These sourdough hot dog buns are easy to make, with a tender crumb and rich flavor from long fermentation.
They're study enough to hold your favorite fillings while still staying pillowy and soft – everything you want in a homemade hot dog bun!
Why You'll Love Them:
- Perfect for grilling season. Make a big batch and freeze them so you have buns all summer long!
- The best of both worlds. If you love hot dogs but also love the goodness of sourdough, this is the recipe for you!
- Fluffy texture. These buns are soft and delicious, but strong enough to hold your favorite hot dogs, sausages, and subs.
Ingredients
- Active sourdough starter: Ensure your starter is mature (more than 3 weeks old), has been regularly fed, and is at its peak.
- All-purpose flour: We like to use all-purpose flour for this recipe because most people have it on hand, but bread flour is great if you prefer – you can even make your own.
- Milk: We recommend using milk with some fat, which helps with tenderness; we recommend either 2% or whole milk.
- Butter: This adds richness to the dough. A must-have!
- Sugar: Using granulated sugar keeps the moisture level in the ideal range. This is essential for maintaining the correct dough hydration.
- Egg: A single large egg enriches the dough enough for it to be tender, yet sturdy. If you like, you can use another egg for an egg wash (this helps the buns brown beautifully).
- Salt: Any type of fine salt will do!
How to Make Sourdough Hot Dog Buns
- Add the milk, butter, sugar, and salt to a saucepan and warm over medium heat until it reaches about 90ºF (32ºC), or until warm.
- Transfer the warm milk and butter mixture to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, and add the sourdough starter. Whisk to combine.
- Add about half of the flour (2 cups or 250g) to the bowl.
- Mix on low-medium speed until all of the flour is moistened.
Without a Stand Mixer
This recipe can be made with or WITHOUT a stand mixer. Mix the dough using a silicone spatula or dough whisk. When kneading by hand, we recommend wetting your fingertips to help with sticking.
- Add the egg and mix it until well incorporated.
- Slowly add the rest of the flour to the dough, using the dough hook attachment if using a stand mixer.
- Continue to mix until a shaggy dough forms, and knead until the dough is smooth, elastic, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (5-7 minutes if using a mixer, 8-10 minutes by hand).
- First rise: Place the dough ball in a greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 8-12 hours, until it is *nearly* doubled in size and puffy.
Proofing & Bulk Fermentation Time
With sourdough, the exact time for proofing is not possible to discern. There are a lot of factors at play, including the strength of your starter and the ambient temperature of your home. It's very important to go by appearance, which is why you become a better baker over time – experience is your greatest teacher!
You want the dough to be almost doubled (it will not quite double), puffy, and it should bounce back when gently pressed with a finger.
We don't recommend fermenting this for a very long time at room temperature, as you're likely to overproof the dough (leading to deflated buns). Instead, if you want to ferment over a longer period of time, we recommend moving the dough to the refrigerator for cold fermentation. See the recipe card for details.
How to Shape Hot Dog Buns
- Once the dough is puffy and has increased 80% in size, you're ready to shape the hot dog rolls and do a second rise.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces using a bench scraper. For rolls that are the same size, weigh the dough and divide it by 8. For most bakers, eyeballing it is totally fine!
- Place the hot dog rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover loosely.
- Proof for another 2-3 hours, or until obviously puffy and increased in size.
- Bake in a 375ºF (190ºC) oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the insides are cooked through (190-210ºF internal temperature).
If desired, brush the tops of the buns with an egg wash or melted butter. - Transfer the baked rolls to a cooling rack and cool before slicing and serving with hot dogs, sausages, or as sandwich rolls.
To store for later, keep cooled leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days (or freeze for longer storage).
Ways to Use Sourdough Hot Dog Buns
- Hot dogs (of course!)
- Sausages
- As mini sub sandwich rolls
- Sloppy joes (try my sneaky joes recipe)
- Once they are a few days old, you can cube the leftover buns to make sourdough croutons, sourdough bread pudding, or sourdough breakfast casserole.
Cold Fermentation
If you want to do an extended fermentation, we recommend that you cold proof using the refrigerator.
- Start by proofing at room temperature for 4-6 hours, then transferring the covered bowl to the fridge to ferment for another 16-36 hours.
- Your shaped hot dog buns will need a bit of extra time to rise after shaping, since they need to warm up a little.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
Check your starter and ensure you are using an active starter that shows lots of bubbles and floats when added to the liquid mixture. Also, ensure you allow your dough to rise long enough (it should be about 80% larger in size). Depending on the temperature of your room, you may require more fermentation time than outlined in the recipe.
Your dough may have overproofed, meaning it does not have adequate rising power left. If that is the case, you'll notice the dough feels fragile, jiggly, and may start to collapse when you touch it. Overproofed dough works well for focaccia!
Another option is that your shaping wasn't quite tight enough. Try tighter shaping with tension next time.
If your bread is too sour, reduce the rising time or use your starter sooner after feeding (the goal is peak rise, before it falls). The longer the sourdough ferments, the stronger the sour flavor.
If your bread is not sour enough, try a longer fermentation.
If you're an experienced baker, you can use sourdough discard as long as you use commercial yeast along with it. Discard has very little (if any) leavening left in it, so we recommend using instant yeast alongside the discard. Your rising time will be SIGNIFICANTLY less (just 1 hour for the first rise, 30 minutes for the second), so be mindful of that.
More Favorite Sourdough Recipes to Try:
If you loved this sourdough hot dog bun recipe, let me know by leaving a 5-star review in the recipe card or commenting below! You can also tag me on Instagram @folkkitchenblog.
📖 Recipe
Sourdough Hot Dog Buns
Ingredients
- 240 g milk whole or 2% recommended
- 58 g unsalted butter
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 11 g salt
- 100 g active sourdough starter
- 500-540 g all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
Instructions
Cook Mode- In a saucepan, add the milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Set over medium heat and bring to about 90ºF (32ºC). The milk should be warm, and the butter just starting to melt.
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl or stand mixer and add the sourdough starter. Using a whisk or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, stir to combine.
- Add about half of the flour (2 cups/250 grams) Mix on low-medium speed until combined.
- Add the egg and mix until incorporated.
- Switch your whisk attachment for your dough hook attachment and slowly add the remaining flour to the dough. Continue to mix until a shaggy dough forms; the dough should come together and pull away from the sides of the bowl*.
- Knead by hand (8-10 minutes) or using the dough attachment on your mixer (5-7 minutes). The dough should be soft, slightly tacky, and elastic.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 8-12 hours, until puffy and nearly doubled in size (it won’t quite double).
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8-10 equal pieces (for equal-sized buns, divide the weight of the proofed dough by 8, and weigh each piece).
- Shape each into a log by flattening slightly into a rectangle, then roll each piece tightly into a 5-inch log, pinching the seams closed with wet fingers.
- Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced 2” apart. Cover loosely.
- Let rise 2-3 hours, or until noticeably puffy.
- Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the internal temperature reads 190-210ºF (88-93ºC).
- Transfer the sourdough hot dog buns to a wire rack to cool before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
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Dorothy Bigelow says
These are so good! Nice and soft, but they hold all of the hot dog toppings. Freeze great too.