These Soft and Light Brioche Burger Buns are light, not overly sweet. These Brioche rolls are the perfect vessel for a homemade juicy burger.
Oh how I love these Soft and Light Brioche Burger Buns! With a good burger OMG! Ok, now I’ve wiped the drool from my keyboard I’ll continue.
More and more often fashionable burger restaurants in the UK are taking the lead from the US and using brioche buns to serve their burgers on. I’ve seen it in Byron burger (the classic Byron burger is delicious), Gourmet burger (I could eat a million of their skinny fries with garlic mayo) and Five Guys (hooray! so glad they’ve finally branched out to the UK).
I love the subtle sweetness of a good brioche. It’s got to be shiny, dark golden and soft enough on the outside to wrinkle and squidge when you bite into it. The inside has of course got to be soft, light and fluffy, but gently toasted to ensure that all of that lovely sauce and cheese doesn’t completely sink in.
MY LATEST VIDEOSI’ve looked in all the major supermarkets and local bakeries to find these perfect rolls and I can’t find them anywhere! Yes, they sell artificially sweet-tasting finger rolls or brioche bread, but they don’t even come close to the real thing.
UK major supermarkets hear this! We need decent Brioche burger buns!
Spring is round the corner, and I refuse to have another BBQ season without them.
Since it’s probably fairly unlikely that any major supermarket is going to come looking at my little blog, I decided to make some myself.
I’ve had a few trials (with numerous errors) and then I came across this recipe from The Clever Carrot (I think she originally got the recipe from the NY Times). I made them, and now I’m hooked. I have no need to look anywhere else for a Brioche roll recipe. These Soft and Light Brioche Burger Buns perfect! (thanks Emilie!)
So here’s what you need to do.
Mix the yeast with water, milk and sugar, and then leave for 5 minutes until it starts to foam.
Meanwhile mix your bread flour, all-purpose (plain) flour, salt and butter in a mixer, then beat in the yeast mixture along with 1 egg. Yes, only 1 egg is needed – which is a little unusual with Brioche (usually you’d use at least 3), but trust me, is all you need to get a perfect, light-textured brioche. Beat the dough in the mixer for 10 minutes and then place in a bowl:
Cover with clingfilm and leave to prove in a warm room for 1-2 hours until doubled in size:
Then knock the air out of the dough on a floured surface and split the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each one out and place on a baking tray, cover and prove again until almost doubled in size (1.5-2 hours):
Remove the cover, brush each roll with egg-wash and then bake for 15 minutes until dark golden brown:
Leave to cool and then enjoy (trying not to slather the warm rolls in butter and eat them all before your burgers are ready).
The Soft and Light Brioche Burger Buns Recipe:
Soft and Light Brioche Burgers Buns
Ingredients
- 240 ml warm water
- 3 tbsp warm milk I used whole milk, but half-fat is fine
- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 2.5 tbsp caster sugar
- 360 g strong bread flour
- 60 g plain/all-purpose flour plus extra for rolling
- 37 g butter softened
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Place the warm water, milk, yeast and sugar in a jug, give it a stir and leave for 5 minutes until the top of the liquid starts to foam slightly. If it doesn't foam then your yeast isn't active and you'll need to start again with a new tub of yeast.
- Place the two flours, the butter and salt into a mixer and mix together using the beater attachment for a minute - until you can no longer see lumps of butter.
- Add in the water/yeast mixture and one of the eggs, then beat again (using the beater attachment) for 10 minutes on medium speed. The dough will be sticky, but will come together in a soft, slightly sticky ball towards the end.
- Place the dough in a large bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave to rise in a warm room until doubled in sized (usually 1-2 hours).
- Line a baking tray with baking parchment or a silicone mat.
- Once the dough has doubled in sized, tip it out onto a floured (all purpose flour) surface and punch the air out of it. Cut the dough as evenly as you can into 8 pieces. I weighed each of mine - they were 97g/3.4oz each.
- Pat both of your hands in the flour and then pick up a piece of dough, flatten it slightly in your hands and then put it on the work surface and pull the edges into the centre so you have a rough ball shape. Turn the ball over and gently roll it into more of a ball shape and place onto a large baking tray with the smoothest side at the top. Cup your hands around the sides of the ball and give it a little squeeze to add a tiny bit of height. Repeat with the remaining dough - ensuring there is at least a couple of inches between each ball - as they will expand.
- Place the tray in a large carrier bag (or bin bag) - making sure none of the bag touches the dough. If the dough touches it, it will stick. Leave to prove again until almost doubled in size - about 1.5-2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 200c/400f. Whisk your remaining egg with a tsp of cold water.
- Take the tray out of the bag and gently brush each of the buns all over the top and sides with egg wash. Make sure you don't have too much egg wash on your brush or it will run down the sides of the buns and pool at the bottom - leaving a crispy-eggy edge to the buns.
- Place the buns in the oven and cook for 15 minutes until dark golden brown. Take out of the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes on the tray, before removing from the tray on cooling further on a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes
Nutritional Information
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Jon says
Awesome recipe. Dough came together into a ball after ten minutes of beating, just like the instructions said it would, so I knew I was on to a good recipe at that point. The best bread rolls I’ve made; came out like in the photo and very light and fluffy. I have a fan oven, so baked at 180°C rather than 200. Making them again now two days later. Thanks so much for this.
Alicia Wong says
Hello Nicky… thank you very much for this recipe… my husband is a hamburger addict so I was looking for a good bun recipe… I followed everything as instructed except the flour (I did not have All purpose, so I just all Bread flour) they turned out really good! My husband loved the buns!! Next time I will make sure I get the Bread and All purpose flour combination to see the result!
The recipe very well explained… thanks!!
Nicky Corbishley says
Awesome! Thanks so much for letting me know Alicia 🙂
Bea says
Just wanted to say that I made these at the weekend and they came out PERFECT!! Normally my bread is a bit doughy or flat but these are sweet and fluffy and just what I needed for some homemade burgers. I actually made them dairy free by using dairy free Flora butter and almond milk and they still worked great. 🙂
Gina says
Oooooo- I have another question regarding the mini hamburger buns…have you had success making the dough balls ahead, freezing them and then either thawing them in the refrigerator 24 hours before use and bringing them to room temp at least an house before baking OR freezing them and thawing on the counter overnight before baking?
Nicky Corbishley says
Hmm, not tried that one. I imagine the freezing process would harm the rise of the buns though.
I’d be more inclined to par-bake them – for maybe 5-6 minutes to get the rise. Then cool and freeze. Then cook them from frozen until browned when you need them.
Can’t guarantee it’d work, but that’s what I’d do.
Gina says
Hi- I see your recipe for mini hamburger buns – they look beautiful and sort of like a brioche bun but the recipe is quite different. Is it possible to make this delicious-looking recipe for brioche buns but make them bite-size (baking them for less time)? If I want a delicious bite size brioche bun which recipe would you recommend I try? Thank you!!
Nicky Corbishley says
Yes, this mini-burger buns are more of a regular bun. The brioche recipe does work for mini buns, but I find it difficult to get a consistent size out of them – some of them like to rise in the oven into a slightly pointy shape, whilst others are the regular burger shape. If I’m using the brioche recipe for mini burgers, I just make sure I make plenty! Hope that kind-of helps!
Gina says
Huge help!!! Thank you so much for your reply! ?
I am new to your site and I love it! Thanks again!
Carah says
These look beautiful! I will try and make them today. Is it necessary to use bread and all purpose flour? I only have all purpose flour at the moment.
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Carah, hope the buns turned out ok for you. Bread flour is important in these rolls to give them the soft and tender quality. Just using all-purpose will give more of scone/biscuit effect.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Carah says
The buns turned out really well! I ended up using all AP flour because it was what I had. I let them rise a bit longer than recommended by accident but because of that they were very light and soft. Delicious!
Nicky Corbishley says
Awesome! So glad they turned out well Carah. I’ll have to give them a go with all AP flour 🙂
MapRef41N93Wx says
You don’t need bread flour to make rolls. Bread flour is for making dense, crusty breads like french baguettes. Using AP flour in these will give a softer, lighter texture that people generally want in rolls.
Jocelyn says
What is caster sugar?
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Jocelyn, are you based in the US? I think they call us superfine over there (it’s a smaller granule that granulated sugar, but not to be mistaken for powdered sugar).
For this recipe, you can substitute with granulated sugar.
sylvieamesee says
I make my brioche without milk. I use more eggs than you (instead of milk). Adding milk probably allows your brioche buns smoother than mine, have to remember that!
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Sylvie, yes, I’ve done it with more eggs and less milk, which seems to make the brioche turn out richer, but more dense. These are like a light, soft roll in the middle.
adashofsanity says
These rolls look amazing girl, will so be making them soon! xo San from A Dash of Sanity
Pinned!
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks for pinning Sandra 🙂
I’ve got to compliment you on your samoa donuts. They are to die for!!!
Amy says
“soft enough on the outside to wrinkle and squidge when you bite into it” <– oh my god yes.
I mourn the loss of bread from my life in a few circumstances, and the gorgeousness of broiche is one of those occasions. That being said, I love baking bread for my family, and I can't wait to give these a go soon!
Nicky Corbishley says
oh Amy I really feel for you. I don’t eat as much bread as I used to, but I can’t imagine not having it at all. Do you have a good homemade bread recipe? I’m always on the lookout for a great GF bread recipe for my mother in law. She’s ok with dairy etc, it’s just the gluten.
Holly Jordan says
These look sooo awesome!
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks Holly 🙂