What happens when you have plenty of time at home to experiment with the power of tiny yeast fungi feasting on sugar and starch to create pockets of air in dough? In this case, the happy result of this type of boredom is these Sourdough Hamburger Buns.
The sourdough craze happening right now is unreal! I think the current crisis has made us all lean a little harder into our somewhat suppressed human need to be self-sufficient.
I’m finding myself fascinated with doing things the long way, the old fashioned way… there’s something a little more satisfying and romantic about it all. Maybe you are too?
The idea of being able to make these beautiful Sourdough Hamburger Buns any day of the week with pantry staples is so wonderful to me. They definitely brought our weekly burger night to the next level!
They do require a lot of time, but most of it is just letting the dough do its thing while it sits on the counter. There’s really very little hands-on time here.
This Sourdough Hamburger Bun recipe does contain both active, bubbly sourdough starter and a small amount of active dry yeast. This allows you to make them the same day that you start the dough.
I’ve included a possible timeline at the end of this post for making the buns in order to have them ready for dinner. If you are interested in keeping a sourdough starter (it is a little like keeping a pet), King Arthur Flour is a wonderful resource.
You may have success making your own sourdough starter from flour and water, but it is easier to start your own from the discard of a friend who has an established starter. It can even be dehydrated and sent by mail!
The boys and I have been making all things sourdough, including waffles, pizza, pretzels, and cinnamon rolls. The Clever Carrot has been such a great resource for us. All of Emilie’s recipes have turned out perfectly.
It’s so fun for the boys to watch the sourdough starter bubble up and learn the science behind it. It definitely counts as school around here!
This Sourdough Hamburger Bun recipe is adapted from my Butterhorn Rolls recipe. It is an enriched dough, meaning that it has milk, eggs, and butter. The glossy top comes from brushing an egg whisked with water over the surface of the risen bun just before baking.
I used my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook attachment to mix and knead the dough. It can also be done by hand but will take longer.
It is also very helpful to have a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients (especially the starter and flour) precisely. I also love using a bench scraper for portioning out the dough and for cleaning up my work surface.
I think the most difficult part of baking with sourdough is just being patient enough. You can’t rush the rise! If you try to bake your buns before they are ready, you’ll get a heavy, dense bun.
The more you experiment and practice, the more you’ll be able to rely on the feel of the dough and your intuition to know when it’s ready for the next step.
Possible Timeline
7am (or night before) – feed sourdough starter
10:30am – Mix dough together.
11:00am – Dough rests.
11:30am – Knead dough.
11:45am – Bulk rise.
2:15pm – Shape buns.
2:30pm – Buns rise.
3:45pm – Brush egg wash on buns and preheat oven.
4:00pm – Bake for 20 minutes.
4:20pm – Cool, then slice.
5pm – Grill those burgers, these buns are ready!
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #lovelylittlekitchen
Can't get enough?
Subscribe and I'll send all my recipes right to your inbox! You can also keep up to date by following me on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Print
Sourdough Hamburger Buns
- Prep Time: 5 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 buns 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These fluffy, golden Sourdough Hamburger Buns will bring your burger night to the next level! Start the dough in the morning, and buns are ready by dinner.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (60 grams) bubbly, active sourdough starter
- 1 cup (240 grams) whole milk, warm
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon (2.85 grams) active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 cups (430 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
- 3 tablespoons (42 grams) butter, soft
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
- 2 teaspoons (6 grams) sesame seeds
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix sourdough starter, milk, 1 egg, yeast, salt, sugar and 300 grams of flour on medium speed until a loose, shaggy dough is formed. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rest in the bowl for 30 minutes.
- With the dough hook, knead the dough for 7-8 minutes, gradually adding an additional 130 grams (or more) flour and 3 tablespoons of softened butter in small cubes. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but pulling away from the edges of the bowl as it kneads.
- Pour the dough, scraping the bowl to release, onto a floured work surface. Clean the bowl, then grease, and place the dough back into the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and place it in a warm, draft free place. I like to keep it in the oven with the light on, but the heat off.
- After 2-3 hours, the dough should double in size. Remove it from the bowl and place it on a floured work surface. Divide the dough into eight equal portions (about 100 grams each). To shape the dough into buns, pull the edges of the dough balls into the center, then cup your hand around the dough and roll into a tight ball (see video). Place the shaped buns onto a parchment lined baking sheet a good inch apart. Cover with a plastic wrap sprayed with nonstick spray (damp towel may stick), and let the buns rise.
- After about 1 hour and 15 minutes, the buns should be doubled in size and touching each other on the baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk 1 tablespoon of water and one egg in a small bowl, and brush onto the surface of the risen buns. Sprinkle each bun with sesame seeds.
- Bake the buns at 375 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until deep golden brown. The internal temperature should be about 190 degrees. Allow to cool a bit, then transfer to a cooling rack. Wait about 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bun
- Calories: 301
- Sugar: 4.9g
- Sodium: 331mg
- Fat: 7.4g
- Saturated Fat: 3.8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.8g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 49g
- Fiber: 1.9g
- Protein: 8.9g
- Cholesterol: 61mg
Diana H says
These are wonderful!
Our didn’t rise as much as yours before baking- mostly likely bc we use half spelt half AP, but they certainly finished in the oven! We also only used starter with a 3 day refrigeration! This is going to be a repeat in our home! Thanks for sharing! I’m so grateful to have found an amazing and easy roll recipe!
Darren says
Amazing and texture is wonderful. Thank you. So easy too.
Dorothy Carvell says
Just out of the oven! Looking marvelous. Soft and springy. Great recipe and easy to follow. I’ve been baking sour dough since Covid started. Usually the round artisan bread. I found my rising times were about 1/2 the times in the recipe. I use the Bakers instant dry yeast. Also I had them rising in an oven kept warm with a small bowl of hot water. Perhaps this contributed to the faster rising times.
I do have to work on dividing the dough more equally and the shaping. LOL i made 4 hamburger and 4 hot dog buns. Can’t wait for dinner!
Julie says
Thank you for letting me know how they turned out, Dorothy. You’ll get better at the shaping as you make them more! Appreciate your comment very much.
Patricia K Fairchild says
I doubled your recipe, tweaked it a bit, had a little extra starter, used it anyway, like 20 grams, 2% milk, 2 T honey instead of sugar, 2 T ground flax, 1/4 EVOO instead of 6 T butter, 1 cup old fashioned oats and my starter is 1/3 each rye, whole wheat and KA unbleached flour. I just can’t seem to make a recipe as written, lol, anyway, they look great! Thanks for the recipe!👍😊💖
Julie says
I know the feeling! I always think a little tweak here and there with be just the thing. So glad you enjoyed!
Marlo Knight says
My dough is proofing right now. It’s just about time to shape my buns and I have to leave home unexpectedly. I’m thinking I can shape my buns and allow them to cold retard in the fridge until tomorrow. I think if I do that I’ll need them to sit out at room temperature for a couple of hours before baking. Am I correct?
Julie says
Hi Marlo, without having tested this recipe in that exact way, I think it sounds like a good plan! Let me know how it goes!
Diana Mestre says
I made it and success, good result , beautiful and yummy, my husband like it.
For this recipe I add 2.5 grams Baker’s Bonus, so the result become softer and fluffy. Thanks for the recipe.
Tessa says
Oh my gosh – these are perfect! SO delicious and a perfect texture!! I used a strong bread flour and I needed closer to 2.5-3 cups instead of 3.5. These were so easy and amazingly delicious!! Definitely making again.
Liz says
these are fantastic – perfect recipe and will definitely make again.
Viv says
Made these today with 1%milk. They came out great! Definitely will be my go to hamburger bun. My husband and I both loved the texture.
Julie says
Great, thanks for letting me know how they turned out, Viv.
Chris says
I live at a high altitude so I added an extra tablespoon of milk. I also used only whole wheat flour. They came out perfect! Great recipe!
Jessica R says
I don’t usually leave comments, but I’ve made these buns like four or five times in the last few months, and they always turn out perfectly… so I just wanted to say thanks for a great recipe.
I always follow exactly, except sometimes if I don’t have whole milk I’ll sub with what I have on hand. Tonight it was 2% with a bit of whipping cream.
We’ve eaten these as hamburgers, all kinds of sandwiches, even made smaller buns once & treated them more as dinner rolls.
Thanks!
Robin says
Hi, I’m excited to make these today. I don’t have a mixer tho and will be doing it all by hand. Any advice?
Samantha says
I’m looking forward to seeing how this recipe turns out as it is rising now! Can you make hotdog buns with this same recipe too?
Suzanne says
This looks so good! What a great way to use sourdough and avoid store-bought!
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Phyllis says
These buns are absolutely lovely! My hubby gave a 2 thumbs up. Easy to follow instructions. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Kathryn says
I’m making these buns today for the second time! They are great! They are tender but strong enough to hold up to fish, tartar sauce and cheese! You’re structuring we’re spot on and since I’m relatively new to sourdough (I began my starter Jan 3) I was extremely pleased with the results. I wanted to send you a picture! Thank you for a great recipe. I’ll try others!
Karen says
So good! Made as written but substituted unsweetened non dairy milk due to family allergies. (Used unsweetened coconut milk (the one in the milk section NOT the cans) and it worked perfectly.
Thank you for writing our your schedule. SO helpful!
Renata says
Excellent recipe. I have made these buns three times and your directions are spot-on. They freeze well too. I just put them for 10-15 secs in the microwave, split them, then gently toast them in my toaster oven so they’re just warm. I do not post on Instagram much, but would love to send photos
Julia says
I am baking these today and wondering about the step of removing the dough from the bowl, then grease the bowl and put it back in. Why this? does the grease do something to the dough? I decided just to fold the dough an extra time in the same bowl it is already in (to build up more rise in the dough).
Did any one experiment with removing this added grease and flour step?