Sourdough hamburger buns are a delightful twist on the classic bun, combining the tangy and complex flavors of sourdough with the softness and lightness of a traditional burger bun.
These buns are made using a sourdough starter, which gives them a distinct taste and a slightly chewy texture. These fluffy sourdough buns will take your burger game to the next level! Serve these delicious hamburger buns with some sourdough hot dog buns too!
Before embarking on your sourdough journey, make sure to check out this sourdough glossary to make sure you are familiar with the terms of baking! It's super helpful! You'll want to join our Sourdough Facebook group too with other Sourdough fanatics sharing their favorite recipes as well as tips and tricks!
Sourdough bread is one of my favorite things to make, but I also love making sourdough rolls, sourdough breadsticks, and sourdough cinnamon raisin bread!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- They are easy to make! They do take some time to make, but this sourdough hamburger bun recipe is incredibly easy to make!
- They are versatile! You can add whatever type of topping you would like to these hamburger buns, some options you might not even be able to find in the grocery store!
- They are delicious! Homemade hamburger buns are so much more delicious than the store bought ones in a bag!
What is Sourdough Bread?
Sourdough bread is a bread made from wild yeast, flour, water, and salt. There is no commercial yeast, only natural yeast from the environment. Sourdough bread requires a "starter" to rise the bread. A starter is filled with good bacteria and natural yeast that gives the bread that traditional sour taste.
During the fermentation process, phytic acid is broken down so it makes the sourdough bread easier to digest for a lot of people.
Ingredients To Gather
- Flour. All purpose flour or bread flour are the best options.
- Active sourdough starter. This means that is is active and bubbly and has been fed recently. You can make your own sourdough starter, buy one, or get one from a friend.
- Milk. Whole milk and melted butter give the buns their soft texture. Because this dough has milk, melted butter, and egg, this would be considered an enriched dough, just like these brioche dinner rolls.
- Honey. To sweeten the dough just a bit and help the wild yeast rise.
- Warm water. This will lighten up the dough so it is not so heavy with just the melted butter and milk.
Step By Step Instructions
Lynn's Tip! This dough is very wet in the stand mixer. Keep mixing until the dough comes together. It will not form a dough ball but it will look shiny and smooth when it's done.
Let the buns cool on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before you cut into them. Serve these sandwich buns with Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan, chicken burgers with feta and spinach, buffalo chicken, or Mexican shredded chicken.
Sample Timeline
- Friday 9pm- Feed your sourdough starter until it is active and bubbly.
- Saturday 9am (the next morning)- Mix together the ingredients and let it rise at room temperature until the dough has doubled in size. Replenish your starter.
- Saturday 4pm- Shape buns into equal portions and let them rest for 1 hour on a baking sheet.
- Saturday 5pm- Bake the buns until they are golden brown and serve them with your favorite burger recipe.
Variations
- Mix in other flours. A mixture of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour or bread flour would be a delicious sourdough hamburger bun!
- Make them into hot dog buns! Instead of shaping the dough into buns, make them elongated so they are in the shape of a hot dog bun.
- Change up the toppings! Sprinkle the tops of the buns with kosher salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or everything bagel seasoning for more flavor.
Storage Tips
To make the dough ahead of time, mix the dough completely and let the dough rise. Once it has risen, place the bowl in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. This will also allow the dough to ferment more and will give the dough a more sourdough taste.
Once the homemade burger buns are baked, place them in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag. Keep them on the counter for up to 4 days. Do not refrigerate these buns, they will go stale quickly in the refrigerator since they do not have any preservatives in the dough.
To freeze the sourdough burger buns, allow them to cool to room temperature and then place them in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Freeze them for 3 months. To defrost them, place them on the counter and let them come to room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
If you don't have sourdough starter that is active, you will need to use some instant yeast or active dry yeast to help make the dough rise.
A kitchen scale is pretty inexpensive to buy on Amazon and it is very helpful when making bread. It gives you the most accurate amounts when baking bread.
More Sourdough Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Soft Sourdough Hamburger Buns
Ingredients
- 240 g Warm Milk Whole or 2%
- 80 g Warm Water
- 56 g Butter Melted (4 tbsp)
- 1 Egg
- 210 g Active Starter Bubbly and active
- 30 g Honey
- 500 g Flour All Purpose Flour or Bread Flour
- 10 g Salt
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the egg, milk, water, melted butter, honey, and sourdough starter. Mix well.
- Add the flour and salt to the mixer and mix for 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place the bowl in a warm spot. Let it rise for 6-8 hours until the dough is at least double in size.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, place ¼ cup of flour on your work surface and turn out the dough. Cut the dough with a bench scraper into 8 equal pieces for larger buns, 10 pieces for smaller buns.
- Shape the buns into a tight ball. Place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Let the dough rest for one hour. Pat down the tops of the dough so they are flatter. They will puff up again as they bake.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl mix together one egg and one tablespoon of water. Brush the tops of the shaped buns with the egg wash mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you prefer. Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Savannah Snoozy says
These turned out so good! This was my first ever sourdough recipe. They were slightly sweet and tangy. I loved how sturdy they were compared to a store bought bun. They are dense and spongy but not too dense. I hallowed some of the bun out to fill it with burger toppings and it was perfect! I can also see this bun being a good bread bowl since it’s so sturdy. We shall see!
Lynn Polito says
I am so happy to hear that! Oh I love the idea of making them into a bread bowl! Please let me know how that works!