|

Hamburger Potato Buns

Homemade soft Hamburger Potato Buns are a staple in my kitchen. I make these fluffy and moist Hamburger Buns every other month. They freeze well and are great for burgers and sandwiches alike.

Golden brown hamburger buns on a baking sheet.

updated post from 2013

HOW TO MAKE HAMBURGER POTATO BUNS

POTATO BUTTERMILK YEAST DOUGH INGREDIENTS

  • All Purpose Flour or Combination of Bread and All Purpose Flour
  • Yellow or Sweet Potatoes, peeled, cooked in water till very soft (or mashed potatoes will work, too)
  • Eggs
  • Buttermilk (don’t have buttermilk?) Use one of these 6 Homemade Buttermilk Substitutes
  • Butter, soft
  • Ground Black Pepper
  • Dry Yeast
  • Salt
  • Water

YEAST MIXTURE

First into a bowl add warm cooked potatoes with about ¼ cup of potato water, (step 1). Mash with a fork or puree cooked potatoes with an immersion blender,(step 2). Measure generous ½ cup of potato mixture and whisk it into room temperature buttermilk, (step 3-4).

Pour in honey, dry yeast. Whisk to combine and let sit for 5-8 minutes, until yeast mixture is bubbly on the top, (step 5-8).

TIP :  Do you have leftover mashed potatoes? You can use them to make potato yeast dough.

Whisking buttermilk with yeast, honey and flour.

Wait 5 -8 minutes for the yeast to get bubbly on the top.

Bubbling yeast in a bowl.

PREPARE POTATO BREAD DOUGH

In a bowl of your stand mixer whisk together flour, salt and ground black pepper.

Make a well in the flour. Pour in room temperature eggs, soften butter and buttermilk yeast mixture.

Stir with a wooden spoon to combine and to moisten the flour.

Stirring flour, eggs, yeast mixture into a dough.

Then using a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment knead the dough until soft and smooth. Knead for 8-10 minutes.

This dough is soft and it will not pull away from the sides. It’s okay. However if the dough is overly wet and very very sticky, you can add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, up to 3 tablespoons should be sufficient.

Kneading yeast dough with a hook attachment.

FIRST PROOF

Invert soft potato yeast dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead with your hands for a minute to shape it into a ball.

Grease the mixing bowl and return the ball of dough into a greased bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap or a damp paper towel and let rise for an hour in a warm, draft free spot.

Shaping yeast dough into a ball.

HOW TO CREATE WARM, DRAFT FREE SPOT?

I’ve been using this method for years and it has given me the best result thus far.

  • Bring 3 cups of water to boil. Place the pot with boiling hot water on the bottom rack in the oven.
  • Place the bowl with the dough on the rack above or next to it. Close the oven door and let the dough rise as directed in the recipe.

FUN FACT : My grandmother covered the bowl with yeast dough with blankets.

soft hamburger dough on a work surface.

HOW TO SHAPE HAMBURGER BUNS

Once the dough has risen and doubled in volume invert it onto a lightly floured parchment sheet or silicone mat, (step 1-4).

Weigh the dough and divide the weight by 8 or 9 for standard size buns. Or if making slider buns divide by 18-19. Weigh the dough into equal portions.

Weighing yeast dough into equal portions.

Shape each piece of a dough into a ball. Place each bun onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Shaping yeast dough into buns.

SECOND RISE

Cover shaped hamburger buns with a kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375F.

Covering buns on a baking sheet with a kitchen towel.

EGG WASH

Prepare egg wash : whisk together 1 room temperature egg and 1 tbsp water.

Whisking egg and water in a bowl.

Brush each bun with an egg wash, make sure there are no puddles of egg wash underneath the buns.

Avoid brushing too much egg wash onto the buns at once. If you add too much egg wash at once there will be egg wash puddles around the buns. As the buns bake so does the egg wash around the base of the bun, turning into scrambled egg.

TIP : Dip the pastry brush into the egg wash, Then let the excess egg wash drip back into the bowl as you lightly brush it of on the edge of the bowl.

Brushing buns with egg wash.

HAMBURGER BUNS TOPPINGS

Sprinkle topping of your choice on the buns brushed with an egg wash : poppy seeds, sesame seeds, caraway seeds, coarse salt on the buns, or leave them plain.

TIP : If you don’t have an extra egg, simple spray buns with a little water to make the toppings stick.

Sprinkling buns with sesame street.

BAKE POTATO HAMBURGER BUNS

Bake buns in the preheated oven at 375F.

Large buns bake for 18-20 minutes.

Smaller, slider buns take about 15-16 minutes to bake.

As soon as you remove buns from the oven cover them with a  dry kitchen towel for 15 minutes. Then remove the towel and let them cool completely.

Hot buns covered with a kitchen towel.

HOW MANY HAMBURGER BUNS DOES THIS RECIPE MAKE

This recipe makes about 8-9 regular size Hamburger Buns And approximately 18-20 mini buns (Slider Buns).

CAN I FREEZE HOMEMADE HAMBURGER BUNS?

Absolutely. I freeze them for up to 2 months. Let defrost before using.

TIP : These soft delicious buns are great for sandwiches. And you can slice the buns across and you have yourself sandwich bread slices.

Baked hamburger buns.

CAN I USE THIS RECIPE TO MAKE SLIDER BUNS?

Yes, you can use it to make sliders. This recipe makes about 18-20 slider buns.

CAN I USE INSTANT YEAST IN PLACE OF ACTIVE DRY YEAST?

Absolutely. Use the same amount of yeast, 1:1 ratio (instant yeast : dry active yeast). When using instant yeast you don’t need to prepare a sponge (it’s a step where you add dry active yeast to buttermilk). Instead add all the ingredients into a bowl, add instant yeast, stir and knead till it comes into a soft dough. Instant yeast can cause your dough rise a little faster, so check on the dough after 45 minutes.

Here are my delicious Chicken Bacon Meatball Sliders made with homemade potato buttermilk hamburger slider buns.

Slider with chicken bacon meatballs and a pickle on the top.

TO MAKE HAMBURGER POTATO BUNS YOU NEED

MORE BREAD RECIPES :

Baked hamburger buns.
Print Pin
5 from 2 votes

Potato Hamburger Buns

This recipe makes delicious homemade hamburger potato buns. These buns are soft and can be used to make hamburger buns, sandwich bread or slider buns.
Recipe makes 8-9 regular size buns or 16-18 slider buns.
Course Breakfast, dinner, Side Dish
Cuisine American, Czech, Slovak
Keyword buttermilk buns, hamburger buns, homemade buns, homemade hamburger buns, potato hamburger buns
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Proofing 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 9
Author Hani

Ingredients

DOUGH

  • 3 cup all-purpose flour (430 grams) ( I use King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour, bread flour or combination of both
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 tbsp butter, softened (70 grams)

Yeast Mixture

  • 3/4 cup buttermilk (180 ml) (make your own buttermilk – add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 3/4 cup milk, let sit 5 minutes)
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup mashed potato or use leftover mashed potatoes (120ml) (you'll need 1 large potato, peeled and cubed, cooked till very soft in 1 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 tsp of salt)

EGG WASH

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp water

TOPPINGS

  • poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coarse salt

Instructions

HAMBURGER POTATO DOUGH

    Mashed Potato

    • Cook one large peeled and cubed potato in 1 1/2 cup water seasoned with 1/2 tsp salt, cook until fork soft. Mash the potato with 3 tablespoons potato water using a fork. Spoon mashed potato mixture into a 1/2 cup measure.
      TIP: alternatively, use 1/2 cup leftover mashed potatoes

    Yeast Mixture

    • Pour mashed potato (1/2 cup, 120 ml) into buttermilk ( 3/4 cup, 180 ml) and stir well. Let cool until the mixture is warm, not hot.
    • Into the warm to lukewarm potato buttermilk mixture whisk one tablespoon honey, one packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp 1/2 tsp), and one tablespoon flour. Whisk well and let sit for 5-8 minutes until foamy on the top.

    Yeast Potato Dough

    • Meanwhile, measure flour (3 cups, 430 grams) into a bowl of your stand mixer, stir in salt (1/4 teaspoon) and ground black pepper (1/8 teaspoon), and set aside. 
    • Make a well in the flour, add eggs (2 large, room temperature eggs), soften butter (5 tablespoons, 70 grams), and pour in all of the yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon till combined (30 seconds).
    • Using a mixer with a hook attachment, knead yeast dough for 8 minutes until a soft dough is formed. If the dough appears too wet add up to 1/4 cup flour, adding flour by tablespoons. This dough is smooth; it will not form a ball in the stand mixer.
    • Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it for 30 seconds to a minute until it comes to a ball.

    1st PROOF

    • Return the ball of dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. See the notes on how to let it rise in the oven.
    • Once the dough has risen, invert the bowl with the risen dough onto a lightly floured parchment sheet or silicone mat.

    SHAPE THE HAMBURGER BUNS

    • Weigh the dough and divide it into equal portions. Divide the dough into 8-9 pieces or more if you want smaller buns. I weigh 125 grams of dough per large bun.
      TIP: This recipe makes about 8-9 regular-size hamburger buns or smaller 16-18 slider buns.
    • Shape each piece of a dough into a ball. Transfer onto a baking sheet lined with a parchment or silicone mat. Cover buns with kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375F.

    EGG WASH

    • Whisk together egg (1 egg) and water (1 tablespoon). Then brush risen buns with an egg wash. Avoid using excessive amounts of egg wash or it will drip down the sides, and there will be puddles of egg wash which will later in the oven turn into scrambled eggs.

    TOPPINGS

    • If using toppings, sprinkle buns brushed with egg wash with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sea salt, or leave plain.

    BAKE HAMBURGER BUNS

    • Preheat oven to 375F.
    • Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown.
      Large buns for 18-20 minutes.
      Small buns for 15-16 minutes.
    • Remove from the oven, and cover freshly baked hot buns with a dry kitchen towel for 15 minutes. Remove the towel and let cool completely.
    • Potato Hamburger Buns can be prepared ahead of time and frozen until ready to use, up to 2 months.

    HOW TO CREATE DRAFT FREE WARM SPOT FOR DOUGH PROOFING

    • Bring 3 cups of water to boil. Place the pot with hot water on the bottom rack in your oven and place the bowl with the yeast dough above or on the same rack. Close the oven and let the dough rise as directed in the recipe.

    Notes

    • CAN I FREEZE HAMBURGER BUNS? Yes, buns freeze for up to 2 -3 months.
    • CAN I USE SWEET POTATO INSTEAD OF YELLOW POTATO? Yes, you can.
    • HOW MANY HAMBURGER BUNS THIS RECIPE MAKES? This recipe yields about 8-9 medium to large hamburger buns. 

    PIN IT for later

    Golden brown hamburger buns on a baking sheet.

    This recipe was originally published in 2013. On May 25th 2019, I updated this post with new step by step photos, written text and a video.

    This post containsThis post contains Amazon affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no cost to you. I only recommend products that I use and love. Learn more about my affiliate policy here.

    Similar Posts

    12 Comments

    1. These rolls turned out amazing! They were nice and fluffy but hold up great to a burger! I only needed about one and a half tablespoons of extra flour.. Thank you so much for this!

    2. I made bread for the first time and it was this Potato Hamburger Bun Recipe, it came out SOOOO DELICIOUS, my kids ate every bite of dinner, I am now hooked on bread making! THANK YOU for making this such an easy recipe to follow, even for a first timer❤️🤗❤️

      1. Hello Lily
        I’ve been using the same amount. When using instant yeast I don’t make the sponge I just add instant yeast directly into the flour with the rest of the ingredients and knead.

        I just started using instant yeast couple of months ago and I LOVE IT. It produces such a light dough and rises really nicely and faster than dry yeast.

        Thank you!
        Best,
        Hani

    3. Can I add sugar instead of honey and increase it to sweeten the dough and make cinnamon rolls?? why do you use instead of regular milk?does it make doughs fluffier??

        1. Buttermilk because it’s acidic it helps to tenderize gluten and make bread buns a bit softer and acidic ingredient also gives bread nice body, rise, hope it helps.

      1. Hello Nada,
        Absolutely, you can add sugar, sorry I just read your question again. Not sure if this dough would work for cinnamon buns though. For cinnamon buns I’d recommend using my Sweet Bread Dough Instead.
        Not sure what you mean by the second question? Why do I add milk? I used buttermilk in this recipe. Milk makes bread a bit richer and velvety. Hope that makes sense.
        If you can’t use milk I’d use water with little bit of vinegar in it (1tsp or so). Or use 1:1 water and white yogurt.
        Let me know if you have any other questions. Or just use water instead.
        Let me know how it turns out.
        THanks.
        Stay Safe,

    4. Oh my goodness! I think this would need a taste test with some butter straight out of the oven …. just say’n 🤣🤣🤣I can smell them already !👃🏻👃🏻😋😋😋

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating