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Homemade Beer Burger Buns

 

Homemade Beer Burger Buns via @TheBeeroness

 The Beast of Yeast

If you are among the yeast-averse, those who are convinced that bread making isn’t in your skill set, you probably haven’t even read far enough to see that I have faith in your yeast taming abilities. Not only is it easier than you think, it’s so completely satisfying to watch that bread rise, yielding perfectly delicious results, and it’s also much cheaper than buying sub par alternatives at the market.

Over the past few years I’ve falling in love with the process of bread making, figuring out not just how to make dough rise, but why it fails. Here are my tips to making sure you have fresh baked success every time you tear open a packet of yeast:

1. Rapid rise yeast and regular dry active yeast are not the same. Rapid rise yeast needs more heat to activate, a heat level that will kill regular yeast. Use the type of yeast that the recipe calls for or the dough won’t rise (or won’t rise properly).

2. Buy a kitchen thermometer. Yeast is very picky when it comes to heat. Make sure the liquid you use is in the right temperature range. If the liquid is too hot, the yeast will be killed. If the liquid is too cold, the yeast won’t be activated. A thermometer will take any guess work out of it.

3. Yeast dies. Check the expiration date, if yeast is past that, it doesn’t have the living organism necessary to make dough rise.

4. Salt kills yeast. Don’t let yeast come in direct contact with salt or it will die. I’m over cautious with this, adding salt towards the end, after the yeast has been activated by the liquid. Salt is important in giving bread a bright flavor and helping you to avoid bland baked goods. Don’t skip salt, just add it last.

5. Dough rise times will depend on the temperature of your room. Dough rises faster in a warm room, and really slowly in a cold room. Although dough will still rise in a room as cold as 40F, it will take days to double in size. If the recipes says, "Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour," pay more attention to "doubled in size" rather than the "1 hour." Especially in winter, if your house is cold. It could take several hours if your house is colder than 70F.

6. Yeast feeds on sugars. You’ll have much higher levels of yeast rising success if you let your yeast feed off a little sugar (granulated sugar, honey or anything else with high sugar content). Add some to any bread recipe you make for greater levels of dough rising success.

Homemade Beer Burger Buns via @TheBeeroness

Now that you’ve had your crash course in yeast baking you are all set to tackle that culinary bucket list and impress your friends.

You can totally do this.

 

Homemade Beer Burger Buns

5 from 1 vote
Servings 8 buns

Ingredients
  

  • 2 ½ cups All purpose flour
  • 1 envelope rapid rise yeast 2 ½ tsp
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ¾ cup wheat beer
  • ¼ cup butter softened
  • 1 tbs raw honey
  • ½ tsp salt plus additional for topping
  • egg wash 1 egg plus 1 tbs water, beaten
  • 2 tbs sesame seeds

Instructions
 

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast, and onion powder. Mix until combined.
  • In a microwave safe bowl add the beer. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperature with a cooking thermometer and repeat until temperature reaches between 120 and 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Add the beer to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed. Once most of the dough has been moistened, sprinkle with the salt, honey and add softened butter.
  • Turn speed to medium-high and beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
  • Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, tightly wrap with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm room until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 400.
  • Remove from bowl and add to a lightly floured surface, knead a few times. Cut into 8 equal sized pieces.
  • Form each piece into a tight ball. Add evenly spaced over a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper.
  • Cover loosely and allow to rise until almost doubled in size, about 20-30 minutes.
  • Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds and salt.
  • Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown.

Homemade Beer Burger Buns via @TheBeeroness

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Comments


Averie @ Averie Cooks September 4, 2013 um 2:09 am

I love the process of yeast at work, too. Everything you said – so true. My favorite is when people say warm to the touch, or stick your finger in it and it should be warm, not hot. Well, I can stick my finger in near boiling water. Would that be too warm? Lol. Point being YES to a thermometer. I mean when a recipe calls for a cup of flour we don’t just eyeball it or grab a handful of flour and call it good. Or just bake at whatever temp we feel like…and just get the oven you know, warm to the touch. Ok Im done 🙂

Salt, rapid vs regular yeast, and the doubled in bulk/about 1 hour. People are so hung up on times and neglect the other part of it!

Beautiful rolls, of course!

Reply

Jackie September 4, 2013 um 9:27 am

I know right? It’s such an important step to be so vague about, and it probably doubles your readers odds of a kitchen fail. Plus, I waitressed for 3 years in college, holding scorching hot plates with a smile. As a result, my hands can no longer feel temperature the same way, "warm" to me is searing hot to normal people.

Reply

Kelly @ hidden fruits and veggies September 4, 2013 um 4:46 am

I love working with yeast — makes me feel like I’m doing some sort of science experiment at home. These buns look heavenly. I’ve been wanting ot make my own hamburger buns for a while now!

Reply

Tieghan September 4, 2013 um 5:29 am

Working with yeast is so fun, I love making breads, pretzels, doughnuts, all that stuff! Although, you are a much better bread baker than me….I never use a thermometer, which is probably why some of my bread recipes have fallen flat! I need to work on being a little more precise when baking with yeast!

These buns looks awesome and like the perfect bun for a game night slider or burger!

Reply

Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie September 4, 2013 um 6:43 am

I’ve done beer in pizza, now it’s time to try beer in burger buns – yay!

Reply

Happy Valley Chow September 4, 2013 um 9:25 am

Love this recipe! Definitely need to try these 🙂

Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow

Reply

Lauren @ Climbing Grier Mountain September 4, 2013 um 9:43 am

I can’t thank you enough for this post! I have a black yeast thumb and need help! These buns are looking HOT!

Reply

Jackie September 4, 2013 um 9:54 am

I seriously used to be the same way, I thought yeast hated me. And then one day it was on. I was like, "It’s me and you yeast, I’m totally going to win." And I now I do, every time 😉

Reply

Ashley – Baker by Nature September 4, 2013 um 10:30 am

You just took the whole "burger and a beer" thing to a totally new level. A very, very awesome level!

Reply

Michelle Collins September 4, 2013 um 10:55 am

I’m slowly but surely coming to know how yeast works, but your tips are super helpful. These buns look fabulous!

Reply

Dan September 4, 2013 um 8:07 pm

When I first read the title, I immediately thought of classic asian pork buns, and exclaimed, "OH MAN, she baked a burger INSIDE the bun!!" To my slight dismay, this was not the case. Still a solid recipe, like all of ’em 🙂

Reply

Natasha Bayus September 4, 2013 um 10:15 pm

Jackie- you’re an inspiration! I am having a hard time finding rapid rise yeast versus dry active yeast, even in Socal. I’m sure it’s out there somewhere, but can you give suggestions on stores or online?

Reply

Jackie September 4, 2013 um 10:21 pm

Thanks Natasha! It should be in every major store, right next to the regular yeast. Red Star Platinum is my favorite, but Fleishmans also makes it and I always see it at the store.

Reply

Food for Feast September 5, 2013 um 12:20 am

I must try these soon, thanks.

Reply

Maria G. September 5, 2013 um 3:17 am

I`ve heard that beer is often used in baking but I thought it was just a joke. Burger buns look really nice and the recipe is rather easy. It is great when you can bake buns by yourself and don`t have to buy it in the shop.

Reply

Jackie September 5, 2013 um 7:20 am

No joke about it. Beer is a mild leavening agent so it’s wonderful to bake with, gives much better results than water.

Reply

Pia Poynton September 5, 2013 um 7:32 am

These look great! Love the addition of onion powder and honey, not something I’ve come across before. Our kitchen is home to a very dodge oven so most of my bread making comes down to "feel" so there are mixed results. It took me a few tries to realise that the "until doubles in size" is way more accurate than "1 hour". Our house is cold so sometimes I’ve left dough overnight.

Yeah, I reckon I can totally do this too. As always I’ll post results if I have a go 🙂

Another great post, thanks Jackie!

Reply

Valerie September 5, 2013 um 1:29 pm

I am afraid of yeast. After reading your tips, maybe I should give it a fighting chance – I do love homemade bread! My old, drafty, house gets quite frigid during the cold months, is it okay to place the dough into a semi-heated oven with the door slightly propped open with a tattered oven mitt?

These burger buns look delish!!

Reply

cassie September 6, 2013 um 10:54 am

I love the challenge of working with yeast! Great tips!

These buns are amazing, Jackie!

Reply

delikatesy September 9, 2013 um 5:01 am

Just today I’ve added dark beer to my bread dough. Can’t wait for the result. But since I’m using my own motherdough (just rye + water), it will take hours and hours before I find out. Friends pointed me to your site, nice recipes you’ve got here.

Speaking of yeast, it depends on what yeast you buy. I was buying just fresh one, sold cut in cubes. It’s literally like a turbocharger in your car. You can salt the dough, leave it in cold, it will rise like insane. In fact, it’s so speedy, you simply have to salt it to hold it back. Otherwise it would quickly go hungry and start dropping to early, leaving no power to puff up the pastry during the baking.

Reply

Michael Heckman February 12, 2014 um 2:16 pm

When adding the flour, yeast and onion powder, are you activating the yeast with warm water first? Have you tried bread flour in place of all purpose, if so what were the results? How do different beers change the flavors? Just started a bbq catering company and looking to have amazing beer rolls with my slow smoked bbq.

Thanks,
Michael

Reply

Jackie February 12, 2014 um 3:08 pm

You don’t need to activate/proof the yeast first, just make sure it’s rapid rise and the liquid you add to the mixer is between 120 and 130, and it’ll be fine.
Bread flour has a higher protein content so it’s a bit chewier. If that’s what you want, use that. I use bread flour for pizza dough and cookies because I like those chewy.

Reply

raizy November 19, 2014 um 7:17 am

These buns look amazing! I actually want to bake these now for dinner tonight. Since I don’t own a microwave, how can I warm the beer?

Reply

Jackie November 20, 2014 um 12:23 pm

A pot on the stove works just fine as well

Reply

Laurie B. June 29, 2015 um 12:50 pm

These look amazing! One question: What size bun does this recipe make? And I am assuming if they are full-sized that you could make smaller ones by decreasing the size of the dough balls and adjusting the baking time.

Thanks to you, I now have a Pinterest board titled 'All things beer…..' I had a few recipes but couldn’t stop pinning yours so they needed a home of their own!

Reply

Jackie June 29, 2015 um 5:33 pm

they are full sized, but yes, you could just make them smaller and they’d work perfect as slider buns.

Reply

David B. Elliott December 29, 2016 um 5:26 pm

Hello!

I love your recipes, and have had great results with all of them. Much to my friends enjoyment…

I do, however, have a request: for recipes that involve baking, such as this one, would you please include the weight of the ingredient either in addition to, or in place the "cup of " measurement?

My "cup" of flour is not going to be the same as yours, whereas my 100g of flour will be the same as yours.

thanks!

Reply

Jackie December 30, 2016 um 10:02 am

I agree. This recipe is a few years old, most (not all) of my newer recipes are in both cups and grams. When I cook for myself, I use grams, it’s so much more accurate. I SOOOO wish the USA was on Metric. The cups/tablespoons is so inaccurate.

Reply

Suzanne February 25, 2023 um 7:53 pm

5 stars
These turned out fantastic!! Thank you for the recipe! I will double the batch next time! Could I make this into a loaf instead?! What kind of adjustments would I need to make?

Reply

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