Sourdough Burger Buns

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Ingredients You'll Need and Why

You need simple, standard enriched dough ingredients for this recipe, with sugar, eggs, butter, and milk adding flavour. These are our notes from recipe testing and you can find the full recipe card with complete measurements and instructions below.

• Flour: this should be plain all-purpose flour. We found in testing that bread flour made the buns chewier, which made them less like burger buns, which should be soft and easy to bite through to prevent the burgers from sliding out. You can use up to 50% whole wheat flour but note that the buns will be less soft.
• Butter: at room temperature. Margarine and vegan butter alternatives work well here if you prefer them. Butter tastes best.
• Starter: strong, active sourdough starter or levain. Starter that's less than two weeks old probably won't be able to give a strong enough rise here and we recommend making sourdough discard hamburger buns if your starter is new.
• Sugar: just a little sugar makes the buns softer and improves the flavour a lot. Remember that sugar is a liquid in baking so it does increase the hydration but in a way that makes the dough easier to handle.
• Eggs: large eggs add protein and fat to the dough, adding structure, colour, and flavour. These should be at room temperature like all of the other ingredients.
• Salt: added salt plays an important role in gluten development and shouldn't be omitted or decreased (it also improves the taste, of course).
• Milk: for the best results, use full-fat milk. Lower fat dairy milk is fine but the buns will be less rich. Soy milk is the best non-dairy alternative.
• Vinegar: use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar. We tested specifically with homemade buttermilk to make it easier for home bakers, so that it wasn't necessary to buy buttermilk specifically for this recipe. Store-bought buttermilk has a different consistency.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.

How to Make Sourdough Burger Buns

Before you start, make sure every ingredient is at room temperature. Cold eggs will slow the rise of the dough significantly. If any of the ingredients are cold or even cool the dough will take much longer to rise. To quickly warm up eggs, submerge them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before use.

Step 1: mix the egg and buttermilk in the bowl of your stand mixer, then mix in the starter. You can whisk this by hand if the bowl of your mixer is very big or if you don't want to switch attachments partway through.

Step 2: add the flour, sugar, and salt, and mix with the dough attachment for a couple of minutes to form a shaggy, slightly dry dough. Remember the butter hasn't been added yet so the dough will look too dry at this point.

Step 3: continue mixing with the kneading attachment and start adding the butter piece by piece, letting each incorporate fully before adding the next. This is a standard brioche method and does work best with a stand mixer, but it can by done by hand too. Once all of the butter is incorporated the dough is finished kneading and should be soft, smooth, and just slightly tacky.

Step 4: cover tightly and let the dough rise until doubled in size. Note that the timing will really depend on home temperature. In the summer months Alex has had it rise within as little as four hours, but it can take up to 12 hours if your home is very cold. Look for the size, not at the clock.

Step 5: divide the dough into 9 equal pieces and preshape into rounds before cupping with one hand and rotating each ball to create smooth, taut balls of dough. You can see Alex showing how to shape buns in this video (the link is timestamped).

Step 6: place the shaped buns onto a lined baking sheet, leaving some space between each. On a standard baking sheet they will usually touch slightly after baking but separate easily.

Step 7: use your hand to press the buns, flattening each to be about 2.5cm (1 inch) high. The dough will want to spring back into shape. Press once, let the buns rest for 5 minutes, then press again.

Step 8: set aside to rise at room temperature for about 3 hours, until very puffy. When pressed with a fingertip, a small indentation should remain once the buns are fully proved.

Step 9: brush the tops of the buns with an egg wash, working carefully to prevent knocking the air out of the dough. If using, sprinkle the buns with seeds now.

Step 10: bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. If you have a thermometer check the temperature of the buns to see if they're done - they should be 190°F (~90°C) when finished baking.

Expert Tips for the Best Burger Buns

• Press the buns: don't skip this step! If the buns aren't pressed, they'll turn out tall and round, which is not what you want for burgers. If the dough is a little sticky rinse your hands under the tap beforehand.
• Don't skip the egg wash: without, the buns will be pale and anemic. The egg wash adds more flavour, too, and is what will make the seeds stick if you're adding sesame or poppy seeds.
• Check for rise, not the time: this catches a lot of beginner sourdough bakers up. Timing is an estimate because ambient temperature is variable and home bakers generally don't have proving drawers or tents. Look at the dough and see if it's doubled after the bulk ferment and do the fingertip shape before baking.
• Use strong active starter: while three-day-old sourdough starter might seem bubbly and active, it won't be strong enough to raise a whole batch of buns or a full loaf of sourdough bread. Stick to discard recipes for the first little while.

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