Mini Hamburger Buns

Aren’t they the cutest things?

3 cups bread flour, divided use
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast, or SAF instant yeast (for a discussion of yeasts, click here)
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, at room temperature
Cooking spray for bowl, or a bit of oil
1 egg, beaten with a bit of milk or cream, for brushing
1 tablespoon celery or poppy seeds (Half of the buns I used celery, the other half poppy.)

In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of flour with the yeast. Add in milk, butter, sugar and salt and mix lightly. In a small bowl, beat egg and add to the flour-milk mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon or mixer paddle just until combined. Cover and let rest for 1 hour at room temperature (ideally 70-75 degrees). Inside your oven with the light turned on is perfect.

If using a mixer, attach bowl, turn on machine and add the rest of the flour. Alternatively, knead in additional flour with your hands. Do this for 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Be careful not to add too much flour or you will end up with dense, heavy buns and no one wants those!

Spray bowl or brush lightly with oil. Form dough into a ball and let rise at room temperature (or again, in your turned-off oven), covered, until doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Divide dough into 18 equally-sized pieces (a scale is helpful here). Shape into rolls: cup your hand with a dough piece underneath and roll it against your work surface, moving your hand in a circle, until it is tightly round. Bernard Clayton includes instructions for flattening the buns, so if you like the traditional shape, you’ll want to press them into a flattened circle. Arrange on a baking sheet, 2 1/2 inches apart, and let rise a third time until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Brush buns with the egg-cream mixture and sprinkle with a few poppy or celery seeds. Bake in the center of the oven until golden, about 20 minutes. (Mine turned out a nice golden brown, but I’d prefer them to be lighter, so next time I make these I’ll bring down the temp to 400 degrees F.

Remove from oven and transfer to a rack. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Adapted from

What to serve with these? Why, mini burgers, of course! I’ve left these plain because my kids don’t like anything on them. But oooh, a slather of mustard and some mayo….