These homemade Hamburger Buns are made with my leftover sourdough starter! They have a perfect texture, a nice crust and soft, but chewy in the middle!
Use this sourdough buns recipe to make buns for burgers, hot dogs, subs or heroes and the like. Make the rolls a bit smaller and make rolls for sliders. They have the perfect sourdough flavor and the texture is perfection.
For years, I researched how to make sourdough starter. There is a lot of conflicting information, in print and online, so in the end, I would always say to heck with it because it seemed like too much of a time commitment. Now that I am doing this for a living, I decided there were no more excuses not to start a batch of my own starter.
I am here to tell you, everything I have read, makes it more intimidating than it actually is. The starter is quite forgiving! See the recipe here.
These Hamburger Buns are made with unfed starter, or starter discard. See those links for explanations. More from me on that later. I searched for many recipes with measurements for all of the ingredients. Much of the information was very vague, or over complicated the process. Like most yeast doughs, they are very forgiving.
I tried basing my recipe on 4 different recipes, all of which I did not like for one reason, or another. Many of the recipes required huge quantities of extra flour to make them come together into a nice consistency. it could be the way I do the starter (100% hydration), but for my starter formula, this recipe works the best.
What you need
- sourdough discard – use unfed sourdough starter. (If you feed your starter daily, just use the starter that you discard before feeding it again with more flour.
- milk – whole milk will give you the best flavor but any milk will work to make a brioche style roll.
- butter – use unsalted butter
- eggs – 2 for the dough and 1 for the egg wash on top before baking.
- flour
- salt – if you use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt a bit.
- sugar – you could substitute honey for a natural sugar.
How to Make Hamburger Buns
- Warm milk to around 110°F, melt butter in milk, in microwave.
- Crack and whisk 2 eggs into small bowl.
- Measure 2 cups starter.
- Measure flour and salt.
- Mix milk, butter and eggs with starter.
- Add flour mixture.
- Mix with spoon or spatula.
- Knead by hand or in stand mixer with your dough hook (adding more flour, if necessary) for 5-7 minutes until smooth elastic dough forms.
- Cover tightly in oiled bowl. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Dough will proof and rise in the fridge.
- Allow dough to come to room temperature. Weigh dough. Divide into 10 equal portions.
- Stretch and form dough into rounds, pulling the dough you stretched to the underside of the dough ball.
- Pinch the seams together on bottom of roll.
- Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Allow to rise in a warm place until approximately doubled in size.
I place my oven on the lowest setting and place near, but not directly under the oven vent on the stove top, turning the tray often, to let the dough rise.
Brush rolls with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds, or anything else you like.
Bake at 350°F until golden brown, 12-18 minutes. Cool rolls on a wire cooling rack
Can Hamburger Buns Be Frozen?
Absolutely! I have tried to freeze these buns 2 different ways. I prefer them when I par- bake them. So I bake for about 12 minutes and let them cool thoroughly. Once cooled, package in air tight bag and freeze. To reheat, let rolls thaw. Then bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes.
Alternately, the rolls can be baked through and then wrapped and frozen for a few months.
How to use these sourdough burger buns
- hamburgers
- pulled pork sandwiches
- fish sandwiches
Or shape them like hoagie rolls and make- hot dogs
- hoagies, subs or heroes
Other delicious bread recipes
- Light Caraway Rye for the Bread Machine
- Brioche, White Bread
- English Muffin
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Savory Zucchini Cheese Bread
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So that is how easy it is to make your own hamburger buns! Thanks for stopping by to check out the recipe!
Enjoy! And have fun cooking!
Xoxo,
Hamburger Buns
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 3 tablespoon Butter
- 2 cups unfed sourdough starter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoon Sugar
- 3 cups flour plus 1 heaping tablespoon **May take more or less flour. See notes below
- 1 egg mixed with water for egg wash just before baking
Instructions
- Measure milk. Add butter and microwave for about 30 seconds to warm milk to 110°F and melt butter.1/2 cup Milk, 3 tablespoon Butter
- Crack eggs. Add starter, eggs, milk and butter to a large mixing bowl. Combine.2 large eggs, 2 cups unfed sourdough starter
- Add salt, sugar and flour to wet ingredients *see notes below. Mix with spatula until incorporated.1 teaspoon Salt, 2 tablespoon Sugar, 3 cups flour plus 1 heaping tablespoon
- Knead by hand or with stand mixer with bread hook attachment, adding more flour, if necessary for dough to come together into a ball. Knead about 5-7 minutes. Until dough formed is smooth and elastic.
- Place dough in oil lined bowl. Cover the dough itself with plastic wrap, all around the top. See step 9 above. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, or up to 2 days.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Weigh entire dough ball. Divide that weight by 10 or 12 and weigh out each individual piece of dough, so that you have equal pieces so your rolls are uniform in size.
- Form dough into balls, stretching the dough and pulling excess to the bottom of the roll. Pinch the seams together on the bottom. Place rolls on parchment lined baking tray. Let rise until the rolls are noticeably puffy. About 1 hour. (Times depend on how warm it is. I place my oven on the lowest setting and place them near, but not directly under the oven vent on the stove top, turning the tray often.)
- When dough has risen, brush with egg wash. Top with seeds or just leave plain.1 egg mixed with water for egg wash just before baking
- Bake in 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes until rolls are golden brown. Allow to cool on wire rack or eat fresh and warm!
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Notes
Nutrition
Originally published April 23, 2019. Updated March 31, 2022.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you click the link and purchase something, at no additional cost to you. See FTC Disclosure, here.
Deborah
I’ve been dabbling with sourdough for about 6 months now – started with a rye starter, but keep feeding it different flours, so it’s a bit of a mongrel now. Anyway, I was looking for a discard recipe for hamburger buns that didn’t add commercial yeast and came across your recipe. My son (10) and I mixed them up yesterday evening and we’ve just eaten them today for dinner. The recipe worked really well and the buns we produced were great. I halved the recipe and then made 7 buns (instead of 5) which were plenty large enough. Four of the buns were par baked and are now in the freezer. Your notes were very useful, especially the “do not be afraid to add more flour” as we did….
Beth Neels
That’s great to know. I’m glad it helped and that you like the buns. Yes, with all yeast doughs you need not be afraid to add more flour to get it to the proper consistency. Thanks for letting me know Deborah!
Krikit
I have been making my own sourdough breads & buns for about 3 years now, trying out various recipes, as well as making my own modifications to get to that “just right” bun and bread result. Well, I need look no more for the PERFECT Sourdough Bun, because your recipe is it, bar none!
Picture Perfect: light, fluffy, perfect moistness, exact right amount of chew, gorgeous and consistent crumb, and wholly satisfying Sourdough taste. Thank you!!
Beth Neels
Thank you so much Krikit! That makes my day. I’m so glad that you like the recipe!
Debster
I have been addicted to sourdough everything for almost 2yrs now and have had some good and some not so good results. I had a lot of discard so wanted to try this recipe as I had not yet made hamburger buns.
I followed the recipe exactly except used earth balance instead of butter and with my stand mixer had to add extra flour to form a ball.
I left it in the fridge for 18hrs and it had not risen so left it on the counter for 5hrs to come to room temp but still no rise. I formed the buns and will wait another couple of hours to see if they rise at all. Heck why not as i am already in for close to 24hrs.
So I baked them for 24mins and they rose up better than expected so wish I had flattened them slightly. Will definitely try this again and see how they come out next time. Will have to wait to see how they taste when cooled.
Beth Neels
I’m not sure why you didn’t get a rise out of them. If you have had the starter going for 2 years, it should be active enough. As for adding more flour, that is likely to do with differences in out hydration percentages and is no big deal. If you try them again, give me an update. Thanks Debster!
Tatyana Rogers
Made them yesterday, followed recipe exactly but substituted sugar with honey (50g). Also slightly increased salt to 10g (just because I always do in every recipe, just a personal taste).
Needed adding maybe 100g more flour but that was to be expected as it’s very humid at the moment and I used different flower (combination of high protein bread flour, Italian 00 and a little bit of spelt). Just kept slowly adding spoonfuls to the mixer with paddle attachment until the ball formed and then switched to the dough hook for 5 min after it had rest for maybe 30-40 min. Then cold fermentation for 11hrs, followed by 5 hrs on the bench to bring it to room temperature, pre-shape, shape and final rise for about 4 hrs (it’s winter here in Australia so temperature in the house is very mild, around 22 Celsius)
Wow, what a success on first try! Extremely well thought out recipe, excellent results. Buns turned out perfect size, shape, height, texture and crum, 10 out of 10 in every category. My other half said they were best ever buns and he’s very picky one. I’ve been making my own bread for a few years now and always have huge amount of starter discard accumulating in my fridge and now I’ve got one more brilliant recipe to use it up. Thank you so much for sharing 😆👍👌🏻
Beth Neels
Thank you so much Tatyana! I’m so glad you both like them! Cheers!
Pam
Absolutely delicious. I put everything thing bagel seasoning in the dough and on top.
Beth Neels
That sounds delicious! I’m so glad you liked the recipe Pam! Thanks.
Mike
Great
Beth Neels
Glad you liked them Mike!
Susan
I have made these twice now and they are just excellent!
I put dough in a fridge for 2 days that was a little cold, so it was almost frozen! But, left out at room temp for 2 hours and then formed & proofed for 2 more, the buns were perfect!
Beth Neels
Thanks so much for sharing that with me, Susan! I’m so glad you liked them!
Angela
Great recipe.
Beth Neels
Thanks so much Angela! Glad you like them!
Angela
I have been making sour dough bread for last 3 months and having good results but accumulated starter. I hate throwing it away so looked for recipes to use it up. Planned ahead to have burgers for dinner tonight so thought I would try your bun recipe. Started making these yesterday with all purpose flour. Used mixer with dough hook to kneed for recommended time then popped dough in fridge about 2:00 p.m. and left it all day and overnight. I took it out at 8:00 a.m. today. Divided dough and shaped into buns about 9:00 a.m. then left to prove in oven with light on ( just provided a gentle warmth) but no oven heat. Took about 3 hours to prove. A bit longer than your recipe. Just came out of the oven and risen beautifully. Looking forward to devouring a couple for supper tonight. Wish I could attach a photo – they look fantastic!
Beth Neels
Oh, that’s great Angela! I’m so glad to hear that. Different hydration level may take different length of time to proof. Thanks for letting me know! You can tag me on a photo on your social media, if you like. #binkysculinarycarnival
Arminda
Hi. I would like to make this for dinner tomorrow. I grind all my own flour. What kind of wheat would you recommend for this recipe?
Beth Neels
I just use a store bought all purpose flour. I’m impressed that you grind your own flour. It must make amazing breads!
Angela
I tagged you on Face book with the photo of my buns. The did taste delicious and the texture was perfect. Very pleased with your recipe and I will be making a batch for hamburgers with friends later this week.
Beth Neels
I’m so glad that you like them! We think they are delicious too! I can’t find the tag on FB. Not surprising, I suppose!
Liz B
I have these all mixed together. I have chosen to proof on counter in hopes to have them tonight for dinner ( I am usually a sourdough baker that takes full advantage of refrigeration to develop the taste). I have also used king Arthur high protein flour and Looking forward to seeing the results. When time is more on my side will do the process as written. Thank you for the recipe!
Update: oh Lord did these come out beautiful and so good! Thanks again!
Beth Neels
I’m so glad, Liz! Thanks for the update!
KATE MICCO
Loved this recipe…make a half recipe last time….came out great? Problem is I can’t remember if I used AP or bread flour…What do you use? I think I used bread flour.
Beth Neels
Hey Kate, I used AP, but bread flour should be fine as well. Maybe just a slightly different texture! Thanks for letting me know you liked them!
jane
the dough was so sticky and unworkable. it’s impossible to knead by hand. i think i added over a cup of extra flour but it just continued to be sticky and made a mess. i’ve never been so stressed while baking haha. i wonder what i did wrong?
Beth Neels
Hi Jane, If you look at the process images, number 7, the dough is slightly sticky. Were you adding flour while you were kneading? With a lot of yeast doughs, that is imperative.
There are a few things that could have gone wrong. Maybe you measured the milk and butter slightly over. Were you using extra large, or jumbo eggs? Do you scoop the flour into your measuring cup with a spoon? The brand of flour can have a large impact as well.
From what I have found, you can not add too much flour to a yeast dough. There is no reason you couldn’t have added more flour, to make kneading easier.
After the dough proofed overnight was it easier to deal with? Usually after the proof, the dough is fine to work with, even it was sticky before the proof.
I’m sorry that you had problems with the recipe. Thanks for letting me know. I will add this to the recipe notes, so that if others have the same problem, it may help them.
Shannon
Made this tonight for dinner. Its so good. The texture of the bun is perfect. My whole family enjoyed it. Thank you.
Beth Neels
I’m so glad to hear that Shannon! Thanks so much for letting me know.
Barney
Hi there,
Going to try this recipe but there’s a problem with your metric measurements: it says 500g starter, which is more than the flour!!! I think its meant to be 250g.
Also, it would be good for us across the Atlantic if you could provide the weight of butter as we don’t measure butter in spoonfuls!
Thank you.
Beth Neels
Hi Barney, I just weighed my starter. 500g is correct. The butter weighs 45g. The problem is that a program calculates it. My European friends said that they don’t use weights for spices and such. If I use weights for the butter, then the spices will be weights too. It’s confusing, at best, these silly US measurements! Good luck with the rolls. Let me know how it goes.
John
Hi! Going to make these tonight. If I par bake and freeze them, I’m assuming I need to thaw them first? And for how long should I bake them to finish them off? Thanks!
Beth Neels
The answer is above in the article. Let them thaw and bake about 10 minutes until golden. Good luck John! Let me know how it goes.
Elle
My dough has been in the fridge overnight, but it hasn’t risen. Can I still bake with it? Should I let it sit longer?
Beth Neels
Leave it out on the counter. So it can come up to room temperature, at least a couple hours. Was your starter very active? It should rise, if you have an active starter. Another way to speed up rising is to place it near, not right under the oven vent with the oven on the lowest temperature possible. Once you see it rising some, you can shape your buns and then let them rise, until doubled.
Liz B
I have these all mixed together. I have chosen to proof on counter in hopes to have them tonight for dinner ( I am usually a sourdough baker that takes full advantage of refrigeration to develop the taste). I have also used king Arthur high protein flour and Looking forward to seeing the results. When time is more on my side will do the process as written. Thank you for the recipe!
Beth Neels
It should work fine on the counter, but as you suggested, the taste is better if you let them cold proof. Thanks for checking out the recipe Liz. Let me know how you like them.
Jan Hudec
Hi there I just tried your recipe for the burger buns with my starter and hard flour and all the other ingredients. It kinda came together after about 5 minutes in my Kitchen Aid mixer and then it just refused. Was a very sticky and stretchy unworkable mess. I added flour like you suggested, but I bet I added about an extra cup all together. Finally I dumped it on my floured surface and got a decent ball. Will see tomorrow, after proofing overnight in fridge, if it works out because I love burger buns. Any thoughts??
Beth Neels
I’m sorry you had a hard time with the dough, Jan. There are lots of factors that can make this happen. Humidity, how you measured the liquid, flour and starter, or the hydration content of your starter. (I like to weigh ingredients for yeast breads, whenever possible. It is more accurate than volume) If I have problems with a dough, I just do what you did. Add more flour. Even if the dough wasn’t really stiff, once it proofs it should be perfectly workable. Let me know how they turn out!
Mimi
Hi, do you think the recipe would work well even if I cut all the ingredients down by half? (Bc I don’t need so many buns!) Looks great. Will try it this weekend!
Beth Neels
Yes, for sure it will work. You can freeze them, as well, if you par bake them first, that’s the best way to freeze. See the article for instructions.
Lisa
I’m a sourdough newbie of three months. I have a einkorn starter and a rye starter I’m tending. I used the einkorn for this recipe. I also used a combo of 3/4 organic all purpose and 1/4 organic rye.
Your comments on starter and how forgiving it was along with your directions were Spot on. These buns turned out amazing. Many thanks!
Beth Neels
I’m so glad you liked them! I really find the starter way more forgiving than people think. Everyone over complicates it.
Jan Hudec
Thank you very much. My buns looked awesome, smelled fantastic, and tasted delicious. Ended up being a bit dense, but still very very good. My starter is a 100% hydration rye starter. All in all, small hickup trying it for the first time, but I believe that I should have stopped mixing in my Kitchen Aid after 5 to 7 minutes….Jan
Beth Neels
I think if you had let them rise a bit more, they would be less dense. Glad you liked them! Thanks for letting me know, Jan!