These soft, fluffy Sourdough Hamburger Buns are the perfect addition to your next summer BBQ, or just to spruce up an otherwise average weekday dinner!
Nothing tastes quite like the perfect hamburger, with all the right toppings… of course, the toppings mean nothing if the bun can’t hold up!
I’ve had my fair share of pale, soggy, flavorless hamburger buns in my time.
Perhaps you, too, have had the displeasure of a hamburger falling apart in your hands as you eat it… not a satisfying experience. Of course, no one wants a bun that is difficult to bite through, and which makes the avocado and ketchup squeeze out the sides… also not a pleasant experience.
There has to be a happy medium!
Thankfully, these buns check all the boxes. Firm, but not too firm. Soft, but not too soft. Imagine a bun that actually adds flavor and complexity to your burger!
There’s nothing like that subtle, delicious sourdough twang to make your hamburger shine.
I was never the type to use an egg wash… another entire step? Another bowl to clean? Absolutely not.
But… these hamburger buns have changed my mind. I mean, just look at that beautiful golden brown color! The moment these came out of the oven, I was hooked.
The egg wash, although completely optional, adds an irresistible golden shine to the tops of these hamburger buns, not to mention a slight chewiness, which adds another layer of texture.
Ways to use these sourdough buns:
I’ll let you in on a little secret…
I don’t always use these buns for hamburgers.
They work great for chicken sandwiches too! Tuna sandwiches are great on these buns, and you couldn’t go wrong with a good chicken salad sandwich either. Get creative!
Tuna sandwich
Chicken Salad
Fried chicken sandwiches
Roast
Egg salad
BLT
Recipe for Sourdough Hamburger Buns
375g All Purpose Flour. I used organic All Purpose. You could also use bread flour, or a mixture of half all purpose flour and half whole wheat.
100g Sourdough Starter
240 g Water
8g Salt
20g Honey
30g Avocado Oil. You can also use olive oil or coconut oil.
1 egg. Optional. For egg wash
Instructions
Beginning the day before you want to have sourdough hamburger buns, in the morning or afternoon:
Mix the flour, sourdough starter, water, salt, honey, and avocado oil together in a mixing bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir to combine the ingredients.
Knead dough for 10 minutes. You can either do this by hand or in a stand mixer. The dough will be a little sticky. Next, cover with the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to ferment 6-12 hours, or at least until doubled.
After dough has risen and fermented for 6-12 hours, place dough in refrigerator overnight.
In the morning or afternoon of the next day, take the dough out of the refrigerator and turn out onto a clean surface.
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces with a bench scraper, then roll each individual piece of dough on the counter to form a tight, smooth, round ball. Flatten the ball of dough slightly, until about 1/2-1 inch thick, and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Cover the rolls with a lightly damp tea-towel, and allow to rise until doubled (approx. 1-4 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen). Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Make your egg wash by cracking the egg into a small bowl, then whisk vigorously with a fork for 1-2 minutes.
Brush your rolls with egg wash, then place in the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, until nicely browned on top.
Standard Measurments
If you don’t have a kitchen scale, don’t worry! Just make sure you measuring everything carefully, and the buns will turn out fine.
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sourdough Starter
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Avocado Oil
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Egg. Optional
Can I freeze Sourdough Hamburger Buns?
Yes! First, make sure to allow the hamburger buns to cool completely (This is very important to do, or else you will end up with lots of ice crystals).
Next, slice the buns and place them in a gallon ziplock bag.
Freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat, place the sliced hamburger buns into a toaster, toaster oven, regular oven, or microwave. All of these options work just fine.
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Sourdough Hamburger Buns
Enjoy these soft, fluffy sourdough hamburger buns at your next summer BBQ, or use them to
Ingredients
- 375g. All Purpose Flour
- 100g. Sourdough Starter
- 240g. Water
- 8g. Salt
- 20g. Honey
- 30g. Oil
- 1 egg (Optional, for egg wash)
Instructions
Beginning the day before you want to have sourdough hamburger buns, in the morning or afternoon:
Mix the flour, sourdough starter, water, salt, honey, and avocado oil together in a mixing bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir to combine the ingredients.
Knead dough for 10 minutes. You can either do this by hand or in a stand mixer. The dough will be a little sticky. Next, cover with the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to ferment 6-12 hours, or at least until doubled.
After dough has risen and fermented for 6-12 hours, place dough in refrigerator overnight.
In the morning or afternoon of the next day, take the dough out of the refrigerator and turn out onto a clean surface.
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces with a bench scraper, then roll each individual piece of dough on the counter to form a tight, smooth, round ball. Flatten the ball of dough slightly, until about 1/2-1 inch thick, and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Cover the rolls with a lightly damp tea-towel, and allow to rise until doubled (approx. 1-4 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen). Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Make your egg wash by cracking the egg into a small bowl and whisking vigorously with a fork for 1-2 minutes.
Brush your rolls with egg wash, then place in the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, until nicely browned on top.
Notes
- Any type of oil is fine to use in this recipe, including olive oil and coconut oil.
- If you're kneading the dough by hand, it may be tempting to add a lot of flour to make it easier to work with. Try to refrain from adding much flour, as this is supposed to be a rather sticky dough.
- If it's not a good time to bake your sourdough hamburger buns, you can leave the dough in the refrigerator for up to two days until you're ready to use it.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1 Hamburger BunAmount Per Serving: Calories: 237Total Fat: 3.9gSaturated Fat: 0.5gSodium: 439mgCarbohydrates: 43.9gFiber: 1.5gSugar: 2.3gProtein: 5.7g
Nutrition information is not always accurate
Are you using sourdough discard or ripe sourdough starter? Thanks!
Although it’s best to use a recently fed and bubbly sourdough starter for this recipe, I have had success with sourdough discard many times!
What would be a good amount to dough for slider size buns.
Although I haven’t tried it, I would recommend dividing the dough into 16 equal parts instead of 8. I would also reduce the baking time by 5 minutes at the start to make sure they didn’t over bake.
Can’t wait to make these. Can I use sourdough discard for these or does it need to be an active starter? Thanks.
If you have a mature starter, discard will work just fine! You may have to add another hour to the second rise.
I let my dough bulk ferment for 12 hours then in the fridge for 24 hours. It is so sticky I can’t even handle it. Is that how it should be?
This is a very sticky dough, so it may just need some extra flour during shaping. It’s also possible that the dough over-fermented, which leads to an extremely tacky, sticky dough!
Great recipe! Just started warming up in WA this week and it was time to fire up the BBQ for burgers! I’m new to sourdough but couldn’t imagine the store bought buns. These were perfect and olive oil was a good sub. Thanks!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this recipe! I’m never quite happy with hamburger buns either, so I’m looking forward to trying it. It’s nice that there are no eggs in the dough, seeing as we have to avoid them for now.
I accidentally left the dough out overnight to rise instead of in the fridge. Do I need to start over or can this be saved?
It should be fine, especially if it isn’t too warm in your house! If the dough is very tacky and un-shapable, it’s probably a little over-fermented. If I end up with an over-fermented dough, I just spread it out over a parchment lined baking sheet, drizzle it with olive oil and rosemary, and bake it at 375 for about 15 minutes. Still delicious!
Looks yummy! Does the sourdough discard work as well or is it an active sourdough starter that you have used?
I’ve used both, and it works out fine either way!
I made these and they are awesome! I was wondering if I could use this dough in a pullman loaf pan?
Thank you!
Shelley
I’ve never tried it, but I have had some success using this dough for uses other than hamburger buns. Let me know if you give it a try!
Can I not let it ferment for 6-12 hours/ over night and back in the afternoon???
You can definitely do that, although the dough will be a little harder to work with at room temperature! You may need to use a little extra flour when shaping the hamburger buns.
If I don’t have honey, can I use sugar? If so, what would the measurement for that be? Grams or other measurement lol
Sugar is fine! 20g of white sugar or about 2 Tbsp. Honey helps keep the buns from drying out, so just make sure to use the buns in a day or two, or freeze for later.
I made these and they turned out great! I skipped the fridge and just had the dough out all night (summer here nearly in Southern Florida). They were tough to knead but hand because the dough was super wet and sticky. But all-in-all, these were simple and are good. I wish I could submit a photo on Pinterest but the comments are turned off. Thank you.
Do you happen to have the gram weight of each bun. That would help😊 thank you
I used a scale and followed the recipe exactly using King Arthur all purpose flour. The dough sat on the counter 5 hours and in the fridge for 10 hours. This dough is way to tacky to work with! I had to flour my countertop and hands just to be able to shape them. I also greased the parchment paper as they were so sticky. The buns did not hold their shape and expanded outward, not upward and are golden discs instead of buns. The texture and flavor of the baked bun are good. Mine only needed 15 minutes of bake time. If I make this again I would increase the amount of flour. I would also make this into at least 12 buns as they are quite large and I personally would omit the egg wash.
I made these buns the other day and they were gobbled up quickly! They tasted amazing and had a really great texture. Can’t wait to make more!
In what world is 2 TBSP 30g of oil. Check your measurements this was so disappointing
I made these, followed the directions to a T and they came out flat and dense 😭 is this over proved?
I’m sorry to hear that! It’s likely that they were over-proofed or under-proofed.
Mine came out too wet. I do keep a very hydrated -batter consistency starter. What can I do to make sure they come out more dough than the runny sticky batter they came out to be for me? I do utilize a scale
I have had this happen when my starter is unusually wet. If it seems too sticky, just add about 1/2 cup extra all purpose flour.