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New England style hot dog buns are tender, top-split perfection. Perfect for franks and also for lobster rolls.
Why we love this recipe
Buttery, tender, flavorful top-split buns make a dreamy vessel for hot dogs and lobster rolls alike. This recipe is easy and relatively quick to make, and it really doesn’t get better. These New England style hot dog buns:
- Are enriched with creamy mashed potato, butter, egg, and milk powder
- Have a soft and pillowy yet structurally sound crumb
- Sport a gorgeous, glossy, golden brown top
- And straight sides that can’t wait to be toasted on a buttery skillet
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour. This helps us form the strong stretchy network of gluten that traps carbon dioxide, allowing bread to rise. In an enriched dough such as this one, the extra strength of bread flour goes a long way toward creating a workable dough and strong yet tender bun.
- You can use active dry yeast or instant yeast interchangeably in this recipe.
- You’ll boil and mash a Yukon gold potato add and it to the dough to help create these rolls’ light, tender, flavorful crumb.
- Milk powder contributes flavor, tenderness, sweetness, browning capacity, and shelf life to these buns. You can use whatever fat content you can find, from skim to whole.
- I use fine sea salt in bread-making because it dissolves well and doesn’t contain any additives that could interfere with fermentation. You could use a good kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) if you prefer. In that case, measure by weight so you won’t have to worry about volumetric equivalency.
- A little bit of honey contributes a touch of sweetness but also aids browning and increases shelf life.
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a fabulous batch of New England style hot dog buns. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- First you’ll peel, dice, and boil the potato, then mash and let it cool. Mix the dry ingredients for the dough, then add the wet ingredients and knead until elastic.
- Let it proof until doubled in size, then shape the buns and let them rise again.
- Slit the buns and brush with egg wash, then bake for 24 minutes in the center of a 350°F oven.
- Once completely cooled, buns are ready to butter, toast, and use. That’s it!
Expert tips and FAQs
Do I need to use a special pan?
I prefer to use a New England Hot Dog Pan because it’s the easiest way to get evenly sized, straight-sided buns that rise together. But you don’t have to. I’ve included instructions in the recipe card below for spacing the buns appropriately and baking them on a silpat- or parchment-lined rimmed half sheet pan.
Can I make this recipe in advance? What about leftovers?
Yes! Once completely cooled, buns keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for 48 hours. Or wrap well and freeze for up to a year.
How to use them
These buns are perfect for:
- A hot dog bar
- Maine-style lobster rolls
- Connecticut-style lobster rolls
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New England Style Hot Dog Buns
New England style hot dog buns are tender, top-split perfection. Perfect for franks and also for lobster rolls.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 medium Yukon gold potato, about 6 ounces/(170 grams)
- 3 cups (360 grams) bread flour
- ¼ cup (18 grams) powdered milk
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
- 1 packet, 2 1/4 teaspoons(10 grams) active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) fine sea salt
- ⅔ cup (158 ml) warm water (about 105°F)
- 1 tablespoon (21 grams) mild-tasting honey
- 4 tablespoons (56 grams) butter, diced and softened to cool room temperature
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon (15 ml) safflower oil, for the bowl
For the egg wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) whole milk
Instructions
- Peel the potato and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place into a small pot and cover with cold water by a couple of inches.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.
- Drain very well and mash until perfectly smooth. Let cool to no more than 110°F before proceeding.
- Into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or a large mixing bowl, if you plan to knead by hand), place the bread flour, powdered milk, sugar, salt, and yeast. Whisk to combine well.
- Add the water, honey, butter, mashed potato, and beaten egg.
- Mix on low speed (number 2 on a KitchenAid mixer) until combined, and then let the machine run to knead the dough until it is fairly smooth and elastic, two to four minutes more. Dough will still be soft and sticky but should hold together.
- Pour the safflower oil into a clean bowl and swirl to coat the bottom. Scrape dough out of mixer into bowl and turn to coat with oil.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, an hour or two depending on the the temperature of your kitchen.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use a bench knife to divide into 10 equal pieces. I like to weigh them for evenness — they'll be about (82 grams) each, depending on the size of your potato.
- To shape each piece, fold it over onto itself a few times to create some surface tension, then roll into a 6-inch log with gently tapered ends. You can see this process in action in the video that accompanies this post.
- Arrange buns in a hot dog pan, or on a silpat- or parchment-lined half sheet pan 1/4 inch apart.
- Cover again and let rise until doubled in size once more, about an hour. Buns will be connected along their sides.
- Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center.
- When dough has doubled in size, use a very sharp knife or a lame if you have one to create a straight cut down the center of each bun's top, from end to end, to a depth of about 1/8 inch.
- To make the egg wash, use a fork to whisk together the egg and milk in a small bowl.
- Brush the buns with egg wash.
- Bake for about 24 minutes, until golden brown on top and cooked through.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a cooling rack for 20 minutes.
- Turn out of pan onto cooling rack, and let cool completely before proceeding.
- To serve, use a serrated knife as necessary to separate buns. Using the split down the center of each bun as a starting point, use the knife to cut 2/3 of the way down each bun, leaving the bottom 1/3 attached.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high, lightly spread the sides of each bun with softened butter, and toast on the skillet for a few minutes per side, until crisped and golden brown.
Notes
- You can use active dry yeast or instant yeast interchangeably in this recipe.
- Milk powder contributes flavor, tenderness, sweetness, browning capacity, and shelf life to these buns. You can use whatever fat content you can find, from skim to whole.
- I use fine sea salt in bread-making because it dissolves well and doesn't contain any additives that could interfere with fermentation. You could use a good kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) if you prefer. In that case, measure by weight so you won't have to worry about volumetric equivalency.
- Once completely cooled, buns keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for 48 hours. Or wrap well and freeze for up to a year.
Nutrition
Serving: 1, Calories: 182kcal, Carbohydrates: 35g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 38mg, Sodium: 79mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @umamigirl or tag #umamigirl!
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Is 1/4c milk powder really only 18g? That seems very light
Hi Eric, it depends on the brand and how finely it’s powdered. I developed the recipe by weight, so 18 grams will give you the exact result. It’s a nice, forgiving recipe, so a little more will be fine too if you’re measuring by volume.