Inspired by our recent visit to Mister Gee, I thought I’d attempt my own burger buns.
They’re made with our sweet dough recipe, and my sons have both declared them to be perfect – soft enough to soak up all the lovely meat juices, but not so soft as to fall apart or squish to nothing on the first bite…
I made up a large batch of our sweet dough, turned some of it into loaves for my parents, and the rest into these buns. Then Pete and I left for the day to take my folks to medical appointments. When we finally arrived home at 7pm, Big Boy and Small Man had made the patties (minced beef and pork, no other ingredients) and prepared all the trimmings (sliced cheddar, fried onion, salad, homemade mayo, chipotle barbecue sauce).
We were all starving and it was dark, so I didn’t manage a photo of the finished burgers, but they were delicious. The boys ate two each!
Because I was rushed for time, I made this dough in my new Kenwood. Instructions for making it by hand are here:
- 500g bread/bakers flour
- 10g dried/instant yeast
- 7g fine sea salt
- 40g caster (superfine) sugar
- 60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 large (59g) eggs
- 250g full cream milk, at blood temperature, or UHT milk, unrefrigerated
- 1 extra egg for eggwash
- sesame seeds
Note: UHT milk has a long shelf life and is purchased in cartons from the supermarket shelf.
1. In the mixer bowl, whisk together (by hand) the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together the milk, eggs and cooled melted butter, then pour into the dry ingredients.
2. With the mixing paddle, run the machine on low and mix until all the ingredients are incorporated. Scrape the paddle clean, cover the bowl and allow to rest for 15 – 20 minutes.
3. Switching to the dough hook on the machine, give the dough a brief knead – just a couple of minutes will do. Scrape the dough hook clean, cover the dough and allow to rest until doubled in size – an hour or so in our mild climate.
4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and using your dough scraper, give it a couple of gentle folds onto itself. Divide the dough into nine pieces, approximately 100 – 110g each. Shape each piece into a ball, then place on a lined tray. Preheat oven to 200C with fan.
5. Beat the extra egg with a tablespoon of water to form an egg wash. Gently flatten each ball of dough into a thick circle. Brush the top of each bun with egg wash, then cover and allow to prove for a further 20 – 30 minutes, or until puffed up.
6. Uncover the dough, brush with a second coat of egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Gently flatten the dough again to adhere the seeds and to ensure the finished bun isn’t too ball-like – it will rise quite a lot in the oven.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes – the buns will brown up very quickly so keep an eye on them. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
. . . . .
It was a great end result – the meat patties (complete with melted cheese) were easily cooked on the sandwich press, the buns were given the thumbs up, and the homemade mayo and chipotle sauce added just the right amount of luxury. Best of all, Big Boy and Small Man prepared most of the meal and cleaned up afterwards, bless them.
I didn’t want to put this recipe up without an actual burger photo in it, so I made the buns again today (I always like to test a recipe twice before posting, if possible). This time I tucked six in the freezer and made three burgers for dinner, using grassfed Angus patties from Havericks. Accessorized with avocado, tomato and chipotle corn salsa, they were a tasty meal!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
They look absolutely amazing Celia and what wonderful boys to have got much of the meal ready and cleared up after – you’ve both done a wonderful job bringing those two treasures up. Hope all is well with the parents xx
Love this, Celia… really, really good! Would be gorgeous with my pulled pork, sage butter and spiced cranberries.
Can’t beat a good burger but the bun can make or break it. Your boys are never leaving home x
You have such nice boys Celia, I’ve just had dinner and looking at the buns and the burger is making me hungry again and I don’t even eat meat :) x
These look magnificent. Do you toast your burger buns before filling them – my mum does and I love it but if they are freshly made they are probably less in need of it
What amazing buns!!! Absolutely picture perfect 😀😀😀😀
That burger looks so incredibly juicy! I can’t wait to try your buns. I love homemade buns for cheeseburgers.
Just made hamburger buns a couple of weekends ago – I brushed mine with melted butter, per the recipe, but regretted the results. The egg wash is much better to get that shiny look that yours got. I still need to perfect the shaping, Phil likes a hamburger bun that would be thinner, less massive. Pretty hard to shape them like that. Gotta keep working at it ;-)
Homemade burgers are the best! Yours look so inviting & juicy & crunchy & CHOC full of yumminess &… &… Now I’m hungry …
Celia, they look perfect and I am sure much better than the commercial ones. Commercial hamburger buns are horrid.
We make our own burger buns too. Lots of fun experimenting to make them just perfect!
They look so tasty, I think I could even skip the burger and eat them as is. :)
Beautiful and this recipe sounds very very like the one I used to make the Italian Easter loaf for my dad!
Perfect! So many burger buns re disappointing these days, but not these. Definitely not these.
As much as it might be a bit strange for me to say it “Nice buns Ms Celia!” ;)
I’ll say! That looks like a tasty meal alright!.. c
Hi Celia I love your buns- don’t tell Pete. These looks very enticing and I am sure there are people all over the world making burger buns now.
Definitely trying this! Thanks!
That must have been a big day out. I love your buns and your burger looks amazing – I’m not surprised the boys had two each xx
Oh yum! I’ve made these before using bacon fat. They’re delicious.
I like that you used a sweet dough recipe, Celia! I would have gone more with olive oil
So good Celia, love your bread as always x
Yum yum! I love a good burger and haven’t found the perfect burger since arriving in Australia. I salivated over your burger post a few days ago ruing the fact that I wasn’t in Sydney. I should really just get on with it and make my own burgers shouldn’t I!?
Yum… it looks like a brioche sort of dough :) nice! Liz xx
They look delicious!
These look lovely:))
Wow! These are some incredible buns, Celia – they are beautifully browned and those sesame seeds are fantastic. :D
Lovely have you ever tried making buns with tang zhou? I made some burger buns with it (it’s a method for super soft and long lasting buns) and they turned out really nicely. Might be fun to experiment as I know you like to do!
Ooh no I haven’t, thank you! Is there a recipe on your blog? I’ll google! xxx
Stunning!
Now that is what I call a burger. Your buns look great…I always like ones with sesame or poppy seeds for burgers.
Dang, those look fine! Burgers worth eating! Maz
My what beautiful buns you have!!!! ;)
Oh goodness, you’re a fabulous baker Celia! I’m building quite a stash of bread recipes thanks to you. Tang Zhou sounds interesting.
These buns are works of art! I just love that there’s no end to what you create in your personal bakery. :-)
Buns are my favorite to make. They are easier than they look and the first out of the oven always get a smear of butter and eaten straight away. Sesame seeds dress them up so nicely, yours look gorgeous!
Homemade burger buns is on my to do list! I keep telling myself I will do it, maybe now I really will!
They look and sound (from your description) delicious!
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I made these yesterday Celia and they are really delicious – my 8 yr old said they are the best thing ever :) Mine weren’t as big as yours though, maybe I didn’t flatten them enough or not let them proof long enough. Thanks again though for a great recipe! Jan x
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