Brioche Burger Buns

These Brioche burger buns are light, fluffy and totally irresistible!  They are perfect for burgers, sliders or split them open while they are still warm and spread with lots of butter. A recipe that requires patience and a leap of faith, but it’s worth it!

Listen up. These light and fluffy brioche burger buns are the business.

I first published this recipe way back in the early days of blogging.

I’ve given the recipe a few tweaks since then and I believe those little tweaks and adjustments along the way have only made the recipe even better.

Your Summer BBQ burger deserves these buns – trust me!

are brioche buns good for burgers?

Brioche buns seem to be the vessel of choice for a gourmet burger these days.  It’s no surprise really – the combination of slightly sweet, buttery brioche and juicy meat really is a match made in heaven.  

There’s only one thing that’s not so ideal – a brioche burger roll can have a tendency to fall to pieces when you bite into your burger. I’ve experienced this a lot using supermarket brioche rolls.

Why should you try this brioche burger bun recipe? It produces a soft and light bun that, for some reason, is still sturdy enough that it doesn’t fall to pieces when you’re tucking into your burger. Happy days!

What can I serve brioche rolls with?

Brioche rolls are, obviously, perfect for burgers but they are also amazing with pulled pork, creamy coleslaw or BBQ sauce, ham and cheese sliders, Halloumi slices and salad, or simply split them open and spread with butter and jam.

Brioche buns are really no harder to make than normal bread rolls – the dough is definitely richer with the butter and eggs, but they aren’t difficult to make at all.  If they were, they wouldn’t be on this blog, let’s face it! 

ingredient list

You just need a few basic ingredients to make these burger buns.  You will need:

• Plain (All Purpose) Flour. I’ve tested this recipe using strong bread flour, but I found that the buns are definitely softer and lighter using regular plain flour. I’ve also used half of each which worked out fine.

• Instant (Fast Action) Yeast.  As always, I use the instant 7g sachets.  They just make life easier! 

• Unsalted Butter.  Please don’t even think of using anything but real butter!  It should be nice and soft.

• Two Large Eggs, at room temperature.

• Cold Water.

• Milk. Whole milk is best for this recipe.

• Fine Salt – not sea salt flakes

• Sugar – after all, these are sweet rolls.
• beaten egg yolk, to glaze the buns before baking.

How to make brioche burger buns

step one – make the dough

You start off by gently warming the water and milk in a saucepan. 

Then you add the warm liquid, eggs, and soft butter to the flour, yeast, salt and sugar and knead, knead, knead!  The dough will be very sticky, but keep it going.  If you have a stand mixer, I would definitely use it to save your arms!

PRO TIP – this dough is very soft and initially, you will think the recipe has too much liquid. You will think it never come together, but have faith – I promise it will. Oiling your hands and the work surface will help the sticky dough – adding more flour will affect the texture of the buns. The stickiness of the dough will lessen a little as you work it.

step two – rest the dough

When the dough is shiny, smooth and elastic, cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap (I use a shower cap!) and leave to prove for around 1 1/2-2 hours or until doubled in size. Don’t rush this stage – a bread dough with sugar and butter (just like these hot cross buns) often needs a longer proving time.

step three – shape the brioche buns

Now it’s time to divide the dough into 12 equal-sized portions.  A metal dough scraper comes in very handy for this job. I bought mine from Lakeland.

Roll the dough into equal-sized balls – watch a handy tutorial here – and place them on a lined baking tray, remembering to space them apart to allow for rising.

step four – final rise

Leave the buns to rise for about 1 hour or until the buns have doubled in size. They should now be touching (see picture above.) Brush with beaten egg yolk and bake for around 25 minutes or until the top of the buns are golden brown.  

Tips for making perfect Brioche burger buns

• I know this goes without saying, but the rising times I give you here are a rough guide only. The length of time bread dough takes to rise is dependent on a number of factors – the temperature of your kitchen, the flour, the quality of the yeast (check the use by date) and even the weather can affect rising times – seriously!

• The most important thing to keep in mind is don’t rush things – if the dough hasn’t doubled in size after an hour or two, give it some more time to let it do its thing. Enriched doughs (dough with butter, eggs and sugar) often take a little longer to rise.

• Glazing the buns with egg wash before baking will help keep them nice and soft. It will also make them look even more golden and appealing.

• Brush the top of the buns with a little soft butter when they come out of the oven – this will give them a beautiful shine.

• If you happen to have an empty butter wrapper lying around, they come in very handy for this – simply brush the top of the buns with the wrapper and the remaining butter will instantly melt on top of the buns, creating a gorgeous sheen.

Can I rest brioche dough overnight?

If it’s easier, then you can rest the dough (for the first rise) overnight in the fridge. When you get up in the morning you’ll need to take it out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. This can take a couple of hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is.

can I add sesame seeds?

If you feel like adding some sesame or poppy seeds, please do! Simply sprinkle the buns with the seeds after glazing with egg wash.

can they be frozen?

Yes, the baked buns can be frozen for up to three months. Defrost at room temperature.

WANT TO SEE MORE BREAD RECIPES? CHECK THESE OUT…

• pumpkin bread rolls

• Easy Focaccia bread with cherry tomatoes and fresh thyme

• Soft White Sandwich Loaf
• how to make tiger bread

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Brioche Burger Buns

Yield: 12 burger buns

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Includes proving time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes

These soft and fluffy brioche burger buns are miles apart from shop bought, and easier than you think to make at home!

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Ingredients

• 250 ml warm water
• 50 ml milk
• 500 g Plain Flour
• 7 g Fast action instant yeast
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 60 g (4 tbsp) Butter
• 2 Large eggs, beaten
• 1 Large egg yolk, for glazing the buns

Instructions

1. Combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Keep the yeast andsalt at separate sides of the bowl. Roughly mix to combine.
2. Make a well in the centre and add the water, milk, eggs and butter. Use your hands to mix to a dough. It will be very sticky and wet, but don't be tempted to add more flour. Verylightly oil your hands and work surface and knead the dough for a good 10minutes, or if you're lucky enough to own a food mixer, save your arms and use it!
3. When the dough is very smooth, soft, bouncy and elastic, it's ready. Place into anoiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for 1-2 hours, or untildoubled in size.
4. When the dough is ready, knock the air out by kneading lightly for 30 seconds or so. Divide the dough into 10-12 even pieces.
5. Roll the pieces of dough into balls (a lightly floured surface comes in handy here) and place on lined baking trays. Cover loosely with oiled cling film or a clean tea towel and leave for around 45 minutes -1 hour until the dough has doubled in size again.
6. While you're waiting, Heat oven to 200C and place a baking tray at the bottomof the oven.
7. When the buns have doubled in size, brush them all over with the beaten egg glaze.
8. Pour a cup of water into the baking tray you placed at the bottom of the oven earlier (this will keep the buns moist while baking and give them a lovely soft crumb.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until nice and golden.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 197Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 235mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 7g

Calories and Nutritional information is calculated by a third party application and should be used as an indicative figure only.

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