Last Updated on July 16, 2024 by Kiersten James, BS, RN
These no knead hamburger buns are easy enough for beginners and great for burgers, pulled pork, or weekday breakfast sandwiches!
This recipe has finally created the homemade burger bun of my dreams. I have tried SO many recipes and was left miserably disappointed.
Crumbly, dry, dense, flat, tremendous – my daughter once called one of my hot dog bun fails a “hot dog cruise ship” to try to soften the blow. Nevertheless, I persisted and we have a winner!!!!
What you have here is a combination of about 7 different recipes and a pure adaptation of the one I use for homemade Italian bread – go figure.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This is a fool-proof recipe easy enough for the most novice of beginners because of three things:
- There is no kneading so you literally don’t have to have even the slightest clue about developing gluten structure.
- You mix the dough by hand like it’s 1935 so no stand mixers, dough hooks, or any fancy equipment is required beyond a bowl, some measuring cups, and a spoon.
- Regular old all purpose flour is used. No bread flour, no weighing, no metric conversions. Just a few scoops out of the bag and you’re good.
Easiest No Knead Hamburger Buns Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons active yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon cane sugar
- 2 additional cups warm water
- 3 tablespoons cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 cup oil – olive, avocado or vegetable
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 egg white
Instructions:
Proof and activate the yeast by combining 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and 1.5 tablespoons yeast. Let sit in a mason jar or glass until it begins to foam and smell like bread.
To a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups hot water, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 cup of your choice of oil. Mix in 3 cups of flour by hand with a wooden spoon.
Add the yeast mixture and 2 additional cups of flour to the bowl. Mix again until the dough begins to form a ball around the spoon. It will be very sticky! Resist the urge to add additional flour like a typical bread dough.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for an hour at room temperature.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350F as you near the end of the first rise.
Flour the counter and use a rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl onto your prepared surface.
Flour your hands, then divide the dough into 16 pieces that are roughly the size of a lemon.
This dough will be very sticky. Use a dough scraper or spatula to lift each portion of dough up off of the counter. Dip each side of the dough ball in flour then tuck the edges of under itself to form a round ball.
Place the dough on on the parchment paper to get ready for the second rise. I can comfortably fit 8 rolls on one standard baking sheet about 3″ apart. Repeat this for all 16 pieces.
Cover each baking sheet with a clean dish cloth that has been dampened with warm water and let the dough go through a second rise for an additional half hour.
Prior to baking, brush the tops of each bun with an egg white wash.
Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the baking sheets, then bake for an additional 10-12 minutes until the buns are a nice golden brown.
Remove the buns from the baking sheet to a wire cooling rack with a spatula. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Serve piled high with a juicy burger, BBQ pulled pork, oven baked BBQ chicken, or a simple weekday breakfast sandwich with fried eggs, cheese and your choice of meat.
How to Store Homemade Buns to Keep Them Fresh
Homemade bread does not have any dough stabilizers or preservatives in it (which is what we want!). One downside to this though is that your fresh homemade burger buns will become stale, crumbly or moldy much faster than any store bought bread – usually within 3 days.
To prolong the life of your buns, wrap any leftovers in plastic wrap and keep in an air-tight container at room temperature such as a microwave.
If you can help it, avoid slicing any unused rolls to preserve freshness until they are ready to be eaten.
More From Scratch Baking Recipes
Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe (No Yeast)
Quick Sourdough Discard Pizza Crust
No Knead Hamburger Buns
These no knead hamburger buns are easy enough for beginners and great for burgers, pulled pork, or weekday breakfast sandwiches!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons active yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon cane sugar
- 2 additional cups warm water
- 3 tablespoons cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 cup oil - olive, avocado or vegetable
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- Egg white for a wash
Instructions
- Proof and activate the yeast by combining 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and 1.5 tablespoons yeast. Let sit in a mason jar or glass until it begins to foam and smell like bread.
- To a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups hot water, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 cup of your choice of oil. Mix in 3 cups of flour by hand with a wooden spoon.
- Add the yeast mixture and 2 additional cups of flour to the bowl. Mix again until the dough begins to form a ball around the spoon. It will be very sticky, resist the urge to add additional flour like a typical bread dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for an hour at room temperature.
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350F as you near the end of the first rise.
- Flour your counter or a large wooden cutting board and use a rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl onto your prepared surface.
- Flour your hands, then divide the dough into 16 pieces that are roughly the size of a lemon.
- Tuck the edges of the dough ball under itself to form a round ball and place it on the parchment paper.
- Repeat this for all 16 pieces, placing 8 on each cookie sheet about 3" apart.
- Cover each cookie sheet with a clean dish cloth that has been dampened with warm water and let the dough go through a second rise for an additional half hour.
- Prior to baking, brush the tops of each roll with an egg white wash.
- Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the baking sheets, then bake for an additional 10-12 minutes until the rolls are a nice golden brown.
- Remove the rolls from the baking sheet to a wire cooling rack with a spatula. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
- Wrap any leftover rolls in plastic wrap and keep in an air-tight container at room temperature such as a microwave. Avoid slicing any unused rolls to preserve freshness.
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