I’ve lost count of how many of you asked for this burger bun recipe. Let’s not leave anyone disappointed… Here it is: potato butter burger buns!
The short answer
A burger bun made with 800 g of bread flour, 300 g of boiled, mashed potato and 200 g of butter, giving you 16 buns of 90 g. With active dry yeast it takes about 3½ hours, and bakes in 19 minutes at 200 °C, no fan. If you’re baking burger buns at home for the first time, this is the one I recommend first in The Burger Handbook.
Recipe
Potato Butter Burger Buns
- Prep3½ hr
- Cook19 min · 200°C, no fan
- Makes16 buns, 90 g each
- Difficulty3/5
Ingredients
- 1 medium potato
- 800 g white bread flour
- 10 g active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 200 g butter, at room temperature
- 172 g lukewarm water, 37°C
- 3 + 1 yolk eggs, at room temperature
- 2 heaped tsp salt
- 30 g extra virgin olive oil, for greasing the bowl
- 200 ml water, for the clay dish in the oven
Equipment
Stand mixer, plastic wrap, kitchen scale, baking tray, baking paper, brush, small bowl, 250 ml clay dish
Method
- Boil the potato, then peel, grate and mash it until smooth, and let it cool (300 g).
- Put the yeast, lukewarm water (172 g) and 100 g of the flour in the mixer bowl and whisk on low speed for 10 seconds. Cover with plastic wrap and wait 20 minutes. If you see no bubbles, the yeast isn’t working: start again.
- With the mixer running, add 1 egg and 1 yolk, the sugar, the butter, the potato and 400 g of flour, a spoonful at a time.
- Mix on low speed for 3 minutes, then, at the same speed, add the rest of the flour and the salt, a spoonful at a time.
- Mix on low-medium speed for 5 minutes.
- Bring the dough together by hand on an unfloured counter. Oil the bowl, put the dough back, cover and leave for 1–2 hours, until doubled.
- Divide into 90 g portions, roll each into a smooth ball under your palm and set them on a lined tray. Wait 1 hour, until they’ve grown 1½ to 2 times.
- Heat the empty oven to 200°C, no fan, with the clay dish of water on the oven floor.
- Beat 2 eggs and brush them over the buns; add sesame seeds if you like.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 19 minutes; keep an eye on them from minute 15.
- Let the buns cool completely, about 2 hours.
Using a different yeast
The recipe calls for 10 g of active dry yeast (1 packet). Going by my yeast conversion table:
- Fresh yeast: 20 g. Dissolve it in the lukewarm water and carry on as written.
- Instant yeast: 7.5 g. Instant is a little stronger than active dry, so use a quarter less.
- Sourdough starter: doesn’t convert this way; switch to my sourdough burger bun recipe instead.
You mix the yeast, water and 100 g of flour and wait 20 minutes. No bubbles means the yeast isn’t working; start again before you waste the dough.
Tips
- The potato should be smooth and completely cool; hot potato is bad news for both the yeast and the butter.
- Butter and eggs at room temperature. Add everything to the mixer a spoonful at a time, on low speed.
- Bring the dough together on an unfloured counter; don’t add flour.
- Two rises: first in the bowl until doubled (1–2 hours), then as 90 g balls on the tray until 1½ to 2 times bigger (1 hour).
- Put a clay dish of water on the oven floor for steam.
- They bake for 19 minutes, but watch them from minute 15.
- Let them cool completely before slicing: 2 hours.
What the potato and butter do
Potato starch holds on to water, so the bun is softer and stales more slowly. Butter and egg enrich the dough, keeping the crust thin and the crumb tender.
Which burger bun?
The burger buns on this site, going by their recipe cards:
| Bun | Yeast | What sets it apart | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potato butter | 10 g active dry | Boiled potato, 200 g butter | 16 × 90 g |
| Brioche | 5 g instant | Milk, egg, melted butter, 40 g sugar | 7 × 100 g |
| Japanese milk bread | 15 g active dry | Tangzhong: flour cooked in milk | 7 × 95 g |
| Sourdough | 145 g sourdough starter | Yellow wheat (sarı buğday) flour, olive oil | 5 × 100 g |
| Pretzel | 3 g instant | Baking soda, 210 °C | 5 × 97 g |
| Bao | 4.5 g instant | Steamed for 8 min, not baked | 7 bao |
For a crowd, the potato butter bun gives you 16; for something sweeter and richer, brioche; to try the tangzhong method, the Japanese milk bun.
Keep reading and listening
- The Burger Handbook: buns, patties, cheese and sauces in one place
- Fresh, active dry and instant yeast: conversion table
- How to make a burger patty
- Melting burger cheese sauce
- Caramelized onions
- Burgers on our podcast YBYK (in Turkish): episode 9, Burger 101
