Light and airy, bronzed and burnished, homemade brioche hot dog buns are surprisingly easy to make. The no-knead dough comes together in minutes without a mixer, and the shaping process is simple. Find step-by-step instructions below 🌭🌭🌭

Twelve just-baked brioche hot dog buns on a cooling rack.

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive on this brioche roll recipe is if it can be used to make hot dog buns. “It sure can!” is how I always respond, supplying a rough guideline on how to do so. And while these exchanges in the comments section have been sufficient over the years, I thought it was time to give a hot dog bun recipe its own space.

Here it is, a no-knead recipe, the dough identical in makeup to these brioche rolls, with the mixing process simplified even further. If you are familiar with that brioche roll recipe, you know that as far as brioche recipes go, it’s on the light side, calling for a single egg and a modest amount of sugar, milk, and melted butter.

And while these enrichments are minimal, they create a dough that ultimately bakes into a bread with a light and tender crumb and a soft, thin crust that browns beautifully. As with the brioche roll recipe, this dough is on the high-hydration side, but it is not unmanageable. Find step-by-step instructions as well as video guidance below 🌭🌭🌭

PS: No-Knead Brioche Bread

Homemade Brioche Hot Dog Buns, Step by Step

First, gather your ingredients: flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, water, milk, egg, and melted butter:

The ingredients to make brioche hot dog buns on a countertop.

Whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast:

The dry ingredients to make brioche hot dog buns in a large glass bowl.

Whisk together your wet ingredients: water, milk, and egg:

The wet ingredients to make brioche hot dog buns all whisked together.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter:

Mix until you have a sticky dough ball:

Just-mixed brioche dough in a large glass bowl with a spatula in it.

Let the dough rest for 30 to 60 minutes, then stretch and fold the dough. Here’s video guidance:

After the dough has been stretched and folded…

… cover the bowl:

And let the dough rise until it doubles in volume:

A bowl filled with brioche doubled in volume after a 2-hour rise.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface:

Brioche dough turned out onto a lightly floured work surface.

Then divide it into 12 portions, using a scale if you care about each portion being identical:

Twelve portioned pieces of brioche dough on a countertop.

Ball up each portion. Here’s video guidance:

Twelve small dough balls on a countertop.

Once the portions have been balled up, roll each into a 4-inch log:

Twelve 4 inch oval rounds of dough resting on a countertop.

Cover and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes, then transfer to a parchment-lined sheet pan, stretching each into a 6- to 7-inch log as you do:

Let rest for another 30 to 45 minutes, or until the buns puff into each other and feel light to the touch, then brush with an egg wash:

Brioche hot dog buns, unbaked, on a sheet pan, brushed with egg wash.

Bake @ 425ºF for 15 to 20 minutes, or until evenly golden:

Just-baked brioche hot dog buns on a sheet pan.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the buns rest on the sheet pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and break apart:

Twelve just-baked brioche hot dog buns on a cooling rack.

Let cool for at least 20 minutes, before …

Twelve just-baked brioche hot dog buns on a cooling rack with one turned on its side.

… slicing, and filling each bun with something delicious, hot dogs or otherwise!

A hot dog in a brioche bun aside a Greek salad.
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Twelve just-baked brioche hot dog buns on a cooling rack.

No-Knead Brioche Hot Dog Buns

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Description

Light and airy, bronzed and burnished, homemade brioche hot dog buns are surprisingly easy to make. The no-knead dough comes together in minutes without a mixer, and the shaping is simple: if you can roll Play-Doh, you can make hot dog buns 🌭🌭🌭

Adapted from this recipe for Homemade Brioche Rolls

Notes:

  • As always, for best results use a scale to measure. I love this Ooni scale for its precision, especially when measuring smaller quantities of salt and yeast.  
  • Salt: The rule of thumb with bread is that the weight of the salt should be 2 to 3% the weight of the flour. For this recipe that is 10 to 15 grams. I always use 15 grams of salt, and I do not find the buns to be too salty, but, as you know, I have a high salt tolerance. Use an amount appropriate to your tastes and preferences. Finally, I always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, but you can use fine sea salt or whatever salt you like. 
  • Yeast: I prefer using instant yeast, SAF being my preference but if you are using active dry yeast: Use lukewarm water, sprinkle the yeast over it, and let it stand for 15 minutes or until it gets foamy; then proceed with the recipe.
  • To create a warm spot for your bread to rise, turn your oven on for one minute, then shut it off. That brief blast of heat will create a cozy place for your bread to rise.

Ingredients

  • 500 grams (about 4 cups) bread flour or all-purpose flour
  • 10–15 grams (2 to 3 teaspoons) kosher salt, see notes above
  • 8 grams (2 teaspoons) instant yeast
  • 28 grams (2 tablespoons) sugar
  • 225 grams water (about 1 cup)
  • 75 grams milk (about 1/3 cup)
  • 1 egg
  • 57 grams (4 tablespoons) melted butter
  • for the egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

  1. Mix the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, yeast, and sugar.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the water, milk, and egg until blended. 
  3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Using a spatula, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough ball. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30-60 minutes, then stretch and fold the dough: Fill a small bowl with water. Using a wet hand, grab an edge of the dough and pull it up and towards the center. Repeat this stretching and folding process, moving your hand around the edge of the dough with every set of stretches and folds. As you stretch and fold, you should feel the dough transform from being sticky and shaggy to smooth and cohesive. See the video above or here for guidance.
  4. Let it rise: Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature (or a slightly warm area, see notes above) until it has doubled in volume, roughly 2 hours.
  5. Portion the dough: Deflate the dough — I do this using a flexible bench scraper, which I use to release the dough from the sides of the bowl — then turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. If you want perfectly even buns — you know you do! — use a scale and divide the dough into 79-gram portions. 
  6. Ball up each portion: Clear a space on your work surface so that it is free of flour. Working with one portion at a time, flip it over onto the non-floured space so that the flour side of the portion is up. Cup your hand around the portion and roll it into a ball: video guidance above and here. Repeat until all 12 portions have been balled up. 
  7. Shape the buns: Using flour as needed to prevent sticking — you should need little to no flour here — press gently on each ball and roll into a 4-inch log (as though you were rolling out Play-Doh). Keep the logs on your work surface, cover with a tea towel, and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes — this allows the gluten to relax, which allows for easier final stretching. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using lightly floured hands, pick up a portion, stretch it into a 6- to 7-inch log, and place it on the prepared pan. Repeat, creating two rows of six tightly spaced buns — see photo above for a visual. 
  8. Final rise: Cover the buns with a towel, and let rise until the buns puff into each other and feel light to touch, about 30 to 45 minutes. After about 30 minutes of rising, preheat the oven to 425ºF.
  9. Egg wash and bake: Brush the rolls with the egg wash. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the buns are golden all around. Remove the pan from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack, and let the buns rest on the sheet pan for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, remove the buns from the pan and transfer to the cooling rack, breaking them apart as you do. Let cool for 20 minutes before using as you wish. 
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: no-knead
  • Cuisine: American