I’ve said in previous posts that I did not like homemade hamburgers when I was growing up because my dad would add big chunks of peppers and onions and then he’d over cook them until they were dry and round little balls of charcoal. He would then put the overcooked burgers between two slices of sandwich bread because for some reason neither of my parents ever thought to get hamburger buns on the day they were making hamburgers.

So now I can proudly say that any time I’m making hamburgers for my family, I always have hamburger buns to put them on. I’m not going to lie, sometimes I buy them but a lot of the time I think ahead and I make these beautiful chewy on the inside, crusty on the outside buns.

I hope you give them a try, they’re very good and quite easy.

There are a few simple rules I always like to include with my yeast based recipes, follow these and you’ll be golden.

Rules for Working with Yeast

1. Salt kills yeast, don’t add salt directly to the yeast/water mixture
2. Use new yeast or yeast that has been kept in the freezer. Old yeast may no longer be active
3. Water should be luke warm not cold but no hotter than 110F
4. Cover rising dough with a damp towel or loosely with plastic wrap to avoid building a crust which will prevent the dough from rising (proofing) fully

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Makes 20 Hamburger Buns

250ml Cold Milk

375ml Hot Water

12g Active Dry Yeast

25g Granulated Sugar

35g Vegetable Shortening

1 Egg, large

930g-975g All Purpose Flour

20g Kosher or Sea Salt

To get your water/milk to the right temperature (no more than 110°F) use hot tap water mixed with cold milk and the result should be slightly warmer than room temp. Add yeast and sugar, stir and allow to sit for 5 minutes, it will start to foam if the yeast is still active.

In a bowl for a stand mixer,all purpose flour and salt, stir for a moment to distribute the salt.

Add egg and shortening to the yeast/water mixture and add the yeast mixture to the flour, knead on first speed with a dough hook attachment. Increase speed to second speed and knead for 10 minutes longer. The dough should be tacky but not stick to your hands. If the dough is sticky, add small amounts of flour 1 tbsp at a time allowing them to be absorbed in between until you get a tacky dough that comes away from the sides of the bowl. Finish kneading by hand until you get a smooth ball, add 2-3 teaspoons of butter to the ball of dough and rub it all over to coat it and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 1.5 to 2 hours at room temperature.

Turn out the dough onto an unfloured surface and roll 4oz balls of dough. Use a small rolling pin and flatten out each ball of dough into a disk that’s 1/2″ thick. A topping can be added by brushing egg wash on the top of each disk and adding sesame seeds, oats, flax, cornmeal etc… to the top of the bun. Place each bun on a parchment lined baking sheet and allow to rise covered with a damp towe for another 1-1.5 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake proofed buns for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before cutting. Enjoy!