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–+ servings
a hot dog in a brioche bun with a squiggle of mustard on it.

Soft-Baked Brioche Hot Dog Buns

Rebecca Eisenberg
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.
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Resting Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 55 minutes
Servings 8 hot dog buns

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 (KitchenAid speed 4) and knead until the dough passes the windowpane test, about 7-10 minutes. If the dough hasn't reached windowpane after about 7 minutes, drizzle in an additional ½ teaspoon milk while kneading, then cover and rest for 5-10 minutes. Knead 2-3 minutes more. It should get there!
  • Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. With the mixer running on medium (KitchenAid speed 4), 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. Increase speed to medium-high (KitchenAid speed 5-6) and knead until the dough is smooth, shiny, and passes the windowpane test again, about 5 minutes.
  • Cover and rise. Place the dough ball in a lightly greased bowl or container. Cover and let rise 1 hour at room temperature (72-75°F) until just about doubled in size. If not doubled after an hour, let it rise an additional 30-60 minutes until doubled. When you push a finger into it, the indentation should fill back slowly and incompletely.

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.

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!
  • If using active dry yeast use 7.5 grams (round down to 7 grams if you don't have a jeweler's scale). Mix with the liquid ingredients before adding to the dough instead of adding it to the dry ingredients.
  • 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.