Easy Brioche Bun Recipe

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Golden, tender, and full of rich flavor, our Brioche Bun recipe delivers bakery-level results straight to your home kitchen. These buttery buns are soft and sweet, yet sturdy enough to handle the juiciest burgers and the messiest sloppy joes.

They’re those “go ahead, grab another” kind of buns.

Brioche dates back to 15th-century France, where rich, buttery doughs were a sign of luxury and a favorite of society’s upper crust. That famous Marie Antoinette line about letting them eat cake? She was talking about brioche.

It became a French staple, appearing in everything from loaves to rolls, before traveling to the United States, where brioche found a permanent place in American baking.

Today, our Brioche Burger Buns carry that same legacy into your kitchen, turning what was once a royal indulgence into everyday joy.

Sliced brioche bun on a white plate around more buns.

The enduring magic of brioche buns lies in their ability to transform just a handful of the most basic pantry staples into something truly extraordinary.

They’re the best way to elevate any backyard burger to full-on gourmet, straight off a restaurant menu.

Brioche buns are the perfect match for our Sloppy Joes Recipe, full of that rich, tangy sauce with its irresistible flavor that makes every bite worth a napkin. Add a generous scoop of our Classic Potato Salad and you’ve got a plate that’s deliciously satisfying from the first mouthful to the last.

Table of Contents:

Ingredients

Gather the ingredients to prepare our easy brioche bun recipe. Culinary professionals call this the “Mise en Place,” which means “everything in its Place.”

Setting up your ingredients not only helps speed up the cooking process but also ensures you have all the necessary ingredients on hand to make the recipe.

Can I Change Up the Recipe?

Absolutely. We made the recipe with all-purpose flour, but you can swap in bread flour one-to-one for a slightly more chewy and structured result.

For a richer dough, try adding an extra egg yolk or a splash of warm milk during the mixing process.

For an extra hint of sweetness, sprinkle a little sugar on top before baking, or brush with honey butter once they’re out of the oven.

You can also add toppings before baking for a little bit of flair. Poppy seeds and sesame seeds are classic, but everything bagel seasoning or a pinch of flaky sea salt gives these buns a fun twist without changing their soft, buttery personality.

How to Make our Brioche Bun Recipe

Follow along with my simple step-by-step instructions to learn how to make our Brioche Bun Recipe in your home kitchen.

Warm the milk to 100-110°F over medium heat. If the milk is too hot, it will kill the yeast.

Collage showing how to begin the recipe.

Add the warm milk, yeast, and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Whisk to combine and let it sit, undisturbed, for about 10 minutes, until it becomes bubbly. If it doesn’t get bubbly, the yeast is old.
Add the all-purpose flour, softened unsalted butter, and kosher salt to the yeast mixture.
Mix to combine, then switch to the hook attachment. Mix on medium speed until a smooth dough forms. It will pull away from the sides of the bowl, leaving a smooth and slightly glossy surface.
Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free area of the kitchen. Let the dough proof until doubled in size, approximately 1 – 1 ½ hours.
To make hamburger-sized buns, divide the dough into eight equal pieces.

Preheat a convection oven to 350°F.

Collage showing how to finish the recipe.

Shape the dough by tucking all the edges into the center. Flip it over so the seam side is down and the smooth side is up, and place it on a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat until all the dough is used.
Beat the egg to use as an egg wash.
Loosely cover the dough balls with plastic wrap, and place them in a warm, draft-free area of the kitchen. Let the dough proof until doubled in size, approximately 35-45 minutes. The dough balls will feel light and airy.
Brush the tops of the buns with a beaten egg or melted butter.
Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

These homemade brioche buns are perfect for cookouts, backyard dinners, or whenever you want to elevate your burgers to the next level of deliciousness. Your friends and family won’t believe you made them, and once you’ve had a bite, you might not either!

How to Store and Freeze

Let the hamburger buns cool completely, then store them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

To freeze, wrap each bun tightly in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-safe bag for up to 2 months. Let them thaw at room temperature before serving.

Recipe FAQs

Why did my brioche buns turn out dense?

Most of the time, it’s one of three things: too much flour, under-kneading, or not letting the dough rise long enough. Make sure your dough feels soft, stretchy, and passes the windowpane test before moving on to shaping. Let it double in size both during the first rise and again after shaping.

Do I need to cold-proof the dough in the fridge?

Nope. This recipe is designed to be made start to finish in a single day with no need for an overnight chill. That said, some bakers like to refrigerate the dough after the first rise. It can help develop flavor and make shaping easier. If you go that route, just be sure the dough has already doubled in size before chilling, and let it come back to room temperature before shaping.

Why is the crust turning out too dark or tough?

Brioche contains sugar and butter in the dough, which allows it to brown quickly. If the tops are getting too dark before the buns are fully baked, try lowering the oven temperature slightly or covering them loosely with foil toward the end of the baking time.

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