Basically 100% Homemade Cheeseburgers

link to original bun recipe

Dinner June 3, 2025

Note: I'm working on figuring out quantities still. Recipe is currently for 4 burgers, the bun recipe claims to make 8 large buns, but I ended up with 7 buns that were a little smaller than store-bought buns in width, but a little taller in height. I probably needed to be flattened a little more to be a smidge wider and shorter. Might need to ¾th the recipe for 4 buns that are the size I'd want.

These burger toppings are 100% my personal preference in ingredients and ratios.

Ingredients:

For Buns:

3½ cups (420g) All-Purpose Flour

¾ cup (198g) Water, lukewarm

2 tablespoons (28g) Butter

1 large Egg

¼ cup (50g) Granulated Sugar

1¼ teaspoons Salt

1 tablespoon (9g) Instant Yeast

Bun Toppings:

2 tablespoons (28g) Butter

1 large Egg White, whisked with 2 tablespoons cold water

Sesame Seeds

For Burgers:

8 slices Thick-Cut Bacon

1lb Beef Chuck

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

8 slices American Cheese

(Homemade) Pickles

Red Onion, thinly sliced

Mustard

Directions:

For Buns:

Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, smooth dough.

Cover the dough and let it rise until it's nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 to 2 hours.

Gently deflate the dough and divide it into eight pieces (about 100g each). Shape each piece into a ball.

[Aiming for 100g got me seven pieces.]

Flatten each dough ball with the palm of your hand until it's about 3" in diameter.

Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until noticeably puffy, about an hour. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter. To make seeded buns, brush the egg white/water mixture right over the melted butter; it'll make the seeds adhere. Sprinkle buns with the seeds of your choice.

Bake the buns for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove them from the oven and brush with the remaining melted butter; this will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust. If you've made seeded buns, apply the melted butter carefully, to avoid brushing the seeds off the buns.

Cool the buns on a rack before slicing in half, horizontally. Store leftover buns, well-wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

For Burgers:

Cook bacon in a large skillet to desired crispiness. Keep the rendered fat for cooking the burgers.

Run beef though Kitchen Aide's meat grinder attachment with the medium grinding plate twice.

Divide the beef into 4 equal pieces, being careful not to squish the meat too much. Gently form into patties that are a little wider than your burger buns. Season each side with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Cook the patties in the skillet with the bacon fat over high heat. After turning the patties over, add two slices of cheese to each burger so it can melt while the other side cooks.

Add one piece of bacon to the bottom of a bun, place a cheeseburger patty on top, and then top with a second piece of bacon. Then add onion, pickles, and mustard.

Final Notes:

I kind of rushed making the buns, so I didn't love how they turned out, and feel pretty confident I could do better. But I also didn't exactly follow the recipe and used whole milk in place of the water and butter that goes into the dough...

But the burger was so good! Grinding your own meat makes a surprisingly large difference. We had the burgers over two days, and the patties that were eaten a day later didn't seem any different than the ones made fresh. The first day I only used one slice of cheese and knew I wanted more, two slices was perfect for a quarter-pound patty for me.

Cheeseburger and cold harissa glazed carrots. Not exactly a normal combination with how the burger was dressed, but I didn't really care.