Homemade Hot Dog/Burger Buns Recipe
As mentioned in my last post, we wanted to make lobster rolls but we didn’t have any hot dog buns readily available. Since we were trying to limit how often we went outside, we decided to make our own homemade hot dog/burger buns from scratch! We followed this homemade hot dog/burger bun recipe for step by step instructions and they turned out super fluffy and a nice golden brown.
Step 1: Activate the yeast and prepare the dough
If you haven’t checked out our other bread recipes yet, we detail the importance of activating the yeast prior to incorporating it directly into your dry ingredients. This ensures your yeast is still active and has enough power to create lift in your bread. Combine the following in a small bowl to activate the yeast:
- 2 tsp dry active yeast (~1 packet)
- 1/2 cup warm water
- Pinch of sugar
The sugar acts as food for the yeast to feed on. Allow to sit for 5 minutes until it gets foamy. This indicates it’s ready as it is generating gas.
In a stand mixer equipped with a large mixing bowl and dough hook, combine the following ingredients on low speed to ensure the ingredients are well incorporated:
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 17.6 oz all purpose flour (~ 4 cups)
- 1 tbsp sugar
Then, add in your activated yeast mixture, along with 1/2 cup warm milk and the 1 egg. Knead on low speed for approximately 5 minutes or until dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl and is tacky to the touch. Dough should not stick to your fingers when you touch it and the dough should look fairly smooth.
Step 2: Proof dough (ideally overnight)
Once your dough is nice and smooth, form the dough into a ball by tucking all sides into the centre at the bottom of the dough. In a large, well greased bowl, place the dough ball in and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise ideally overnight to allow maximal flavour development. If you’re in a rush, you can just proof normally in a warm spot for approximately 1.5 hrs or until doubled in size.
Step 3: Shape the dough
Once the dough has proofed and chilled in the fridge, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a rectangle, flattening until it is about 1/2 inch thick. You can either use your hand to press and stretch the dough out or use a rolling pin. Then, using a bench scraper, divide the dough into 12 rectangular strips (hopefully yours turns out better looking than mine). Each dough strip should be approximately 2 inch wide x 7 inch long.
The original recipe suggests 2 methods of shaping – the first requires you to flatten each strip and roll it up tightly to form the hot dog bun, and the second just leaves them as is. I tested both and I personally find leaving them alone like this works really well.
For any strips that don’t turn out beautifully/evenly shaped, you can form them into dough balls to form burger buns.
Step 4: Arrange on baking sheet and prepare for second rise
Once all the dough has been shaped, place them close together on the baking sheet. This will encourage them to rise evenly and vertically so that they keep the straight edge. Don’t worry if they end up sticking to one another as after they bake, you’ll be able to pull them apart like a pull-apart bread.
Allow to rise for another 45 minutes or so or until it has doubled in size – these things rise quickly the second time round!
Step 5: Apply egg wash and prepare for baking
Once they have doubled in size, use your pastry brush and apply a generous layer of egg wash on each dough. This will help give it that dark golden brown finish when it’s done baking. If you would like to garnish these buns with sesame seeds, now is the time to add it.
Step 6: Bake!
Once your oven has preheated to 350F, bake these buns for 15-20 minutes or until they’re a nice golden brown color!
Homemade Hot Dog Buns
Ingredients
- 17.6 oz (4 cups) all purpose flour
- ½ cup warm milk (105-110F)
- 3/4 cup warm water (105-110F)
- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp softened unsalted butter
- Extra oil to lightly oil the bowl
- 1 egg for the egg wash
Instructions
- 1. Stir the dry active yeast into warm water and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Once it starts to foam, the yeast has been activated and is ready to use.
- 2. In a stand mixer with dough hook attachment, combine the flour, sugar and salt.
- 3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and egg.
- 4. Add the yeast+ water mixture into the stand mixer bowl and incorporate into the dry ingredients on low speed. Then, add the milk and egg mixture.
- 5. Knead the dough on medium speed until the dough starts to look a little shaggy. If you still have a lot of excess flour at this point that won’t incorporate into the dough, add a little bit of water until you have no more dry flour left.
- 6. Add the knobs of softened unsalted butter and knead on medium until you have a smooth, shiny ball of dough that is tacky to the touch and the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. For us, this was approximately 5 minutes.
- 7. Form the dough into a ball (tucking seams in at the bottom) and place in a lightly oiled big bowl, covered in plastic wrap. For best results, store in the fridge overnight to allow for a slow rise so that you get maximum flavour development. Alternatively, if you want to bake it on the same day, you can cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1 hour in a warm place, until it has doubled in size.
- 8. On the day you want to bake – turn the chilled dough out on to a lightly floured surface and lightly dust the surface of the dough as well. Roll out the dough into a rectangle. Cut the dough into 12 sections, roughly 2 inch wide and 7 inch long strips each. and place them on a parchment paper lined baking tray, with about 0.5 inches of space between each. If you have excess dough that doesn’t conform to the above dimensions, shape them into smaller round balls to form burger buns. Cover with plastic wrap for second proof. This will take about 45 minutes.
- 9. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the hot dog rolls with the egg wash (lightly beaten egg) and bake in the preheated oven until they are golden brown on top (about 15-20 mins). Sprinkle sesame seeds on the egg wash brushed dough before baking if you would like.
- 10. Remove from the oven and let the buns cool down enough to be handled comfortably. Best eaten on the same day. Will keep longer in an air-tight container in the fridge.
