The Best Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns

It’s taken a little extra time for me to get this post up, but it has been an eventful couple of weeks here. My little 4 year old baby girl broke her leg on a bouncy house and it has been a whirlwind of trying to figure out how to manage her and keep her comfortable (all while trying to heal from my own back injury making it difficult to lift her!). Here she is with her big sister helping……………….

To top it off we left on a trip to NYC only 2 days after she broke her leg. That sure made things interesting- trying to get through a sea of people who don’t even notice a little girl with a casted leg! We made the best of it though and still had a good time as a family. But boy was I glad to come back to some easy meals, made even easier by having some of these great hot dog and hamburger buns ready in the freezer!

I have been making these for a couple of years now and we just love them! The original recipe is for burger buns but the dough makes great hot dog rolls too. I know that hamburger and hot dog rolls can be relatively inexpensive to buy, but there is no comparison in flavor to homemade, not to mention, the ingredient list of homemade is so much better.  You will never want store bought rolls again once you try these- they really just make a hamburger or hot dog. They are super soft  but hold up really well to a big juicy hamburger and all the fixings. It is also a pretty simple recipe and the dough is easy to work with. I usually triple the batch and freeze up a bunch of rolls for later. If you are looking for something a little different you can also try my recipe for soft pretzel hamburger and hot dog rolls.  

The Best Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns

yields: 8 or 9 hot dog or hamburger rolls

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Ingredients

  

• 3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 large egg
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp instant yeast
• 3 Tbsp melted butter for topping
• Additional toppings optional: poppy seeds, everything mix, sesame seeds

Instructions

 

• In a stand mixer with dough hook, by hand, or with a bread machine- mix all the ingredients together until a soft smooth dough forms. It will be really soft but not sticky. Start with the 3/4 cup of water and add more as needed- when it's really humid you will need the lesser water.
• Place the dough in a large lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until almost doubled, 1 to 2 hours.
• line 2 baking sheets (1 for hot dog rolls) with a silmats or parchment paper or lightly grease them.
• For hamburger rolls-Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 or 9 pieces (about 4 to 4.5 oz each). Shape and smooth each piece into a round ball and place on prepared pans. Gently flatten each roll to about 3" across.
• For hot dog rolls- Gently deflate the dough and divide into 8 or 9 pieces (3.5 to 4 oz each). Shape and smooth each piece into cylinder shape about 4 to 4 1/2 inches long. Place pieces on the prepared pan and press to flatten a bit. For the soft sided rolls pictured- place on pan with sides touching (line them up right next to each other). Otherwise place on the pan a few inches apart.
• Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise for about 30 min to an hour, or until noticeably puffy.
• When almost done rising preheat oven to 375°F
• Brush the rolls/buns with about half of the melted butter. Sprinkle any toppings on at this time if desired.
• Bake the buns in the preheated oven for about 15 to 18 minutes or until golden. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the remaining melted butter (carefully if you have toppings on them). Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Best used the same day. If not using that day then package in freezer bags and place in freezer. Allow to thaw on counter when you need them or use microwave.

Notes

Adapted from King Arthur flour