Made with milk and butter, these brioche burger buns are extremely soft and flavorful. They are made from simple ingredients and are perfect for homemade burgers or sandwiches.
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Ingredients and substitutes
Flour – It is possible to make this brioche buns recipe with all-purpose flour, but I always use bread flour.
Instant yeast – You can replace instant yeast with the same amount of active dry yeast, but you’ll have to wake it up in a small amount of lukewarm milk. I do not recommend adding additional milk to the recipe, though. It’s better to take 2 tablespoons of the milk that you need to make tangzhong and use it for the yeast.
Whole milk – It can be right out of the fridge since we’re going to heat it in a saucepan with some flour.
Eggs – Eggs should be at room temperature. Don’t forget to weigh your eggs without shells using a kitchen digital scale.
Unsalted butter – Make sure you bring your butter to room temperature to make it easier to combine with the dough.
White granulated sugar – The amount can be adjusted to your taste, but don’t add too much They are hamburger buns, after all.
Salt – If you’re familiar with my recipes, you know that I never skip the salt. It’s a very important flavoring in baking recipes. It’s also can improve the texture of your dough by making it more elastic and more stretchable.
Cooking tips
Cool down the tangzhong mixture. Adding hot tangzhong to the main dough can simply kill your yeast. The dough won’t rise and you will have to start from the beginning.
Add the butter gradually. If you dump all the butter into your mixing bowl at once, it will melt from the friction and create a puddle on the bottom. The dough will eventually suck it all up, but you might have to add more flour to make the dough workable. Adding more flour will throw off our hydration percentage (this dough is at 75% hydration, which means that for 100% of the flour we use, 75% should be liquid via the milk and eggs) which means that the final product will be less soft and the crumb will be more dense and dry.
Leave the dough in the fridge if you want to bake your brioche hamburger buns in the morning. After you’ve finished kneading the dough, place it in a large, lightly greased olive oil bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight. The cool environment will slow down the yeast activity and your dough will rise slowly during the night. The next morning, you can deflate the dough, shape the buns, proof them until puffy and jiggly (can take a bit more time since the dough needs to warm up after the night in the fridge), and bake.
Tin the buns with foil if needed. In my oven, buns start turning golden brown after 12 minutes of baking, so I cover them with a piece of foil to prevent over-browning. However, all ovens are different and you might not need to cover your buns at all.
Don’t overbake. Overbaking makes your buns drier than they should be. Once the inner temperature has reached 190C (375F), your buns are fully cooked. Another way to check your buns is to lightly tap on them with the tips of your fingers. If they sound hollow, they are ready to come out of the oven.
Step by step directions
Tangzhong
1. In a small saucepan, add the milk and flour. Cook for about 1-2 minutes over medium heat, whisking continuously until the mixture has thickened and resembles thick pudding.
2. Place the mixture into a small bowl, cover it with plastic wrap so it touches the surface, and leave to cool down to room temperature, or until just lukewarm.
For the brioche buns
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs, and the cooled tangzhong mixture. Knead on medium for 5 minutes or until the dough has formed and doesn’t stick to the walls of the bowl.
2. Lower the speed to medium-low and start adding the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Don’t add another portion until the previous one has been incorporated into the dough.
3. Once all the butter is in, knead the dough on medium for 10 - 15 minutes or until you can stretch a small piece of it into a square, creating a film thin enough for light to pass through.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place to proof for 1 – 1.5 hours or until it doubles in volume.
5. Punch the dough down and remove it onto the working surface. Divide it into 8 pieces and shape them into balls. Place onto 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper leaving 2” (5cm) in between. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to proof at room temperature for 40 min - 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).
7. Brush the top of each bun with an egg wash and sprinkle flaky sea salt on top (optional).
8. Bake on the lowest ⅓ of the oven for 15 - 18 minutes or until the buns are golden brown and sound hollow if you tap on them.
9. Remove your brioche burger buns from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool down. Bake the second batch.
Possible variations
Toppings – The most common toppings for these brioche burger buns will be sesame seeds and flaky sea salt. However, you can use crushed nuts, flax seeds, pepitas, and whatever you can stick to the egg wash.
Add-ins – Everything that I mentioned above (except salt) can be added directly to the dough instead of using as toppings. You can also add different spices and dry and fresh herbs such as cardamom, thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc.
Different shapes and sizes – This dough can be baked into a loaf of bread (as a baking reference, you can use my Brioche bread recipe post ) or buns of different shapes and sizes.
FAQ
Yes, you can! However, it might take more time to achieve the right texture. Perform a windowpane test on the dough to see if it’s ready.
Store completely cooled burger buns in an air-tight container, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, or in a tightly closed plastic bag at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Yes, you can freeze them for up to 2 months. Thawed buns can't be frozen again and should be used the same day.
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Recipe card
Brioche burger buns
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Stand mixer or hand mixer with a hook attachment and a large mixing bowl
- Rubber spatula
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 30 g bread flour
- 130 ml whole milk lukewarm
For the dough
- 290 g bread flour
- 7 g instant dry yeast
- 30 g white granulated sugar
- 150 g eggs 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 140 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- Egg wash beat one egg and one tablespoon of water in a bowl before brushing the buns
- Flaky sea salt for topping optional
Instructions
Tangzhong
- In a small saucepan, add the milk and flour. Cook for about 1-2 minutes over medium heat, whisking continuously until the mixture has thickened and resembles thick pudding.
- Place the mixture into a small bowl, cover it with plastic wrap so it touches the surface, and leave to cool down to room temperature, or until just lukewarm.
The main dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment (or use a hand mixer with hook attachments and a large bowl), add the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs, and the tangzhong mixture. Knead on medium for 5 minutes or until the dough has formed and doesn’t stick to the walls of the bowl. It should be sticky to the touch.
- Lower the speed to medium-low and start adding the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Don’t add another portion until the previous one has been incorporated into the dough. The whole process will take approximately 10 minutes. Scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl and remove the dough from the hook a couple of times during the process.
- Once all the butter is in, knead the dough on medium for 10 - 15 minutes or until you can stretch a small piece of it into a square, creating a film thin enough for light to pass through. The dough should not tear at all or tear just a little bit only on the edges while performing the so-called windowpane test.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place to proof for 1 - 1.5 hours or until it doubles in volume. You can also, place the covered bowl in the fridge overnight.
- Punch the dough down and remove it onto the working surface. If it sticks too much, dust it lightly with flour. Divide it into 8 pieces (90g each) and shape them into balls. Place onto 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper leaving 2” (5cm) in between. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to proof at room temperature for 40 min - 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F (190C).
- When the buns have risen and the oven is hot, brush the top of each one with an egg wash and sprinkle flaky sea salt on top (optional).
- Bake on the lowest ⅓ of the oven for 15 - 18 minutes. Cover with a piece of foil after the 12-minute mark if browns too quickly. The top should be a deep brown color and the buns should sound like they’re hollow inside when you tap on them.
- Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool down. Bake the second batch.
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