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Give your sandwiches and burgers that special homemade touch! Soft, fluffy, and perfectly chewy, these fresh milled flour hamburger buns are a great wholesome addition to a meal.
Summer barbeque season is almost upon us!
But really, there isn’t a bad time to enjoy a homemade brisket hamburger or sandwich. Especially with a freshly milled flour bun!
These buns make the perfect sandwich bread, hamburger buns, or rolls for barbecue meat.
You’ll have fun making a store-bought staple at home with simple ingredients!
And the best part? These are actually made with 100% freshly milled flour! And they taste amazing!
Seriously, who thought more wholesome recipes couldn’t taste good, too? between these hamburger buns and my freshly milled Hawaiian rolls, I think I won’t ever need to buy these again!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s so rewarding to make your own bread products rather than purchasing them at the store. Plus, homemade buns taste so much better.
- These freshly milled flour buns are made with just a few simple ingredients. You can raid your pantry and fridge, and have them ready in no time!
- Homemade buns are a lovely addition to so many meals. You can use them for sandwiches or burgers, or even serve them as a soft and fluffy dinner roll.
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour: I use freshly milled hard white wheat berries. You can also purchase whole wheat flour in the baking aisle.
- Yeast: Active dry yeast gives these buns their pillowy rise.
- Salt
- Warm water
- Honey: Honey activates the yeast and gives these buns the lightly sweet flavor we all know and love.
- Oil: Any neutral vegetable oil will work! I like to use avocado oil.
- Egg: You’ll need one for the dough and one for an egg wash. Milk can be used instead of an egg wash with similar results.
- Topping: I like to top my buns with an egg wash and sesame seeds. You can also keep it simple with just an egg wash or substitute sunflower seeds, everything seasoning, or dried onions for the sesame seeds.
How to Make Buns With Fresh Milled Flour
Step 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the whole wheat flour, salt, and yeast. Give it a quick stir and set it aside.
Step 2. In a small saucepan, warm the water over low heat to about 110°F. Stir in the honey.
Step 3. Pour the warm water into the flour mixture, then add the egg and oil. Mix well with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together. It’s going to be pretty sticky, but don’t be tempted to add any more flour.
Step 4. Using the dough hook attachment, knead on medium-low speed (I use speed 2) for 6-8 minutes. The dough should be smooth, slightly tacky, and stretchy. It is a little on the sticky side, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl.
Step 5. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with a tea towel, and let it rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.
Step 6. Once the dough has risen, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide it into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion by creating a flat surface on top and tucking the remaining dough underneath. Place on a baking sheet about 2-3 inches apart. (Note: If your dough is still sticky, you can wet your hands to keep it from sticking.)
Step 7. Cover again and let them rise for another hour or until almost doubled in size.
Step 8. Preheat the oven to 400°F. While the oven is preheating, make your topping by whisking together the egg and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Once the dough balls have risen, brush each one with the egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Step 9. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Step 10. Carefully remove them from the oven and transfer the buns to a wire rack. Let them cool completely before enjoying!
Helpful Tips
- Be sure to spoon and level your flour, and avoid packing it into the measuring cups.
- This recipe uses hard white wheat flour. Do not use soft white flour. It produces weak gluten, and you will end up with flat, dense buns!
- You can make this recipe without a stand mixer by kneading by hand. It will take longer, though — knead the dough for around twice as long to develop the gluten.
- Milk can be used in place of the egg wash. An egg or milk wash gives the buns that golden, shiny outside crust that buns typically have.
- If you mill your own wheat berries, I strongly recommend investing in a quality grain mill. I’ve tested quite a few, and the Mockmill professional grain mill produces baked goods with the best texture.
Fresh Milled Bun Uses
One of my favorite things about this recipe is how versatile the buns are! I like to make a double batch and incorporate them into a few different meals.
Freshly milled hamburger buns make a fantastic hamburger bun for BBQ season! I like to serve them with cheese-stuffed burgers, bacon elk burgers, or homemade venison burgers.
These buns are a great option for a variety of sandwiches, too. Top them with your favorite barbecue meat, such as Dutch oven pulled chicken, Dutch oven pulled pork, or pulled beef. These buns are also perfect for homemade sloppy joes!
These buns are so moist, soft, and flavorful that you can even enjoy them by themselves. Serve them fresh from the oven with some butter, and they’re a tasty side, similar to my dinner rolls with freshly milled flour, but with a lighter texture.
Storage
These buns are best stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days and toasted or warmed before serving.
For longer-term storage, buns freeze very well. Allow the buns to cool completely, then pack them in an airtight container. Put the buns in the freezer, being careful not to crush them. These buns can be frozen for around 6 months.
To reheat frozen buns, allow them to thaw at room temperature, then warm them in the oven or toast them.
Recipe FAQs
Dough not rising properly is usually because of old yeast or water temperature. Be sure to use fresh yeast and warm your water to 100-110°F. The ambient temperature during the rise can also affect the buns. If they are rising slowly or not at all, you might try placing them in the oven (turned off) with the oven light on to create a warm environment.
“Whole wheat” refers to flour that is milled using the entire wheat berry, including the bran, germ, and endosperm. Whole wheat is a type of whole grain flour, though “whole grain” can include other grains besides wheat, too. This recipe is both whole grain and whole wheat as it uses whole wheat flour. You can purchase whole grain flour at the store or mill it yourself at home!
Measure after milling, using the flour itself. The amount of flour you get can vary depending on how finely it mills and how much it has settled, so measuring the wheat berries first won’t be accurate for the recipe. I recommend weighing the milled flour for the most consistent results.
Related Freshly Milled Recipes
- Cinnamon Rolls with Fresh Milled Flour
- Blueberry Muffins with Whole Grain Flour
- Freshly Milled English Muffins
- Homemade Pancakes with Fresh Milled Flour
- Seeded Bread Recipe with Milled Flour
If you’re looking for more ideas like this, I’ve rounded up all of our favorites in this fresh milled flour recipes post.
If you tried this Fresh Milled Flour Hamburger Bun Recipe, I would love for you to come back and leave a review!
Fresh Milled Flour Hamburger Buns
Equipment
- Small saucepan
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 3 1/2 cups hard white wheat flour (455g) *see notes below
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil or any vegetable oil
- 1 large egg room temperature
For Topping
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, salt, and yeast. Give it a quick stir and set it aside.
- In a small saucepan, warm the water over low heat to about 110°F. Stir in the honey.
- Pour the warm water into the flour mixture, then add the egg and oil. Mix well with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together. It's going to be pretty sticky, but don't be tempted to add any more flour.
- Using the dough hook attachment, knead on medium-low speed (I use speed 2) for 6-8 minutes. The dough should be smooth and slightly tacky and stretchy. It is a little on the sticky side, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with a tea towel, and let it rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide it into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion by creating a flat surface on top, and tucking the remaining dough underneath. Place on a baking sheet about 2-3 inches apart. (Note: if your dough is still sticky, you can wet your hands to keep it from sticking.)
- Cover again and let them rise for another hour or until almost doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. While the oven is preheating, make your topping by whisking together the egg and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Once the dough balls have risen, brush each one with the egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
- Carefully remove them from the oven and transfer the buns to a wire rack. Let them cool completely before enjoying!
Notes
- *You can substitute King Arthur whole wheat flour 1:1 for the freshly milled flour in this recipe.
- Store the buns in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen for about 6 months.
- Be sure to spoon and level your flour, and avoid packing it into the measuring cups.
- Check out the step-by-step images in the post above for visual guidance on dough consistency and more.
- You can make this recipe without a stand mixer by kneading by hand. It will take longer, though — knead the dough for around twice as long to develop the gluten.
- Milk can be used in place of the egg wash. An egg or milk wash gives the buns that golden, shiny outside crust that buns typically have.
- If you mill your own whole grains, I strongly recommend investing in a quality grain mill. I’ve tested quite a few, and the Mockmill professional grain mill produces baked goods with the best texture.
Literally unbelievably delicious! Aside from the color, I don’t think I could tell if these were made with all purpose or milled grains! Thank you so much for the recipe! We will be making these for thanksgiving dinner.
Did you use hard red or hard white berries?
For this I used hard white berries! If you go with a different one, let me know how it turns out!
Made these yesterday and they were delicious!
I am so glad to hear you loved them!