Light, easy, slightly sweet, homemade brioche buns are perfect for burgers

Friends were coming over and hamburgers were on the menu when a photo of brioche buns popped up on my Facebook feed.

I’d made hamburger buns before, using a favorite bread recipe. The buns always tasted great, but I struggled to get the size right. And, frankly, buying them at the store is so easy.

But the Smitten Kitchen’s photos – with eight perfectly shaped buns – were too tempting.

The recipe was simple. Because half our diners were children and would have smaller burgers, I made 10 buns instead of eight and ended up with an assortment of sizes. In the future, if I wanted eight similarly sized buns, I might pull out the kitchen scale to help me divide the dough. I forgot to put sesame seeds on the grocery list, so those got left off.

Before serving, we sliced the buns and toasted them on the grill. They were slightly sweet, and perfect with our patties, sauteed mushrooms and provolone.

These will definitely make a return appearance at future backyard barbecues.

Light Brioche Burger Buns

From Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Comme Ça restaurant in Los Angeles, via the New York Times

3 tablespoons warm milk

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs

3 cups bread flour

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Sesame seeds (optional)

In a glass measuring cup, combine one cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat one egg.

In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, well-floured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be on the sticky side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the buns will get. Try to leave them tackier than you would a round loaf.

Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm place for one to two hours. (At this point I put the buns in the refrigerator for a few hours and pulled them out an hour before I was ready to bake.)

Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Yield: 8 (4- to 5-inch) burger buns