everyday buns
soft, light, and slightly sweet rolls that work for anything your heart desires
Let’s keep this short. These rolls can do it all.
Whether you’re looking for a burger bun, a kaiser roll, or just a standard dinner roll, this recipe has you covered. It’s lighter than brioche, less sweet than Japanese milk bread, and more flavorful than a dinner roll, but feels like a hybrid of them all in the best way.
Let’s get it.
Things To Know
Makes: 8 large rolls, or 16 slider buns
Takes: About 3 hours, but most of that time is hands-off
Ingredients
515g all-purpose flour
95g granulated sugar
10g instant yeast
10g kosher salt
70g egg whites (about 2 large; you can use the yolk, but they’re lighter if you don’t)
70g water, room temp
170g milk, 2% or whole
60g butter, melted and cooled a bit
Instructions
Combine all dry ingredients, flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and egg whites, in a mixing bowl. A stand mixer works best, but you can literally use your hands. Rules are made up.
Slowly add the water with your mixer on low, and allow a shaggy dough to form; this takes about a minute or two in a stand mixer. Once the water is incorporated and the gluten starts to develop, slowly add the milk and mix for about another minute.
Slowly add the melted butter until it’s incorporated. It’ll slosh around a bit, don’t fear. It’ll eventually work itself in. I usually run the mixer on low for about 3-5 minutes at this point to ensure the flour is evenly hydrated.
Cover and allow to rise for about 1.5-2 hours, until it doubles in size. This first rise is the most important. I like to put mine in the oven with the light on, because it’s warm and cozy in there.
Remove the dough from the bowl, and divide evenly into 8 or 16 portions; they should weigh somewhere between 50-100g each depending on what you’re after, just make sure they’re all the same. Using the palm of your hand and applying slight pressure onto your counter, roll them into balls and place on a parchment lined 9x13 baking sheet. Cover loosely with clear wrap or a wet towel for 30 minutes at room temp.
Make an eggwash using one egg and a splash of milk. Brush the top of the buns to give them a nice golden color.
Heat your oven to 350° and allow to bake on the middle rack for 18-22 minutes.
Note: if you’re looking to make Kaiser rolls, you can see how I rolled them in my YouTube short. They’re really cool looking!
Let me know how they turn out, and follow me on Instagram and YouTube.