Ditch the dry, flavorless store-bought hot dog buns! These hand-rolled brioche hot dog buns are tender, soft baked, and emerge from the oven shiny and golden brown.
The secret to getting perfect texture? It's the addition of an extra egg yolk and a touch of milk powder to the dough! These small but mighty ingredient adjustments result in a super-soft, buttery hot dog bun that actually holds your hot dog without breaking.
After finishing my recipes for brioche sandwich bread and soft brioche burger buns, I wasn't ready to call it quits with finding new ways to use this soft, sweet, versatile bread dough. I turned my attention to a different type of bun: long and skinny hot dog buns.
Shaping hot dog buns is a pretty straightforward process, too! These may not turn out quite as uniformly as store-bought hot dog buns, particularly if you're new to shaping dough, but that's just part of their lovingly homemade appeal, if you ask me.
If you're nervous about how to shape hot dog buns, don't be. I have plenty of visuals in my thorough step-by-step hot dog bun shaping guide below to help you approach the process with confidence. As always, there's a video at the end of this post if you need more visual assistance!
To give these hot dog buns an even softer texture than my burger buns (which need a firmer structure to support burger patties and toppings), I added an extra egg yolk as well as a small amount of dry milk powder. Dry milk powder is such a good way to add fat (aka tenderness) to a dough without adding more liquid!
These two small changes make my brioche hot dog buns extra soft, so they don't spit the hot dogs back out at you when you pick them up.
And I would never let the extra egg white from that added egg yolk go to waste. I use it for the egg wash, mixed with a tiny bit of whole milk, which gives them their shiny, soft, light golden-brown color.
I use King Arthur Baking's Baker's Special Dry Milk, which is a nonfat dried milk powder, but you can also use Bob's Red Mill Nonfat Dry Milk Powder or even King Arthur's dried whole milk powder. I usually order it online, but if you're looking for it in the grocery store and it's not in the baking aisle, try checking near the baby formulas!
How to Make Brioche Dough
Brioche dough is mixed and kneaded in two stages. First, the liquid ingredients get mixed and kneaded into the dry ingredients to allow the flour to hydrate and a gluten network to form. Then the softened butter is gradually kneaded into the dough.
Why is brioche mixed this way? Butter is a solid fat and if added at the start it coats the dry ingredients and prevents them from absorbing the liquids. Adding it in a second kneading stage means the butter coats the gluten network instead of coating the flour particles.
I've gone into much more detail about brioche dough and how to troubleshoot it in my brioche bread post, so pop over there to read more about it, especially if it's your first time making brioche.
After mixing, before kneading.
After kneading, before adding butter.
After adding butter and kneading.
During the first rise, the brioche hot dog bun dough will double in size.
How to Shape Hot Dog Buns
Gently deflate the dough, then turn it out onto a clean counter or work surface to shape. Do not flour the countertop; flour prevents the dough from sticking to itself and the counter, and we want to use the slight stickiness to help build tension in the dough during shaping.
Weigh the entire batch of dough, then divide it into eight equal portions.
Flatten each portion of dough into a rectangle-ish shape, stacking smaller pieces on top of larger pieces if needed.
Roll the dough from the top down, folding down the top corners or folding in the two sides as needed to even out the dough.
Each time you roll the dough forward, pinch with your fingertips to seal it. Finish with the seam tucked on the bottom.
Gently roll the log of dough on an unfloured surface until the hot dog bun has an even thickness.
I usually roll my hot dog buns about 7 inches long. You can taper the ends if you want, but I usually don't.
Arrange the eight hot dog buns on a parchment lined sheet pan. Make sure you leave space between them as they're going to spread out as they rise.
It's important that the seam of the shaped hot dog buns is fully underneath as they rest. As the buns rise and expand, you want the seams to stay sealed together against the counter.
Brush the tops of the buns with oil or spray them lightly with non-stick spray, then cover with plastic wrap. Let them rest for 1-2 hours at room temperature until they look puffy and have about doubled in size.
Immediately after shaping
After rising the buns are quite puffy
When you poke or tap the hot dog buns gently, they should jiggle and spring back. If they're not ready after an hour, check on them in 15-minute increments until they're nice and puffy-looking.
Remember: Warm dough will rise faster, cold dough will rise slower.
Let the hot dog buns cool completely before slicing. If you slice the hot dog buns while they're hot, the steam still trapped inside them will turn the starch into mush — it's really unpleasant!
Yes, You Can Do a Cold Rise with Hot Dog Buns
A long cold rise gives the brioche dough more time to develop its flavor and soft texture. It also helps you better fit the baking process into your schedule.
The nice thing about brioche dough is that it's incredibly resilient. Cold temperatures don't just slow down yeast activity, they also help the butter firm up, which further slows down the rising process.
I tested this recipe with a long cold rise by leaving the dough in the fridge for 48 hours before shaping! Just make sure it's in a bowl or container that gives it plenty of room to expand, and give it at least an hour to sit at room temperature before dividing and shaping the hot dog buns.
💭 Have More Baking Questions?
I've rounded up answers to common baking questions and how-to guides, including:
- Ingredient swaps and FAQs
- Why my recipes are written in grams and not cups
- How to quickly bring eggs and butter to room temperature
- Ingredients I use (salt, flour, yeast, etc.)
- Step-by-step guides for bread and baking techniques
See my baking techniques & troubleshooting guide and ingredient swaps and FAQs for more!
TL;DR — Brioche Hot Dog Bun Recipe Summary
- Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients using a dough hook. Knead to windowpane stage.
- Add room temperature butter 1 tablespoon at a time until incorporated.
- Knead until windowpane stage is reached again.
- Cover and rest at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Shape into hot dog buns.
- Spray the hot dog buns with non-stick spray, cover with plastic wrap and rest 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Whisk egg and milk together, brush the buns with egg wash, score lengthwise, and bake for 15-17 minutes at 350°F.
- Let cool briefly on the pan, then transfer to cooling rack.
📖 Recipe
Soft-Baked Brioche Hot Dog Buns
Recipe Notes
- Be patient when adding the butter — you're asking the gluten network to incorporate quite a lot of fat each time you add a new chunk of butter! It can take 60 seconds for each cube of butter to incorporate.
- For a long cold rise, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days before shaping. Remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature before shaping. They can be refrigerated after shaping for 8-12 hours. Remove from the fridge for 1 hour prior to baking. These hot dog buns are best baked from room temperature.
- If you don't reach a perfect windowpane before adding the butter and it's been at least 10 minutes of kneading that's okay — you can go ahead and start adding butter. It won't be a technically perfect brioche, but it will still be delicious!
- These soft-baked hot dog buns will be at their softest on the same day you bake them and will become firmer over time. You can store your homemade hot dog buns in an airtight bag with as much air pressed out of it as possible for 5-7 days at room temperature.
- To defrost frozen brioche hot dog buns, leave them in the bag on the counter for about 30 minutes, then warm them up in a 250°F oven for about 8-10 minutes.
- You really do need a stand mixer with a dough hook to make brioche. If you have a KitchenAid mixer with a tilt-head and the bowl that screws in at the base, the motor might struggle with this dough. You'll want to hold the bowl in place to make sure it doesn’t unscrew during the kneading process.
- If you have a bowl-lift mixer model, still keep an eye on it during mixing and kneading. If your mixer’s motor feels like it’s overheating, you can pause for 5 minutes and then resume mixing.
- You can absolutely divide this dough into fewer pieces to make larger or thicker buns! You may need to adjust the bake time in that case. Use an instant read thermometer to check for doneness, you're looking for an internal temp of 195°F.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 350 grams all-purpose flour
- 20 grams powdered milk
- 6 grams instant yeast (see notes for active dry yeast)
- 5 grams diamond crystal kosher salt
- 158 grams whole milk (90°F)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 large egg yolk (save the egg white for the egg wash)
- 25 grams honey
- 85 grams soft room temperature unsalted butter (6 tablespoons)
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg white
- 2 teaspoons whole milk
Instructions
- Mix the dough. Combine flour, salt, yeast, and milk powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. In a separate bowl, whisk together warm milk, honey, egg, and egg yolk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed (KitchenAid speed 2-3) until the dough comes together in a shaggy messy ball on the dough hook, about 3-5 minutes. The dough will look dry at first, but will hydrate as it mixes. Be patient!
- Knead the dough. Increase speed to medium and knead until the dough passes the windowpane test, about 7-10 minutes.
- Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. With the mixer running on medium, add the butter one tablespoon at a time. Let each piece fully incorporate before adding more. The dough will look like it is falling apart each time you add more butter, but it will come back together. Pause the mixer to gather the dough around the hook or scrape the butter down into the bowl occasionally as needed. This can take 10-15 minutes. Be patient!
- Knead the dough again. Continue kneading on medium speed until the dough is smooth, shiny, and passes the windowpane test again, about 5-7 minutes. Be patient!
- Cover and rise. Place the dough ball in a lightly greased bowl or container. Cover and let rise at room temperature (72°F) until just about doubled in size, about 1 hour. If not doubled after an hour, let it rise an additional 30-60 minutes until doubled.
Assembly and Shaping
- Deflate the dough. Turn dough out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface. Use your hands to gently deflate the dough. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces using a kitchen scale (each piece should weigh about 88 grams).
- Shape the hot dog buns. Gently flatten each piece of dough against the counter into a long rectangle shape, stacking any smaller pieces on top of larger pieces if you're combining them. Roll the top edge down, pressing with your fingertips to seal. Repeat this until the dough has formed a log, folding the two short sides in or tucking the top corners down as needed to even out the sides. Gently roll the log to even it out until it's about 7 inches long.Repeat with the remaining 7 pieces of dough, then arrange in a greased and parchment lined loaf pan in two rows of four.
- Final Rise. Arrange the 8 hot dog buns on a parchment lined sheet pan with the seams tucked underneath. Spray the tops lightly with non-stick spray or brush lightly with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. They should look puffy and if you lightly press a finger into one, the indentation should fill in slowly and not all the way.
Baking
- During the last 30 minutes of the dough rising, preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk together the leftover egg white and milk to make the egg wash.
- Egg wash and bake. Brush the top of the hot dog buns with the egg wash. Use a lame or sharp knife to lightly score lengthwise down the top of each bun. Bake for 14-16 minutes until golden brown on top and an internal temperature of at least 190°F.
- Cool. Let cool slightly on the pan, then remove to a rack to finish cooling completely.
Bret says
I've looked and looked and either I am blind or the recipe doesn't show anything about the powdered milk. My assumption is it is added to the dry ingredients.
Rebecca Eisenberg says
yep, thanks for letting me know, add it to the dry ingredients! i’ll go in and update that asap.
Bret says
Oh, and you say to add vanilla to the wet mixture but it is not in the list of ingredients.
Rebecca Eisenberg says
lol can you tell i cloned this recipe from one of my other brioche recipes and then updated it? clearly i missed a few things! you definitely don’t need vanilla for this one! The recipe card has now been updated!
Carol-Ann Beattie says
Recipe with super easy. I not only made a hot dog rolls but I also did Burger rolls. They are so soft and fluffy I love it. This will be my go-to from now on
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Oh I love that! This is a great dough to split and do both with. Happy baking! 🙂