Is it easy to grab buns at the store? Sure. But imagine you've got your fancy beef dogs or homemade bear sausage...you want a better bun! These fluffy white hot dog buns are so easy and the kids can help make them.

Why You Need This Recipe
- Besides mixing the dough and shaping, homemade bread is really hands-off. That means you can easily make these between the other tasks of the day before the party begins.
- Nothing beats fresh bread!
- Customize your buns with toppings.
Key Ingredients
Flour - unbleached all-purpose is great here. You do need to use AP and not whole wheat to keep the final product light and fluffy.
Milk - milk, water, whey. Any sort of liquid works in these buns.
Yeast - wouldn't be light and fluffy without yeast kicking things off!
How to Make Home Made Hot Dog Buns
Step 1: Melt the butter into the milk, and then add to your stand mixer. Pour in half the flour with the yeast, sugar, and salt. Mix for 2 minutes.
Step 2: Add in remaining flour and knead with the machine until the dough pulls away from the edges and is nice and soft.
Step 3: Let proof until doubled.
Step 4: Spread dough on a floured surface and cut into quarters. Now cut each of those four into 6 equal parts.
Step 5: Shape each bun like a mini loaf. Make a flat rectangle, roll it up and tuck the ends under. Set on a prepared baking sheet.
Step 6: After shaping all rolls, cover with a damp towel until doubled in size.
Step 7: You can add an egg wash and seeds here, or not. Whatever tickles your fancy.
Step 8: Bake until lightly golden on top, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time.
Tips and Tricks
- Add an egg wash and seeds on top to really step up your game! The egg wash is only necessary to "glue" on seeds, but you can use it on plain buns to gain a deeper colour when baked.
- Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, everything bagel seasoning - all work well here!
- These are best eaten day-of so I recommend baking them in the morning for a later lunch or dinner. They will still be fine the next day though!
Substitutions
Skip the egg wash and use unsweetened non-dairy milk to keep these buns vegan.
FAQs
I shape them the same as making a loaf of bread. Tucking the ends under after rolling is what creates tension to give them a great rounded top. However, you DO want to flatten them down some before letting double, else they will grow too large to take a bite from once loaded up with a hot dog and all the toppings!
Just line them up on a baking sheet! If you give them plenty of room, then they will bake individually. If you have them closer, they may touch as they proof - this gives you soft sides as well, just like when the store-bought have to be torn apart. It's personal preference here.
Let the Kids Do the Cooking
Yup - kids LOVE to help with dough! It's no different than play dough for them, and they will feel so important getting to help. You can see in my photos I had some help, too! It will make family and friends smile to see the buns. So feel free to shape them all yourself. Or, go ahead and shape one so you can give the kids guidelines on how long to make them, but let them do the rolling up.
What to Serve With Hot Dog Buns
- Bake up some venison sausage and throw them in!
- We usually get bear hot dogs from our butcher. But you can of course use beef or any other hot dog or sausages that your family usually enjoys.
- Caesar Salad is a great side dish!
- Any sort of potato salad or grilled potatoes.
- And of course top with coleslaw or fermented veggies!
More Summer Recipes
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If you like this recipe, I’d love if you reviewed it so others can find it easier. Sharing this recipe on Facebook or Pinterest is another way you can help us out at no cost to you. Thanks, xo Kate
Home Made Hot Dog Buns
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups milk or water whey, or buttermilk left from butter making will work (but NOT cultured buttermilk)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons active dry OR instant yeast
- 4 - 4 ½ cups all purpose white flour
Optional Topping
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- Sesame seeds or everything bagel seasoning
Instructions
- Melt together the butter and water/milk until the butter is just melted and the milk isn't too hot (it will kill yeast if it's too hot for you to hold your finger in).
- In a stand mixer with dough hooks, mix salt, sugar, yeast, and 2 ½ cups flour.
- Add in milk/butter to flour mix and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add in 1 ½ cups flour, and knead until well combined. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the bowl, NOT stick to it, and be "soft as a baby's bottom." If it's not there yet, add in flour a couple tablespoons at a time.
- Once it's the right consistency, let machine knead for 3-5 minutes until bread hits windowpane stage.
- Cover mixer bowl and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
- Line a half sheet pan with parchment or a silicone mat.
- When doubled, dump dough onto a lightly floured counter, divide in four parts. Then cut each quarter into 6 equal pieces.
- Shape each bun like a mini loaf. Flatten, roll up, tuck ends under. Place on the baking sheet and flatten down with your hand.
- Cover the sheet with a damp towel during shaping and then keep covered to proof until doubled.
- Before the dough is quite doubled, preheat the oven to 350F, with the rack in the middle. NOT CONVECTION. Convection setting actually inhibits your bread from springing up well when baked!
- You can whisk the egg and water and brush overtop of the buns once doubled, and add seeds if you'd like. Otherwise, no need for an egg wash - it's just to "glue down" your seeds.
- Slide the sheet into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating halfway through. Watch for them to be gently browned on top.
Notes
- A note about the milk: we save some buttermilk when we make butter to make this bread. This buttermilk is different that the thick cultured buttermilk you buy in the store. If you happen to make your own butter, you're in luck. If you make cheese or strain yogurt, as long as the whey isnt salted, save some back for this bread! Otherwise, swap for milk or water. Water will give you a little different outcome but its still great bread
- You could mix a few tablespoons of yogurt combined with water to get your 2 cups of liquid if that's what you have. Or you can water down some cream that's needing to be used up.
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