This past weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a workshop by the one and only Sandor Ellix Katz, author of The Art of Fermentation (essential reading!). I walked away from the workshop infused with inspiration and a head full of fermentation ideas. Of course, it wouldn’t be a hands-on workshop if I didn’t leave with a jar of bubbling veggies — a relish of sorts.
The fermenting relish we created by hand during the workshop had numerous spicy New Mexico chiles (as is the custom here in New Mexico, if it’s not spicy, let’s first make it spicy, then figure out the rest of the details), onion, corn, tomato, sweet potato (cooked), and garlic added to the mix. After getting my hands dirty with mixing, mashing, and packing, I began to ponder what I’d like to use this spicy concoction on, and then it came to me: hamburgers with brioche hamburger buns!
Coincidentally, the upcoming weekend of July 4th has always been a big grilling weekend out here, and what better way to celebrate our Nation’s independence than to fire up the grill and throw on some burgers and veggies?
I’ve made hamburger buns several times but have yet to formalize a recipe for my favorite version. This formula has evolved and is similar to my cinnamon roll recipe in that it’s based on an enriched brioche dough but with changes to butter, milk, and flour types.
What I like most about this brioche hamburger bun recipe is its versatility. Not only can the dough be chilled in the fridge (similar to my fluffy milk bread hamburger buns) at multiple points before baking, once baked, but these buns also keep very, very well for days after. If you are planning an event, you can easily make these a day or two beforehand and keep them wrapped up so they stay pliable and ready to slice the morning of.
Additionally, these brioche hamburger buns can be used for many more things around the kitchen than just hamburgers—they are secretly a dinner roll that’ll blow those store-bought ones out of the water.
Let’s break out the butter.
Brioche Hamburger Bun Recipe
When compared to my cinnamon roll recipe, you’ll first notice I reduced the butter a smidgen and worked in a significant percentage of whole wheat flour. The added white whole wheat adds a subtle flavor boost to these, promoting them from just another hamburger bun to more of a central player in the overall meal. Further, the whole wheat gives the buns more rigidity after they’re baked, helping them to support the hamburger patty, toppings, and condiments.
However, this brioche hamburger bun recipe would work very well with 100% white flour or a different type of whole grain for the white wheat component—be sure to adjust the milk percentage up or down to suit.
Feel free to change the flour variety used, but be sure to adjust the hydration to suit.
The schedule outlined below has times and temperatures listed for the same day bake. Meaning the dough is started in the morning and then baked in the late afternoon, ready for a late grilling session or early dinner. However, the dough can be retarded overnight in bulk to add even more flavor and make scheduling easier (more on this below).
Note that you don’t have to make a levain for this recipe, just use your ripe sourdough starter (see the difference between the two here). However, make sure the night before when you refresh your starter you build up enough to cover the starter requirement below (185g).
Vitals
| Total Dough Weight | 1200 grams |
| Yield | 10 x 120-gram buns |
Dough Formula
The target final dough temperature (FDT) is 74°F (23°C).
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 278g | White Bread Flour (~11.5% protein), Malted (Central Milling Artisan Baker’s Craft) | 60.00% |
| 185g | White Whole Wheat (King Arthur Flour White Whole Wheat) | 40.00% |
| 162g | Unsalted European Style Butter (Kerrygold Unsalted) | 35.00% |
| 185g | Eggs (about 4 large) | 40.00% |
| 46g | Fine White Sugar | 10.00% |
| 148g | Whole Milk (cold, from the fridge) | 32.00% |
| 10g | Salt | 2.30% |
| 185g | Ripe sourdough starter | 40.00% |
Method
I used my Kitchen Aid mixer to mix this brioche dough. It’s possible to mix this all by hand but it gets a little tricky with the added butter. If you choose to do it by hand you could knead the dough in a bowl with a wet hand or even slap/fold on the counter.
1. Incorporation – 8:45 a.m.
Take out the butter from the fridge and cut into 1/2” thick pats and place in a small bowl. Let the butter come up to room temperature while mixing the rest of the ingredients.
Add the sugar, eggs (from the fridge), milk (from the fridge), and mature sourdough starter to the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk everything together until incorporated.
Add the salt and flour to the mixing bowl. Using the dough hook attachment, mix the dough on STIR (lowest setting) for 3 minutes until all the flour is hydrated and everything is incorporated. The dough should look very shaggy at this point but should not be overly stiff. You might need to add more milk, a little at a time if the mixture is too dry.
Let the dough rest 10 minutes, covered.
2. Mixing & Butter Incorporation
After the 10 minute rest, the dough will be strengthened further before adding the butter.
Mix 4-6 minutes on speed 4 (4 notches above STIR for me on my Kitchen Aid, medium speed) until the dough comes together and starts to pull from the sides of the bowl. It will most likely still stick to the bottom, but you’ll notice the dough will strengthen up and become slightly more smooth.
Butter temperature is important! At this point, it should be soft to the touch but not melted (see above, right). It should not be too cold or it won’t incorporate easily, and conversely, if it’s too warm it’ll get greasy and melt. Use the freezer or the microwave (in short increments) to adjust the butter temperature if necessary.
Turn the mixer down to speed 3 and start adding the butter one pat at a time right where the dough hook meets the dough mass. Wait to add the next pat until the previous one is fully incorporated and continue until all the butter is worked into the dough.
Total mixing time for this step could take 8-10 minutes. The dough will still be slightly shaggy (see below) but this is ok because we will perform a couple of sets of stretch and folds during bulk to further add strength. Additionally, you can see the dough does not look greasy from any melting butter. If your dough temperature is too high, pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes to help cool it down.
Once the butter is added, transfer the dough to a tub or thick-walled bowl for bulk fermentation.
3. Bulk Fermentation – 9:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
As the dough is bulk fermenting on the counter, perform a total of 2 sets of stretch and folds, spaced out by 30 minutes (the first one 30 minutes after you finish mixing). For each set do a letter fold with wet hands (pick up the Northside and stretch up and fold over to the South, and so on).
After the second set of stretch and folds, place the covered bulk container into the refrigerator; chilling the dough for 1-2 hours in the fridge will make shaping much, much easier.
Here’s where the flexibility I mentioned earlier comes into play. You can let the dough chill in the fridge for 2 hours like I typically do, or you could leave it in the fridge overnight and shape the buns early in the morning to bake the next day.
4. Divide & Shape – 12:45 p.m.
There’s no need to preshape this dough because we’re shaping it directly into small balls for final proofing. Prepare a full-sized baking sheet and another half sheet by lining them with parchment paper.
Remove the dough from the fridge and gently dump it to a lightly floured work surface. Using a scale and bench knife, divide the dough into 10 pieces. Then, using lightly floured hands, shape each piece into a taught ball.
I find shaping these to be very similar to how I shape pizza dough balls, but another method is to use a single hand and cup the dough ball down against the work surface. Then, move your hand in a small circle slightly pressing down on the dough as it moves around and slightly anchors to the bench (see above). Alternatively, you could shape each ball like you would a boule. Either way, be sure the dough has a fairly taut surface.
For more shaping instruction, see my guide page to shaping buns and rolls.
Once a ball is shaped, place it on the baking sheet so each is spaced out by 3″-4” or so. Using your hand gently flatten out each ball so they increase in diameter just a bit.
Cover the baking sheet with plastic to proof on the counter. I use these large plastic liners to cover my proofing baking sheets, they are even large enough to fit a full-sized baking sheet inside.
5. Proof – 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Covered and on the counter at about 73-76ºF (22-24°C), these trays of dough should proof for about 2.5 hours.
6. Bake – Preheat oven at 2:30 p.m., Bake at 3:30 p.m.
Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C).
Make an egg wash by whisking a whole egg and a splash of heavy cream or whole milk. When the dough is ready to be baked, uncover the trays and paint on the egg wash with a pastry brush.
I mixed together 50% white sesame seeds and 50% poppy seeds for the topping of each bun. After the egg wash is applied spread some seeds on top as desired.
You don’t need to bake these on a pizza stone or Baking Steel, they’ll bake right on their own baking sheet. Because these brioche hamburger buns are topped with an egg wash, there is no need to steam the oven.
Slide in the baking sheets and bake the buns for 25 minutes. After the first 15 minutes rotate the trays, front to back, and top to bottom. Do keep an eye on these near the end, they may need more or less time depending on your oven.
Once baked, remove from the oven and let the buns cool on wire racks.
Conclusion
As I mentioned earlier, this was the perfect storm of motivation for me to finalize this brioche hamburger buns recipe and grill some hamburgers: the creation of a fermented relish, a holiday weekend approaching, homemade pickles in the fridge, and the pièce de résistance: homemade brioche hamburger buns.
For my hamburger, I sliced each bun in half and spread on some butter before placing them crumb side down on the grill for a few minutes to get nice and crispy. I mixed up some grass-fed beef with a dash of salt and sriracha and grilled each to medium. Then the burgers were topped with my Katz-fermented relish, homemade pickles, avocado, ketchup, and finally enrobed in the grilled buns. Mighty, mighty tasty indeed.
Crust & Crumb
The crust on these brioche hamburger buns is crispy but not tough or unduly firm. There’s nothing more off-putting for me than a hamburger bun that’s totally soft and mushy; I want some texture! Happy to say these definitely do deliver, and grilling them for a few minutes with butter further amplifies this.
I like seeds as a topping for these, not only for the added splash of flavor but they add a desirable texture to the top. If you don’t like seeds or prefer a different type, by all means, omit or change the toppings to suit.
The interior is soft and open with a wonderful yellow tint from the white whole wheat flour and rich butter. You definitely don’t want the interior of these to be too open, but even, full fermentation is key to a light and airy bun. No dense spots and no gaping holes—the middle road.
Taste
With this same-day brioche hamburger bun dough, there’s just a hint of sourness. The added acidity brings additional flavor but is not overwhelming. The buns add subtle wheat and butter flavor to the overall hamburger, which is just what I wanted: a bun that brings more flavor to the stage without overpowering the other ingredients—a well-tuned concert of flavors and textures. And I think the added flavor from Mr. Katz’s well-fermented condiment just pushed these over the top into crazy good territory.
What’s Next?
If something better exists for a weekend by the grill, I might not want to hear about it. These brioche hamburger buns and burgers were heaven, and I’m looking to do a repeat in the next few days. I can now safely say this formula finalizes my question of how to make buns at home.
If you’re looking for another option, check out my sourdough potato hamburger buns, or if you’re making hot dogs, my homemade hot dog buns.
Nice buns ya got there! Had to say it—buon appetito!
If you use this recipe, tag @maurizio on Instagram so I can take a look!
306 Comments
I would go with a white flour starter, since you have it (for reduced potential acidity/sourness).
Maurizio, can I split this recipe in 2 days of preparation? For example leave it to fermentate in the fridge overnight (step 3)? If so, I should divide the buns after the proof inside the fridge, right?
Thanks!
Hey! Yes, you can absolutely do that. You could either place them in the fridge after a few hours of bulk on the counter (that way they get a “head start” on fermenting before you cool them) or you could go all the way to the point where you shape them and place the trays with shaped buns in the fridge overnight. If you do a “cold bulk” the next day take the container out, divide the dough, shape it and proof on the counter on trays. Make sure you proof the dough long enough so they’re puffy and when you gently poke them they’ll slowly spring back (or stay slightly indented).
Both will work well!
Great! I have both plain flour and whole wheat starters, which one should I go for the brioche?
Thank you. I can still look forward to your panettone experiment tho.
Indeed — I’ll definitely be working on that sometime soon!
I’m not positive what the exact diameter will end up as, it depends on a few factors (including how tightly you shape them). Mine always end up larger than 3″, though. Is it possible the dough was mixed too long or they were shaped overly tight and didn’t have enough time to relax? By the end of the proof they should spread wide enough to where you want them. If you need them to spread more, shape more loosely or mix a little less next time and see if that helps.
It’s also possible if you didn’t have enough steam in the oven that they hardened off before fully relaxing and expanding.
Hope that helps!
Hi Maurizio, I love hot cross buns. Could I use this recipe? If so when would be the best time to add the fruit and spices?
Love your enthusiasm.
Unfortunately I’m not very familiar with hot cross buns! I’ve actually never had one. Sorry about that, I can’t say whether these are close or not 🙂
Greetings – First, thanks so much for the recipe and the detailed instructions. What is the typical finished diameter that you normally get with these? Mine looked about the same size as yours when shaped, about 2 inches. However, after baking they’re no more than 3 inches in diameter. I didn’t get a good rise, as I have yet to get good steam in my oven (I’ve tried it all, including your methods – just need more practice), so I’m guessing this is also why I didn’t get a reasonable diameter. Thoughts?
Hey there! Just trying this recipe and halved all the ingredients for 5 buns. The dough has been fermenting for 30 mins and I am trying the first stretch and fold. It is much too moist and simply sticks to everything. I followed the instructions exactly. Should I be cooling the dough to stiffen the butter or adding flour to reduce the moisture? … Thanks!
If you’re still in the mixing stage and haven’t started bulk you could add some flour in to make the mixture more stiff. I don’t like to add flour in through bulk as there’s a chance raw flour could make it to the end, but also it might not be strengthened at the same level as the rest of the dough. You might want to add in several more sets of stretch and folds, perhaps even dump the dough out and do a few “slap and folds” on the counter (intensive kneading) to bring more strength to the dough. The dough won’t be cooled at the mixing stage, that comes later!
Hi. I’m just wondering, with all your enthusiasm for fermented bread, if you have ever attempted making salt rising bread. It is a wonderful, nearly lost, bread tradition.
Hey, Susan! I have actually never heard of this method. I’m going to have to look it up and do some investigating!
Hei Maurizio, I made this hamburger bread, they were excellent in taste, but they ended up maybe too compact. and of course a bit heavy. What do you think it could have happened? Thanks
My guess would be insufficient fermentation and rise, or it could be the opposite: over proofed dough. Hard to say without more details but keep an eye on the way the dough is developing and make sure it’s well fermented and risen by the time you bake!
Kenji from Serious Eats substitutes the butter and milk in his Cemitas (pretty close to these brioche) with heavy cream. As the fat in the cream is already in an emulsion, he doesn’t have the problem of the butter inhibiting gluten formation. Do you have any opinion on this? I’m especially interested, as I don’t have a mixer and would this have to do it by hand, and could thus incorporate the fat without a mixer.
That’s a very interesting idea, assuming the dough would absorb the heavy cream without any issue (shouldn’t be a problem). I do wonder if there would be any taste difference at all…
I’d say this is worth an experiment! Some readers have said they too don’t have a mixer, this could be a really good solution to this issue.
I am interesting in this. Let me know How it did go. (^.^)
If I’m not using a starter, how much dry active yeast would you recommend for this recipe? Also, I’m fairly new to starters, what do you mean by 100% hydration? Thanks!
Hey, Mitt! Honestly I don’t know what to recommend with ADY since I’ve only ever made this 100% naturally leavened. You’d have to experiment or use a bread recipe as comparison and then adjust during the bake and refine through testing. 100% hydration means the starter has equal weight of flour and water. Happy baking!
Awesome… thanks for your help. Love the site!
Have you baked this dough as a loaf? Would you make one large or two smaller loaves? Thinking delicious toast and brioche New Years bread pudding. Thanks. Love your site and recipes. So inspiring!
This recipe would work super well in a loaf pan! I haven’t tried this but I’m positive it would work out very well. I’ll have to give that a try 🙂 Thanks and Happy New Year!
Glad I caught this! That was my first thought, I want to try this as a loaf for sandwiches!
It’s Christmas Eve in Australia and these buns have just popped out of the oven. That buttery aroma is gorgeous, and the beautifully browned tops! Great recipe. I went for a retarded ferment to save he buns from the ambient temp of somewhere in the 30*Cs.
Super glad to hear they turned out well! I’ve been baking too many other things to do this for Christmas this year, but I’ll be doing them a few days after! Happy holidays 🙂
hello there..baked mine today yet the first batch burned only 20 minutes baking the second batch got too dark after only 16.5 minutes also cracked bottom..any suggestion?
Ahh, bummer! I’d suggest you reduce the temperatures I have listed here by 25-50°F the next try. Each oven, and environment, is different and sometimes requires modifications.
These buns have never come close to burning, nor cracking, in my oven. Have you ensured the temp in your oven is what’s set? Sometimes they deviate over time!
as per recipe preheat at 475 n baked at 450..I think my oven is no good…will try to lower the temperature next time..do you think they cracked because of high temperature? Thankful as usual
I’ve never seen cracking — perhaps it was a lack of steam? If it was more like a “rupture” it could be lack of steam or also slightly under proofed. Just some guesses!
Hi Maurizio and Nicolas,
I’ve just baked a set of 5 (fisrt time doing this recipe) and I had the same problem (2 of them cracked).
In those 2, the egg wash didn’t have milk (an experience). Other wise, the 3 whith egg wash + milk ended up great.
I also didn’t put too much steam, which I think was a problem.
Thanks for the tips!!
Take care!
Thanks for those tips, Thomas!
Hi Maurizio!
I’ve just discovered your website a few days ago and I’m enjoying it a lot, so much that I decided to make these buns yesterday for today’s ‘barbie’ :-D. I made the dough yesterday, mixed organic white flour with manitoba, to add some strength, and also wholemeal. I did 1.5 the quantity (we were quite a lot!) and after mixing in the KA I couldn’t help a bit of Bertinet kneading, to feel the dough and really get the texture I felt confortable with. I let the dough on the fridge during the night and took it out early, let it get some temperature for one hour and then sized 16 100g buns. Let them raise for 3 hours, painted with egg, some white and black sesame seeds and to the oven in two batches. They came out beautifully, incredible how you can see them raise inside the oven (I had my doubts, since they hadn’t raised quite much during the 3 previous hours). Crumb was just as in your photos, not too thick and not very open, perfect to hold the burger. Flavour excellent, A real success!! Thanks a lot for the recipe and for the clear steps that make so easy to follow it.
Emma — fantastic! Your process sounds right on, and yes, sometimes it seems like there’s not much going on in the fridge but you’ll still almost always get a nice rise in the morning (plus more flavor and crust coloring). Thanks for the feedback and here’s to more future bakes!
Have you tried freezing them?
Any ideas for a vegan approach?
Maurizio I am in love with the spelt sourdough recipe! I still figuring out what’s the sweet spot for whole grains and white flour with the brands over here in Germany but man it’s the best bread I had in my life anyway!
I appreciate your artwork of baking and sharing it so beautifully! Grateful regards
Hey, Carl! I have not personally tried freezing the dough. I have a feeling it would work, though, as brioche dough is pretty forgiving. I’m not very experienced with vegan substitutes but you could try omitting the butter and using olive oil instead. Of course it’d have a different flavor, but it might just work.
Really happy to hear you’re enjoying my spelt recipe! It’s also one of my favorites — I really believe spelt (along with kamut) will always be stocked over here 🙂
Thanks for the comments and happy baking, Carl!
Hi Carl! I made these today with homemade cashew milk (unstrained) and vegan butter. I still used eggs but that at least gets you part of the way there and they turned out fantastic. Beautiful rise, crumb, flavor, texture. I did even swaps of the amounts. Good luck! Let me know if you come up with a good egg substitute.
How long have you pushed the cold retard? I’d like to make these for an event, but I would need to bake them the next day when I get home from work. So about 20 hours after putting the dough together…excited to try them though!
I haven’t pushed it that far, but it’s definitely possible. You could try cutting back the warm bulk fermentation on the counter by 30 minutes or 1 hour, this would give the dough more “life” in the fridge to last longer before taking it out to finish the rest of the process.
Happy baking and enjoy!
Brioche has a minimum butter to flour content of 40%, if not it’s pain brioché.
Thanks for that info! Technically this wouldn’t be strict brioche, then, but perhaps it’s close enough 🙂
Maurizio, thank you so much for the bun recipe. Your detailed instructions helped me to make the buns perfectly. We ate buns while they were still warm; they are SO much better than anything store bought. I think your method of adding the butter one pat at a time while they are still cool enough to be solid, is what made the recipe work so well. I look forward to serving these to guests next. 🙂
Lynne, thanks so much for the feedback, I’m glad they worked out so well! I totally agree, these blow store bought buns out of the water, they’re not even comparable. Thanks again and happy baking!
Thank you for another out of bounds recipe. These were the star of the cookout! Everyone loved them. I appreciate your dedication to the website. I imagine it takes much time and energy in order to share your amazing recipes – not just recipes – your passion. The community you’ve created is rich and greatly valued. Thank you.
You’re very welcome, Rita! I’m pleased to hear they turned out so well for you — they’ve become a staple around here.
I’ve met some incredible people through this site and I love the community and sharing nature it seems every baker has that stops by — it’s been an awesome journey. Here’s to the future!
Hi Maurizio,
Your recipes are always fantastic! I made this for the holiday and they were a huge hit. Perfect toasted on the grill. They also made good sandwiches using leftover egg salad.
I have a question about the type of starter. Does it matter whether I use a whole wheat or white flour starter for any given recipe? Having recently acquired a white flour starter, I leave them to ferment side by side and surprisingly, the white flour one seems to ferment faster and bubble more vigorously. It also seems to be more liquid than the WW, does this have anything to do with the flour weight? I feed them each 50 g flour and 50 g water every time.
Thank you for having a wonderful site to learn from and admire.
Awesome Alex, super glad to hear that! Thanks so much for the kind words.
There are differences to maintaining starters with varying flour types/ratios. The whole wheat starter should ripen quicker than the white flour variety due to the increased nutrition in whole grains, however, they will each vary visually in their fermentation. Typically a whole wheat starter won’t rise as high as a white one in a similar fashion to why whole wheat bread doesn’t rise as high as a bread made with predominantly white flour. The amount of hydration in the culture will also cause visual differences between the two (also keep in mind if you use the same amount of water the WW starter will absorb quite a bit more and will be more stiff, therefore won’t be as “frothy” on top).
Hope this helps and happy baking!
Thanks for being such a knowledgable resource!
I’m thinking of converting the whole wheat to a 65% stiff starter, but how would you adjust the recipe that calls for a liquid starter? Would the levain build formula (for other breads, not the brioche) still be 100-100? Or 100-65? If so, then would i adjust the recipe to accomodate the 35 grams of water?
You’re very welcome 🙂 If you were making a levain, yes, you’d adjust the levain build to use less water (65g water, 100g flour, mature starter at some percentage) and then compensate for that lack of water in the final mix by adding in what’s missing. That’s it!
For this recipe I don’t really build a levain, I just use some of my starter, but you could definitely do so if you’d like or schedule necessitates it.
Congrats! Beautiful and perfect as usual. People keep asking me for bread rolls but I think I will be in trouble if I say “I do”… this post may inspire me.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much Ana! These would be perfect bread rolls 🙂 Happy baking!
Wow, these brioche buns are fantastic. Your recipe is easy to follow. I did the fermentation in the fridge because of time constraints. Thanks for the tip about the oven. Mine is running a bit hot so I had to watch them during the last 10 min.
A hand made burger with all the trimmings and the brioche buns- I’m in heaven.
Thanks for your recipe and your web site is great.
Tee, thanks I appreciate that! I agree, these take that burger to the next level. You’re welcome and happy baking!
Just made these today and I love it! My son asked for seconds so that was awesome. I didn’t have a mixer so mixing by hand was truly tricky. But it was worth it. Like that it can bulk ferment in the fridge as I had to run some errands and ended up leaving them in the fridge for 6+ hours instead of 2 hours. Will definitely make these again.
Super, super glad to hear that! The dough is so flexible, and that’s one of the really nice things about it. Happy they turned out well — happy baking!
Thanks Maurizio! I made these today, with some modifications. I can’t digest dairy, so I subbed coconut milk for the whole milk, and Smart Balance spread for the butter. I also used Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour for the 40% whole wheat portion. I suspect the BRM uses a soft wheat berry for that flour instead of a hard wheat, so I was concerned the dough might not have enough strength. It seemed to work though. Shaping was very tricky, I had to be a little more deliberate and generous with the bench flour, but I was able to shape them up using the bench knife to push them around on an unfloured wood board (sprinkled flour on the bench knife to get it to release from the dough ball). End result: smashing success. They were the hit of the grillout today!
Hey, Matt — love the substitutions! Gad to hear that the buns turned out awesome for you. I always say the best part of a grill-out is not always the stuff on the grill but the bread that accompanies the meal. Maybe I’m just biased 🙂
Thanks for sharing and here’s to more awesome bakes!
Great Job! I can’t wait to make these tomorrow. I love the print options..
Awesome! Happy baking and have a great holiday weekend 🙂
So, made these today… unfortunately I did not get much of a rise.
I only baked 1/2 of the dough today, and the other half is in the fridge. I will try again tomorrow.
Ah, sorry to hear that! Very curious, I’ve made this many times and haven’t had issues with rise, even with the whole wheat. Any indication if the dough might have been under or, more possibly, over proofed? Here’s hoping for better performance on the next batch!
It was all me. Todays bake was a much better. What a difference a day makes.
Luckily I had divided the dough in half to save and bake the next day. (Today)
Patience patience patience- not my best virtue, what a huge difference! Solution distract myself!!!
I took the dough out of the fridge at 4:30 am, went for a bike ride at 6:30, returned at 9:30 and proof it did! The dough was soft and tacky but easy to work with, and an hour later they supported each other and rose nicely in the oven. Soft and nicely browned I have no doubt they will be delicious!
Ha ha, yes patience is almost mandatory with baking 🙂 I have trouble myself sometimes, though — totally normal! Really glad to hear they worked out well for ya!
Awesome! The summer of grilling has just begun over here 🙂
math math math
if the total weight of the dough is 1200 grams how do you get 12 buns at 120 grams each? that would requiew 1440 grams of dough!
I got that far and read no further yet.
Thanks for catching that, Joe! @odd_rain:disqus also spotted my typo–I’ve fixed it. It should be 10 buns @ 120g each for a total dough weight of 1200g.
Happy baking!
They are absolutely wonderful Maurizio, can’t wait to making theses Brioche Humbuger Buns, P.S. on the ingredients list it says (liquid levain ) and in one of your sentences it says (sourdough starter ) ??😯 which one is it so I can format the recipe and print it😯
Thanks, Rosa! Also, thanks for catching that, it should just be starter and not levain — I’ll make the correction. Happy baking!
Thank you Maurizio for fixing that and I also see that on the dividing and shaping section on the second sentence you still have 12 pieces it should say cut in 10 pieces I’m sorry but I did see it thought I’d just let you know.😉
Thanks!!
Might make this but use it for brat buns! My go-to Summer barbeque fave!
I like that idea as well!
Also, you ask for four eggs, and their combined weight is 185 grams. My eggs weigh closer to 60 grams per, so is the number of eggs more important than their weight? One more of my eggs changes the hydration of the dough…or is one of the eggs for the egg wash, and only three eggs are used in the dough?
Yes, eggs are a tricky thing as each one has a different weight and thus will impart a different hydration on the dough. Four of my eggs came out to just about 185g, but I would just go with 4 eggs and if they weigh less than 185g know you might need a touch more milk to make up the difference. I’d hold back the milk, though, and see how the dough comes together, adding it in if it looks like it could use it.
I’d like to know how you propose to get twelve 120 gram buns from a dough weight of 1200 grams (actually
1199 grams, according to your ingredients)?
Oops, thanks for catching that typo! Should be 10 buns @ 120g each with a total dough weight of 1200g. Regarding the 1199g total, there will be small numerical errors in the listed quantities as I didn’t bring everything out to the second and third decimal point from my spreadsheet and instead rounded up, or down, where appropriate.
Thanks again and happy baking!
This is frickin perfect Maurizio! I’ve been looking for a good brioche bun recipe for like 6 months and I coudn’t think of a better venue for one…. Thank you!!
Thanks, Shawn! I really like the whole wheat flour in these, but of course you could use just about any combination of flour as well. Happy baking!
Wow! Can´t wait to try these, I know they will be excellent 🙂
Thanks Allison, I hope you like them!