hell am I going to do when I go to restaurants now? Pay money for disappointing buns? UGH WHAT HAVE WE DONE
Haha, your comment made my day! Thanks Hannah!
Can you make this recipe with Instant Yeast?
If so, do you leave out the Proofing Stage?
Thank you
Hi Deidre – I haven’t tried it with instant yeast, but usually when using instant yeast you don’t need to do the proofing step, so that should be fine.
These are the easiest, fastest, delicious and cleanest(as in not a lot of mess to clean up afterwards) rolls I have ever made.
I’ve now made them 3 times in 2 weeks. Once for burgers, once for sandwiches and today for Portabello mushroom burgers that I intend to make for dinner.
I went into it a bit skeptic, no rising? Well except for 10 minutes to rest before baking the recipe is just one step after the other without stopping.
I do find I need to use a full 4 cups of flour, but it always comes out perfect.
This is a keeper. My family loves when I make them and I can’t wait to share them with friends. I told my husband today that I may make a few batches anna start doing them off at a friend’s house to brighten their day. After all how could you be sad with a happy little fluffy roll in your mouth? I wish I could share a photo of how professional these turn out, it’s like, who baked those? They look exactly like your photos. Like little bread fairies put a magic spell over them and they come out perfect everytime.
Thank you SO very much for this recipe. It’s everything you said it was.
I am so happy to hear that Marni, thanks for your comment!
why 4 cups of flour …. curious to final results….. and have you thought about flavoring the flour, aka garlic , minced onion or something
first run out…. AWESOME recipe. as said before by other users, clean, easy, fast…. however. cutting 8 sections. i am like other user…. needs to be cut in 12. 8 is a pub burger size and you end up with a one bun, lot of bun.
i sprinkled dried minced onion on top with sesame seeds…
A BIG THANKS all the same
So glad to hear you loved them!
This did not work out. They were heavy and even after cooking them another 8 minutes they were raw in the middle abd then burnt on the bottom
Hi Jessica – it sounds like they didn’t rise, it could be that your yeast is dead.
I had the same outcome. Heavy, denser raw and glue like I’m the middle. Only difference is I used Instant yeast instead of active dry.
For instant yeast you would need to modify the recipe as it does not need to be activated like active dry yeast. If the buns were heavy and dense, they didn’t rise which means the yeast didn’t work.
Just made these for the second time, but with a few minor adjustments. I used half bread flour and half white whole wheat flour; simply used 2 packets of yeast (so slightly less than called for); and I formed them into 12 buns this time and they are still plenty big. Delicious, nice texture, fast, and so much better than store bought. Thanks!
So glad you love them!
Good recipe for a simpler bun, my only issue was they were half raw at 12 minutes. Had to bake about 20 on 425 and I let my oven preheat for 30 minutes before use and I haven’t had any issue with this oven being at the wrong temp since I’ve had it. Don’t know what happened there but a good recipe for when I don’t want to spend the time making buns with a more fermented taste to them
You opened the oven too much. You shouldn’t know they are “half baked at 12 minutes” They are pretty while baking and oven lights are there for a reason. Just sayin. Do not open your oven at 12 minutes, that is what went wrong.
Hello!!!
Will the recipe work if scaled to 1/2? I know sometimes recies dont always work when cutting a recipe in half.
Thanks!!
Hi, I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure! Let us know if you give it a try!
Hey!
I tried scaling it by half this evening and visibly it’s worked! Just letting my chicken finish marinating and then I’ll cook it all off and let you know!
Thanks for sharing Matthew! Can’t wait to hear how they turned out!
They actually turned out really well!
I will admit I did substitute 1/3 of the water for butter milk, mainly because I live out in China right now and I had a bit left over (and it’s hard to obtain) from marinating some Korean fried chicken burgers (which is what went inside these buns along with homemade pickled veg and a Smokey, spiced, homemade Mayo).
Thanks for this, such a good pairing.
So glad to hear that!
This is helpful thank you.
My family loved your hamburger buns! So much better than supermarket buns. I used olive oil substitute for vegetable oil and it worked great! Thank you for sharing your recipe. 😊
Hi Eddy, so glad you loved them!
could i use just the egg yolk for a smaller batcj?
Hi, do you mean in the egg wash? using egg yolk only instead of mixing it with water doesn’t work as well.
I actually have the same question. It’s just my husband and I and even four is too much but I want to half the recipe but it calls for an egg in the bun recipe (not the topping). Would just an egg yolk work or just whip an egg and only put half in?
Hi Alyssa – I haven’t tried to make a half batch so I’m not sure how it will turn out. You can try whisking an egg and using half. Another option is to just make the whole batch and freeze the extras. Then you can defrost them as you need them.
Hey Alyssa, I just made these with the recipe halved and they came out great! For the egg.. I whisked up an egg in a small bowl and poured half (just eyed it) into the dough then used the other half for the egg wash on top. Hope this helps!
Do you think I could double or triple this without issue or is it better to stick to this quantity and just make it 3 times? I made one batch already and they are fabulous but need at least 18 and I like the size with 3.9oz each which give me 16.
Hi Jo, I haven’t tried it but I think it would probably be fine to double it!
These are amazing! I made them for my family tonight and got rave reviews!
So happy you loved them!
Can I use olive oil or canola oil instead of vegetable oil?
That should be fine!
Super tasty, and very easy to make! I used smart balance for the oil, and they had a great flavor.
So glad you loved them!
Just made these yesterday. Enjoyed them with our homemade veggie burgers. Delish!! Next time I’ll make 10-12 for a bit smaller size, and try a little whole wheat flour. I used less oil & sugar too and they are still great. Thanks!
So glad you loved them!
These are fabulous! Yup, 40 minutes
So happy to hear that Lisa!
Such a great and easy to follow recipe. My only issue is that mine came out very dense. Any suggestions on how I can improve this? I’m a newbie to all bread making. Flavor was delicious!
Hi Britny – Make sure your yeast is fresh and that you aren’t using water that is too hot! It could be that the yeast wasn’t as active as it could have been, resulting in a more dense bun.
These are fabulous! even on nights when I forget that I was supposed to make them for dinner they’re just so quick and reliable. I often substitute one cup of whole wheat flour, and it still works. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that Eliana!
Made these last night for burgers.
They were amazing!
I’m so glad you loved them!