Actually, 1-hour hamburger buns is misleading. In fact, from start to finish you can have homemade hamburger buns in LESS than one hour. I wanted you to give yourself extra time the first time so you aren’t mad if I’m wrong…but you are going to be seriously in love with these buns if, like me, you stock your freezer with a bunch of homemade hamburger patties and a couple packages of back up hotdogs but never, ever think to stock up on buns.
Hamburger and hot dog buns just don’t seem to handle the freezer as well as some other things, and the good ones are always ridiculously expensive. The cheap ones always seem prone to freezer burn, or sogginess when thawed. With fresh buns that require very little forethought, all my problems are solved.
Did I mention you can sub up to a third of the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour? Or throw in a tablespoon of flax seed?
Did I mention you can shape the dough into hot dog buns instead?
Did I mention I’ve been putting a lot less time into food photography in the past year?
So much yes here :)
I recognize that it isn’t really hamburger season in much of the world. But that the fact that I started to draft this post in MAY of last year shows exactly how my last year went – a perpetual state of running behind no matter how much hustle I put in, full of good intentions but empty of hours in a day. Maybe if I had bought more buns instead of making them I would have had time to post about making them?
But the fact that I didn’t tell you about these when I discovered them means I have had a LOT of time to test, re-test, and taste these buns. I have made them literally dozens of times over the past few months, and used them for everything from hamburgers and hot dogs to pulled pork and chili.
So it might not be hamburger season, but it IS pulled pork and chili season, right? And it is definitely soup season, and I don’t think anyone would complain if they found these beside their soup.
So, one hour buns. What does this mean? They aren’t as soft and fluffy as the easy 2-hour homemade rolls so many of us love so dearly. BUT, I actually prefer the slightly denser, sturdier texture for things like burgers, tuna melts, garlic buns, pulled pork, etc. There is NO initial rising time – you mix the ingredients together and immediately shape them into rolls.
Then you let them rise for about 10-15 minutes, plus however long it takes your oven to preheat (about another 10 minutes for me). Then you pop ’em in at a high temperature for less than 15 minutes, and voila! Fresh, sturdy, delicious, toppable buns.
Give them a try and let me know what you think!
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons very warm water
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl or your stand mixer, whisk yeast into warm water. Add oil and sugar; whisk and let stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease a large baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
- When yeast mixture is frothy, whisk in the egg, then add salt and flour to form a soft dough.
- Knead with dough hook (or by hand on a lightly floured surface) until smooth and elastic, about 3-4 minutes, adding a bit more flour if needed so the dough pulls easily away from the sides of the bowl. Do not let rise. Divide into 10 pieces; shape each piece into a smooth ball and place about 3” apart on prepared baking sheet. Press tops down lightly to flatten. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and then bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.
If you are using instant yeast, you can skip the proofing step. Simply combine all ingredients in a large bowl, stir with a wooden spoon to combine, and knead for 3-4 minutes as directed before shaping.
Adapted from Taste of Home’s 40-minute hamburger buns.
I’ve been looking for a hamburger bun recipe. This looks like it!