Brioche Hamburger Buns Recipe
With a buttery flavor and fluffy texture, this Brioche Hamburger Buns Recipe will take your burgers to the next level! Made with my French Brioche Bread recipe, you’ll love how decadent and rich these buns taste! See my helpful video below for how to shape hamburger buns.
Homemade hamburger buns can elevate any grill night, and when you can make them with buttery brioche dough, it’s even better. I love using brioche hamburger buns for not only burgers, but for bbq like pulled pork or brisket sandwiches. You can also scale them smaller and turn them into the cutest, and most delicious brioche slider buns too! Double the recipe, and make a French Brioche Bread loaf for French toast the next morning too! You’ll love this dough, and the many recipes you can enjoy with it!
Quick Look: Brioche Hamburger Buns Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Fermentation Time: 9 hours (or chill overnight)
- Bake Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 9 hours and 52 minutes
- Servings: 12 hamburger buns
- Calories: 363 kcal
- Cook Method: Baked at 375°F
- Flavor & Texture: Soft, fluffy, buttery, slightly sweet brioche hamburger buns
- Difficulty: Easy to Medium
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Table of contents
- Quick Look: Brioche Hamburger Buns Recipe
- Ingredients for Brioche Hamburger Buns
- Subtitutions and Variations
- How to make Brioche Hamburger Buns
- Windowpane Test
- When are Brioche Buns Ready to Bake
- How to Store Brioche Hamburger Buns
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Homemade Dinner Roll Recipes You’ll Love
- Brioche Hamburger Buns Recipe
Ingredients for Brioche Hamburger Buns
- Bread Flour – Using a flour with higher protein like bread flour (around 12-14%), will help to create a better bread structure for this brioche bun recipe.
- Eggs – A classic brioche dough uses eggs as the foundation to provide structure, color, and a rich flavor.
- Butter – Butter is a defining ingredient in brioche. It coats the proteins in the dough, creating a soft, pillowy crumb.
- Sugar – Just a small amount of sugar will create a bit of sweetness to round out the rich flavor of the eggs and butter.
- Instant Yeast – When using instant yeast, you can add it directly to the dough instead of having to bloom it first (like with active dry yeast).
Subtitutions and Variations
- Flour – You can use all-purpose in place of bread flour. Since it has a lower protein content (10-12%) and is less efficient as developing gluten, you may find the dough is more difficult to work with, a little stickier. To avoid this, I’d suggest reducing the water weight by 10% and that may help.
- Yeast – You can use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast. Add it to the water with a sprinkle of sugar and let it “bloom” for 15 minutes. During that time, the mixture should foam, or bubble, activating the yeast. I have an article called, Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast if you’d like to learn more about how to use each type of yeast.
How to make Brioche Hamburger Buns
Mixing the dough
Step 1: Mix the dough. Start with the wet ingredients first, then gradually add the flour. Add the butter 1 tbsp at a time.
Step 2: Knead for around 10-12 minutes or until the dough reaches windowpane.
Windowpane Test
Using the windowpane test is a technique used by bakers to see if their dough has kneaded long enough and developed a strong gluten structure. Gluten holds the bread together as it rises and bakes. When the dough is kneaded properly, you should be able to take a piece and stretch it apart a few inches without it tearing, with it even becoming translucent (like looking through a windowpane). This is especially important in highly enriched doughs like brioche.
- Wet your fingers with water.
- Pinch a piece of dough off.
- Gently stretch it apart a few inches.
- If it tears easily, knead for 1-2 more minutes and check again.
- If it can be stretched thin without tearing, kneading is done.
Step 3: Place the dough into a bowl, cover and place in the fridge to proof overnight. Since brioche is such a soft dough, it’s best to shape it when it is cold.
Step 4: Divide the brioche dough into 12 equal pieces, each around 95 grams. This recipe makes 1 dozen brioche hamburger buns.
How to Shape Hamburger Buns
Step 5: Watch my video below on how to shape the perfect hamburger buns. First, round the brioche dough until it forms a smooth, tight ball. This is easiest to do if you clean off your work surface with any excess flour.
Step 6: Place the brioche buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Flour your fingers and press the hamburger bun dough firmly to flatten. You can fit 8 brioche hamburger buns on one baking sheet. Cover and let them rise until they’re puffy and have risen about 50% in volume.
When are Brioche Buns Ready to Bake
The warmer your kitchen, the faster the buns will rise. Look for the brioche buns to be puffy and have risen about 50% in volume.
Use the poke test to feel if the dough has risen enough. Use your fingertip to gently poke the side of the bun. It should leave an indent that slowly springs back. It should feel airy and bouncy. If it still feels rather dense, let it rise a bit more. If you poke the dough and it leaves an indent that never springs back, and the dough feels like it could be easily deflated, it has risen too long and should be bake immediately.
Baking Brioche Buns
Step 7: Brush with egg wash. This gives the hamburger buns a golden, shiny crust.
Step 8: Add any toppings you like. I like to use sesame seeds or anything bagel seasoning.
Step 9: Bake at 375°F for about 22 minutes, until golden brown. One thing I love about brioche hamburger buns is how golden they bake up. Look at those beauties! Let the brioche buns cool before slicing.
You’ll love how a buttery, soft brioche bun elevates your burgers! Once you make these, you’ll never want to buy hamburger buns from the store again!
How to Store Brioche Hamburger Buns
- Allow the buns to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. I like to use a zip top bag. They will stay fresh for around 4 to 5 days.
- Freeze in a zip top freezer bag for up to 2 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use this brioche bun dough to make mini slider buns! Scale the dough to 2 ounces/55 g each. Shape them as you would for hamburger buns. Place them on the baking sheet so that the sides are touching. They’ll bake into each other, keeping them soft and fluffy for the perfect slider bun. Decrease the baking time to 16 to 20 minutes.
I don’t recommend this technique for brioche dough. I do this quite often for my Homemade Crescent Rolls and Homemade Cinnamon Rolls. But in this case, the high amount of butter and eggs makes it a heavier dough and doesn’t rise well from being frozen.
Homemade Dinner Roll Recipes You’ll Love
Brioche Hamburger Buns Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 122 g warm whole milk around 95°F/32°C (½ cup)
- 12 g instant yeast* (4 teaspoons)
- 50 g sugar (¼ cup)
- 6 large eggs room temperature (around 300g)
- 10 g fine sea salt (2 teaspoons)
- 540 g bread flour divided (4½ cups, spooned and leveled)
- 227 g unsalted butter softened (1 cup/2 sticks)
- 1 large egg whisked together with a splash of water for egg wash
- 16 g sesame seeds for topping (2 Tablespoons)
Instructions
- To the bowl of an electric mixer, add the warm milk, instant yeast, sugar, eggs, salt, and half the flour. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until combined and smooth, around 1-2 minutes.122 g warm whole milk12 g instant yeast50 g sugar6 large eggs10 g fine sea salt270 g bread flour
- While on low speed, gradually add the remaining half of the flour, allowing it to fully incorporate after each addition. You may not need the entire amount of flour – use the feel of the dough as your guide. You want a soft, tacky dough, that doesn't feel wet. It will be somewhat firm, but will become softer after adding the butter.270 g bread flour.
- Gradually add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Allow the butter to fully absorb into the dough between each addition.227 g unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- Knead the dough on low speed for 10-12 minutes, or until it reaches windowpane (it should stretch a few inches without tearing).
- Place the dough into a large greased bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator to cold proof for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. While it cold proofs, it should increase in volume by 50-70%.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Flour your work surface and turn the dough out of the bowl. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, around 95 g each. Shape the dough into round balls. Then flatten each piece into a disc. Dip the bottom in flour and place the dough on the prepared baking sheet. Space the buns 3 inches apart. You can fit up to 8 buns per pan. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with non stick spray and cover the buns. Let them rise until doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
- Towards the end of the final proof time, preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Allow the oven to preheat for at least 20 minutes before baking. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the buns if desired. 1 large egg for egg wash
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer the buns to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before serving.
Video
Notes
- *You can use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast. Make sure you bloom your yeast first. Whisk it into the warm milk and let it sit for 15 minutes. If it becomes foamy, you can proceed with the recipe. If not, replace it with fresh yeast.
- Store the buns in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the baked buns in a ziplock freezer bag for up to 2 months.
- This dough also makes an incredible loaf! Visit my French Brioche bread post for instructions.
- You can use this brioche bun dough to make mini slider buns! Scale the dough to 2 ounces/55 g each. Shape them as you would for hamburger buns. Place them on the baking sheet so that the sides are touching. They’ll bake into each other, keeping them soft and fluffy for the perfect slider bun. Decrease the baking time to 16 to 20 minutes.