Hamburger Buns Lab143 recipes
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What goes into hamburger buns

The main ingredient list of all 143 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • Most hamburger bun recipes use butter (85%); 17% use oil.
  • For sugar, 82% use white sugar alone and 16% honey or maple syrup (with or without sugar).
  • Of the recipes with yeast, 55% call for instant or rapid-rise yeast, 30% fresh yeast, and 8% active dry yeast.
  • For the liquid, 37% use milk and water together, 32% milk alone, and 27% water alone.
  • 6% add cheese, herbs or other savory; 93% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 500 g of flour, the size of a typical batch. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical batch on every ingredient.

Butter, oil or both

Each recipe counted once, by the fats in its main ingredient list.

Oil includes coconut oil (1 recipe) and olive oil (8%).

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

"With honey or maple syrup" means any liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup and other syrup), with or without dry sugar.

Instant or active dry yeast

Among the 137 recipes with yeast, by the type the ingredient list names.

  • Instant or rapid-rise

    median 9 g yeast · closest to typical: Classic Hamburger Buns (foodnetwork.com)

    55%76 recipes

  • Fresh (cake) yeast

    median 20 g yeast · closest to typical: Pains à hamburgers (chefsimon.com)

    30%42 recipes

  • Active dry

    median 8 g yeast · closest to typical: Burger Buns Recipe (sugarspunrun.com)

    8%12 recipes

  • Everything else

    5%7 recipes

Rapid-rise, quick-rise and bread machine yeast count as instant.

Water, milk or something richer

Each recipe counted once, by the liquids in its main ingredient list.

Whole eggs, yolks or whites

Each recipe counted once, by the parts of the egg it uses.

  • Whole eggs only

    median 67 g egg · closest to typical: Panini per hamburger (cucchiaio.it)

    62%89 recipes

  • No egg

    closest to typical: Hamburger- oder Hot Dog Buns (gutekueche.at)

    13%20 recipes

  • Whole eggs and egg yolks

    median 91 g egg · closest to typical: Burger Buns (backenmachtgluecklich.de)

    11%17 recipes

  • Egg yolks only

    median 35 g egg · closest to typical: Pain à hotdog maison (cuisineaz.com)

    5%8 recipes

  • Whole eggs and egg whites

    median 99 g egg · closest to typical: Classic Hamburger Buns (foodnetwork.com)

    3%5 recipes

  • Everything else

    2%4 recipes

A large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, a yolk about 18 g, a white about 32 g.

Which flour

Each recipe counted once, by the flours it combines.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 93% add none of these.

  • Cheese, herbs or other savory6%

    onion or chives 3% · black pepper 2% · cheese 2%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 143 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 500 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Salt100%

    143 recipes · median 9 g

  2. Yeast95%

    137 recipes · median 10 g

  3. Granulated sugar91%

    131 recipes · median 29 g

  4. Butter85%

    122 recipes · median 50 g

  5. All-purpose flour83%

    120 recipes · median: all of the flour

  6. Eggs78%

    112 recipes · median 67 g (about 1.5 large eggs)

  7. Milk71%

    102 recipes · median 200 g

  8. Water66%

    95 recipes · median 200 g

  9. Seeds27%

    39 recipes · median 30 g

  10. Bread flour20%

    30 recipes · median: all of the flour

  11. Egg yolks19%

    28 recipes · median 21 g

  12. Honey13%

    20 recipes · median 25 g

  13. Olive oil8%

    12 recipes · median 27 g

  14. Vegetable oil8%

    12 recipes · median 57 g

  15. Sourdough starter7%

    11 recipes · median 160 g

  16. Egg whites6%

    9 recipes · median 37 g

Toppings and extras

27% of recipes (39 of 143) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Seeds16% (23)
  • Eggs14% (21)
  • Water5% (8)
  • Milk3% (5)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out. Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 500 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.