Light Brioche Burger Buns – Perfect for Every Burger Meal
These are classic light brioche burger buns for creating all your favourite burgers! Deliciously soft yet sturdy, these homemade buns beat store-bought ones hands down. Easy, step-by-step process to beautiful burger buns in under 3 hours!
I am absolutely in love with these light brioche burger buns! Every time I bake these, my friend thinks I get over zealous with the sesame seeds, but that’s just what homemade is all about!
And once you’ve had a taste of these delicious homemade burger buns, I guarantee you’ll feel hard-pressed to buy store-bought ones again!
These stay soft and fresh for several days, but if your household is anything like mine, I’m sure they’ll be gobbled up pretty quickly!
Now, I can’t take any credit for this recipe because these beautiful buns were made with the tried and tested recipe by the folks at King Arthur Flour.
It received such rave reviews, I was all excited to try it. And I have to say, I’ve gotten completely hooked! I’m just excited to be putting together this step-by-step visual guide to complement an already excellent recipe.
And in case you don’t know it yet, KAF puts out really great kitchen-tested recipes time and time again on their website. I think it’s a wonderful and indispensable resource for home bakers!
Save for Later:Light Brioche Burger Buns
Pin this on PinterestThese classic burger buns are amazing! Here’s why …
These light brioche burger buns are worth every effort and minute of your time, because they always turn out. These are my #1 go-to buns for creating any burger I might fancy, gourmet burgers included! And here’s why:
- Beautifully soft yet sturdy. Build your heftiest, juiciest, tallest burgers with confidence. It simply is the best bun for fully loaded burgers!
- Optimal crumb density. Holds all your patties, toppings and condiments without getting soggy or mushy from juices and sauces.
- Fluffy and springy texture. Go ahead and squeeze this bun to get in those extra large bites of your burger! You’re going to be amazed at how this bun holds its shape and doesn’t squish easily.
- Perfect flavour. These buns are well balanced in taste, and lets the real flavours of the burger come through and be the star!
- Healthier. I love that these have less butter and eggs than traditional brioche buns, hence the term light brioche.
Ingredients
- Plain or all-purpose flour
- Instant yeast
- Water
- Egg
- Butter
- Sugar
- Salt
How to make light brioche burger buns from scratch
It’s amazingly easy to make burger buns and if you’ve got an electric mixer, it’s almost effortless! It will make short work of all the mixing and kneading, though you could do so by hand if you want to.
Basically, we’re going to:
- Make the dough
- Proof the dough (1st rise)
- Divide the dough and shape into buns
- Proof the buns (2nd rise)
- Ready the buns and bake
Part 1: Make the dough
Start by combining the plain flour, instant yeast, sugar and salt in a stand mixer bowl. Stir with a hand whisk to mix everything well. Add the egg and water and start kneading on medium speed.
Wait for the dough to come together shortly. Once the dough wipes the sides of the bowl clean, add in the butter. Switch to medium-high speed.
The dough is going to look pretty awful at first, but don’t worry. It’s all going to come together beautifully in the end, promise.
Continue kneading for a few minutes until the dough wipes the sides of the bowl clean again, and becomes soft and smooth. The photos below show how the rough dough transforms until it’s ready.
Just to be absolutely sure that the dough is ready for proofing, I always do the ‘windowpane’ test!
‘Window Pane’ Test
Grease your palms and fingers with some clean oil. Pull away a golf-sized blob of dough and gently stretch it by teasing it apart. You’ll want to get a thin, unbroken and translucent membrane, at least 5 to 6 cm (2 – 3 inches) wide. If you get holes as you stretch the dough, it’s okay so long as these tear in a circular fashion.
If the dough tears too quickly or feels tight, it means the gluten – the protein in the flour – isn’t quite developed enough. Put it back with the rest of the dough, and knead for another 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat the test until you get the ‘window pane’.
Part 2: Proof the dough (1st rise)
Next, gather the dough into a ball, cover and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until nearly doubled in volume.
If your kitchen is warm like mine because we live in the tropics, it may rise quickly and an hour will be enough. If it’s cool, or seasonal like in autumn and winter where you are, it may take up to 2 hours.
Part 3: Divide the dough and shape into buns
Gently deflate the dough. Divide into 8 (for large brioche buns) or 12 (for small brioche buns). To get buns of consistent size, weigh the dough and divide by 8 or 12 to get the weight per piece.
Shape each piece into a round ball. Slightly flatten to about 3″ across (for large brioche buns) or 2″ (for small brioche buns).
Part 4: Proofing individual buns (2nd rise)
Place the dough buns on baking pans fitted with baking paper, spacing at least 2″ – 2 1/2″ apart. I needed 2 baking trays for 8 large buns, as I wanted to give them lots of room to expand.
Cover and let rise for about an hour, or until noticeably puffy.
Part 5: Ready buns for baking!
Brush egg wash lightly all over the tops, and as much around the sides as you can. Brush evenly and make sure you don’t miss a spot, otherwise the browning won’t be even. We want to get that gorgeous golden brown all over!
Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Bake each tray at 190°C (375°F) for 15 to 18 minutes (for large brioche buns), or 12 to 15 minutes (for smaller brioche buns), or until golden brown. Once out of the oven, transfer to a rack and let cool.
Now, they’re ready for building your favourite burgers!
I don’t often create burger meals in our family, but that looks like it’s set to change. Since I’ve gotten hooked on these scrumptious brioche buns, I’ve been looking forward to making more gourmet burger meals at home.
I do hope you find this post useful and try these fantastic burger buns for yourself the next time you’re craving for a burger.
I must admit I’m not very creative when it comes to building a burger from scratch. Here’s just a glimpse of our simple but utterly delicious grilled chicken burger we had yesterday, made with these light brioche buns!
Here are more awesome recipes to inspire your next bake:
- Soft & Moist Bakery-Style Butter Coconut Buns
- Red Bean Milk Loaf (Tangzhong Method)
- English Cottage Bread – There’s Always Room for Seriously Delicious Dough
- Pandan Raisin Bread with Crumble Topping
- Scones – Buttery, Flaky, Crumbly Goodness
Tried this recipe? I’d love to see! Remember to share your pics on Instagram and tag @foodelicacy or #foodelicacy.
SAVE THIS RECIPE!
Classic Light Brioche Burger Buns
Ingredients
- 418 g plain flour 3 1/2 cups
- 1 tbsp instant yeast
- 50 g sugar ¼ cup
- 1¼ tsp salt
- 170 – 227 g lukewarm water ¾ – 1 cup, see notes
- 1 egg
- 28 g butter 2 tbsp
- Sesame seeds for topping
- 1 egg lightly beaten for egg wash (see notes)
Instructions
- In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook, combine plain flour, instant yeast, sugar and salt. Stir with a hand whisk to mix well. Add the egg and water.
- Knead the mixture on medium speed until the dough comes together and wipes the sides of the bowl clean.
- Add butter. Continue to knead on medium-high speed until the sides of the bowl come clean again, and dough is soft and smooth. This may take several minutes.
- Test dough for ‘window pane’. Once ‘window pane’ is achieved, round the dough together into a ball.
- Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until nearly doubled in volume.
- Gently deflate the dough. Divide into 8 (for large brioche buns) or 12 (for small brioche buns). To get buns of consistent size, weigh the dough and divide by 8 or 12 to get the weight per piece.
- Shape each piece into a round ball. Slightly flatten to about 3" across (for large buns) or 2" (for small buns).
- Place the buns on a baking pan fitted with baking paper, spacing at least 2" – 2½" apart. Cover and let rise for about an hour, or until noticeably puffy.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
- Gently brush egg wash over the buns, and as much around the sides as possible. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes (for large brioche buns) or 12 to 15 minutes (for small brioche buns), or until golden brown. When done, remove buns from baking tray and let cool on a rack.
Notes
1. Suggestions on amount of water to add
- For best results (a smooth, slightly soft dough), use the smaller amount of water if in a humid environment or in summer.
- Use the greater amount if in a dry environment or in winter.
- Use an amount of water in between for the rest of the year.
2. Alternative options for egg wash
- For seeded buns, brush with egg wash, to enable the seeds to stick. Use either one whole egg, lightly beaten (you won’t need all of it), or egg white only. Feel free to add the extra yolk to the dough.
- For plain buns, brush with melted butter for a soft, light golden crust.
3. Proofing times are a guideline
- Rising or proofing times will vary with a number of factors, including how you knead the dough, the kind of yeast you use, and the humidity and temperature of the environment. Hence, the times are suggested as a guideline. When it says to allow the dough to rise till ‘doubled in volume’ in a specified amount of time, exercise your best judgement.
Hi Celia. I would like use tangzhong method for this recipe to do Anpan buns. How can I adapt your other tangzhong recipe for round buns please?
Thank you so much
Hi Doris, you can use exactly the same dough recipe as the red bean milk loaf, just omit the red bean filling. After the 1st proof, shape into individual balls of dough, say 40 – 50 g each, depending on how small or big you want the buns to be. Enclose your an pan filling and let it proof the second time. Set on a pan, space a few inches apart. I have done it this way for plain buns, worked out well?
Hi Celia!
The buns turned out really yum! Love your website and how much effort you put into it. The step by step instructions with accompanying photos make it so easy to follow..one of the best I have come across. Keep up the good work!
Hi Jasmine, thank you so much for sharing and your kind words of encouragement, it means a lot! I’m glad the buns recipe worked out really well for you. Have a great rest of the week, and stay safe!
Hi Celia,
May I ask if these can be made into chocolate buns and if so, at which stage can I add filling? Thank you.
Hi Sandy, if you’re looking for soft buns to make filled buns eg. chocolate filling, I recommend using the soft bun dough recipe here. These light brioche buns are soft, but the crumb is not as soft or moist as the bakery-style soft bun dough. You may substitute the filling in the recipe with your preferred filling. Hope this helps!