Do you ever have one of those nights when a burger sounds so good, but you don’t have any buns on hand? Or what about when you do make it to the store, but every single burger bun variety contains whey, casein, milk, or cheese? Problem solved. These Homemade Wheat Hamburger Buns are insanely fast to whip up (literally 40 minutes from start to slicing), because they do not require any rising time (just a few minutes of rest).
Homemade Wheat Hamburger Buns that Are Ready in Just 40 Minutes
I originally posted this speedy wheat hamburger buns recipe more than a decade ago. It’s since circulated quite a bit, and I’ve tested it countless times over the years. As a result, I’ve updated the recipe with more options and included it in the 2nd edition of Go Dairy Free: The Ultimate Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living.
Go Dairy Free is all about making the transition easy and delicious, but it also contains many recipes that you will use as a veteran dairy-free diner. In fact, there are over 250 recipes, ranging from homemade dairy substitutes, to any day meals, to baked goodies (enough to start your own bakery!).
Recipe Tips for Making the Perfect Speedy Wheat Hamburger Buns
Choosing the Right Flour: For the best results, I use part white all-purpose flour, part wheat flour. This gives you some of the whole grain goodness, but keeps the texture from being too dense. You can use all white flour, which will produce even softer and fluffier buns. But if you opt to go all whole wheat, I recommend adding some vital wheat gluten, about 3 tablespoons, for the best results. Without it, the buns can be too dense. If you need gluten-free, I recommend my Skinny Gluten-Free Hamburger Buns Recipe.
Sweet Adjustments: If needed, you can reduce the sweetener to 2 or 3 tablespoons without drastically affecting the results. You can pretty much use any sweetener – the two listed are just the ones that we prefer for this recipe.
You Can Let it Rise: If you prefer fluffier, traditionally risen buns, you can reduce the yeast to 1 tablespoon and cover the dough after step 4 and let it rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Then let the buns rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour in step 5, or until doubled in size.
Make Sure Your Yeast is Active: The leading cause of under-risen buns is inactive yeast. Make sure you test it as noted in the recipe before committing all of your ingredients. Once open, still active yeast can be stored in the freezer to preserve it. If you use frozen yeast, it might not bubble or foam, even if it is active. But it will still give you good results. If you are sure your yeast is active, you can skip the 5 minute proofing, making this recipe even faster!
Reader Raves for My Quick & Easy Homemade Wheat Hamburger Buns
When I first shared this recipe eons ago, it was on my old blog. Over the years, it became so popular that more than a hundred people came back to comment how much they loved it. We are fully transitioning all posts from that blog to here, which means that feedback will be lost. But here are a few of the comments, randomly selected, to give you the gist.
These are great and easy! I’ve recently gone dairy and soy free after realizing that the dairy and soy in my diet was making my nursing 2 month old daughter miserable (and in turn making the rest of us miserable). It’s daunting to figure out how to cut out dairy and soy but these buns fit the bill and saved me for the 4th of July BBQ. Thanks! ~ Danica
I googled “homemade hamburger buns” and found this recipe. I just tried it – and it is fantastic! I don’t know why I’m surprised… I bake two loaves of bread a week using the recipe from your cookbook! I should have known better! ~ Heather B
Excellent recipe! I used the ener g egg replacer and they came out wonderfully. My vegan daughter and son-in-law scarfed them down, and she hates whole wheat anything. ~ Carolsue Hill
Just love your recipe! My daughter is allergic to sesame seeds and it is impossible to find store-bought buns that are undoubtedly safe for her. My family raves about these buns and I will never use another bun again!!! Thank you for making my daughter so happy now that she can have a bun with her burger just like everyone else – really, even better! I am one happy mom and very grateful! ~ DE Ladden
Just found this recipe today, took me 30 min total prep and cook time, and they are great! I did not have to leave the house to get buns for the 3 burger patties warming up for our lunch. Seriously, it was so easy and turned out so well. I will think twice before I buy buns again. ~ J L
These are wonderful, but I just want to say thank you so much. Let me explain. The veggie burgers for which these were earmarked did not turn out, so I ended up eating one of these little buns uncut as a dinner roll and it almost brought me to tears. My grandmother used to make the BEST yeast rolls and when she passed seven years ago the recipe died forever with her. Or so I thought. I could have sworn I was eating one of her rolls last night and it brought back such happy memories. Soooo happy to have found this. By the way, used a flax egg to make it vegan and whole wheat pastry flour because it tends to sub better for all purpose 🙂 ~ Brandie Rushing
And a special thank you to The Leaf, who featured Go Dairy Free on their list of 22 Healthy Living Bloggers You Need to Be Following. We do our best!
Special Diet Notes: Homemade Wheat Hamburger Buns
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, optionally egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, optionally vegan, and vegetarian.
- 1 cup warm water (about 105ºF)
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast (reduce to 1½ tablespoons above 4,000 feet)
- ⅓ cup grapeseed, olive, or rice bran oil
- ¼ cup cane sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 egg (see Vegan Option below for egg free)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour or white bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ to 1¾ cups whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Put the warm water in a large bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes to proof and ensure the yeast is active. It should bubble or foam. If it doesn't your yeast might be inactive. Start again with fresh yeast.
- Add the oil, sugar, and egg to the yeast mixture and whisk to combine. Add the all-purpose or bread flour and salt and stir to combine. Gradually stir in the wheat flour, as needed, until soft dough forms. Bring the dough together with your hands when it becomes too thick to stir. It should be slightly tacky, but should not stick to your hands.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
- Divide the dough equally into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a round and place them on your prepared baking sheet. Lightly cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest while your oven preheats (about 10 to 15 minutes).
- Preheat your oven to 425ºF.
- Gently remove the plastic wrap and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden.
- Let cool on the baking sheet or a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or individually wrap and freeze to enjoy later.
For More of My Easy Recipes, Get Go Dairy Free!
37 Comments
Thanks so much for the recipe, Alisa! I just made them and they turned out great!! I used agave nectar instead of sugar and topped mine with sesame seeds. They were perfect!! 🙂
Just wanted to let you know I use this recipe all the time! Not only for hamburger buns, but I make hot dog buns with them too! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Just tasted one from my batch. It was still warm and so delicious! Can’t wait to have turkey burgers tonight. Thank you for such a quick, yummy recipe. The only thing I did different was use honey instead of sugar.
Great recipe – I rolled them into ropes and made hotdog buns. I also had no white flour, so I used a mixture of what I had – WW graham flour, WW bread four and some leftover spelt flour. They worked great! Even my husband, who frankly misses our pre food sensitiviy days and would kill for a box of Kraft mac n cheese, loved them. Thanks for the recipe!
Wow, incredible! I didn’t have an egg so I subbed 2T water + 2T oil + 1tsp baking powder. I guess it worked fine. I’m very proud of my buns. LOL Thanks!
Thank you for sharing your egg sub Val! Glad you are enjoying the recipe.
very nice recipe! I cut the sugar in half. Put dried oregano and dried cumin! when the bun was ready cut it in half and brush the inside with rosemary olive oil and back to the oven!
I just tried these – i was in a pinch it was lunchtime and i had no rolls. i typed in my search on google, found this recipe and we are having them right now! DELICIOUS. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!