Last week, I wanted to make smashed burgers for dinner, but realized we didn’t have any hamburger buns. Not wanting to run out to the store, I decided to find a recipe and make them myself. Why not, right? So I found a 40-minute Hamburger Buns recipe on the Taste of Home website. Perfect! 40 minutes!

My assistant and I got busy right away. Based on some of the reviews, there were only a few tweaks that I made to the recipe. This is what we did:

First, we mixed 2 Tablespoons dry active yeast (that’s right, it’s a lot of yeast!) in 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons warm water… about 110°. Then we added and stirred in 1/3 cup canola oil and 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, and let the mix sit for about 7 minutes. When the time was up, and I put a wooden spoon in to move the mixture around, it looked like this:

Bubbly and lovely!

Then we added 1 large egg at room temperature and 1 teaspoon salt, and about 3 cups (13.5 ounces) of all-purpose flour, mixing until everything was combined. The dough was wet and shaggy. Looked like this:

Normally I would be tempted to add more flour, but I didn’t. Many of the reviews said their buns came out too dense, and I didn’t want that to happen. We scraped the dough out onto a floured surface (probably used about a half cup of flour on the pastry board) and kneaded the dough for about 5 minutes, until it was smooth and elastic.

My helper

Oh, and ignore that bag of bread flour in the picture. We used all-purpose, I promise. Once the dough was smooth and elastic, I cut the dough into 8 even pieces with my bench scraper (but a sharp knife would do just fine as well), and shaped them quickly into balls.

We then transferred the dough balls onto two large cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and slightly flattened each ball with our hands.

You can flatten them more if you like…

These did not spread, so it is important to flatten them to the size you want, but don’t go crazy with flattening! At this point, we covered the buns with a tea towel, preheated the oven to 425°, and let the buns rest for ten minutes or so. We had two trays, so we got to experiment with the timing of the resting time. After ten minutes, we stirred up 1 egg and brushed the tops of the buns with the egg, then put them in the oven, center rack. We let them bake about ten minutes, until they were golden brown.

Oddly delicious!

When we pulled them out of the oven, we then brushed the second tray of buns with the egg wash and put them in the oven (they had been resting for 20 minutes). For something that was so easy, it was crazy how delicious these buns were! They tasted like brioche buns! The second batch came out slightly fluffier and lighter in texture, so I would probably advise to let the buns rest for 20 minutes. Either way, they were delicious! Warning: these buns are not as light as the store-bought kind, but here is the real warning: these buns are so delicious you will start making up reasons to have them at every meal.

So good!

We loved these so much, the girls want me to make them, but smaller, for rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner. I’ll add that to my list.

Hamburger Buns in One Hour!

(Adapted from Jessie McKenney’s 40-Minute Hamburger Buns)

• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg at room temperature, plus 1 more for egg wash
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 to 3 1/2 cups (13.5 ounces plus more) all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 7 minutes. Add 1 egg, salt and about 3 cups flour – dough will be shaggy and sticky.
2. Scrape onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Do not let rise.
3. Divide into 8 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 4 per baking sheet lined with parchment. Flatten a bit lightly with hands to size you prefer.
4. Preheat oven to 425°
5. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. If you are short on time, 10 minutes is fine.
6. Beat the remaining egg and brush onto the tops of the buns and bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.