Summertime means grilling season, and we have been making burgers on repeat! I finally found the perfect recipe to compliment our burgers – sourdough hamburger buns with fresh milled flour. These homemade hamburger buns are nutrient dense, but still light, fluffy and delicious. As long as you feed your sourdough starter the night before, you can have hot buns ready by dinnertime, no instant yeast needed!

Top view of several hamburger buns made with fresh milled flour on a cutting board

Looking for more recipes with fresh milled flour? Try these delicious greek yogurt muffins, fresh milled cream of wheat, or a classic sourdough whole wheat artisan loaf.

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Reasons To Love This Recipe

Sourdough + Freshly-Milled Flour = The bread sweet spot. Not only is baking with freshly milled flour incredibly nutrient dense, but using sourdough is a great for your gut, too. In my opinion, this is the ultimate “healthy” way to enjoy all of your favorite breads.

Soft and Fluffy Texture: Despite being 100% whole grain, these buns are really soft, while still holding up to all your favorite burger toppings.

No Junk Ingredients – Store-bought buns are full of preservatives, seed oils, and and other additives. These homemade buns have nothing artificial, no refined flour—just real simple ingredients you can feel good about feeding your family!

Perfect for Any Meal: Use them for burgers, sandwiches, or even breakfast egg sandwiches. We’ve even used leftover burger buns like bagels with cream cheese for breakfast. They’re incredibly versatile!

Fresh milled flour hamburger buns with a bread knife

The Benefits of Fresh Milled Flour

Fresh milled flour is the superior way to bake! It is flour at its best—full of nutrients, and incredible rich flavor. When grain is freshly ground, it retains the entire wheat kernel—including the bran, germ, and endosperm. These parts are rich in essential vitamins (like B vitamins), minerals (iron, magnesium, zinc), antioxidants, and healthy fats. However, once wheat berries are milled and exposed to oxygen, these nutrients begin to break down rapidly—some studies show significant losses in vitamin content within just 24 hours. After three days, up to 90% of the nutrition has been lost! By using fresh milled flour at home, you’re getting flour that’s not only more flavorful, but significantly more nutritious.

Plus, grinding your own flour is such a rewarding skill to learn!

Ingredients in Fresh Milled Flour Hamburger Buns

These delicious buns are made from scratch and with 100% freshly milled flour. Here’s what you will need to make them.

Fed & Active Sourdough Starter – Sourdough starter that has been fed and roughly doubled in size. It should be bubbly and thick!

Hard White Wheat Berries or Hard White Fresh Milled Flour – If you have your own grain mill, you will need hard white wheat berries for this recipe to mill into fresh flour. Alternatively, you may be able to purchase flour from a local bakery or health food store. The fresher the better to retain the most nutrients.

Raw Honey – I prefer to purchase real raw honey from local sources, to ensure it hasn’t been diluted and retains all of it’s beneficial properties.

Salt – I love to use unrefined mineral salt in all of my recipes. Redmonds real salt is my favorite!

Water – filtered water, lukewarm if possible.

Egg Wash & Sesame Seeds (optional) – for topping your burger buns, egg wash and sesame seeds are the finishing touch for really beautiful and perfectly browned burger buns.

Close up vertical image of homemade whole wheat hamburger buns

Other Things You Will Need

Grain Mill – If you are milling your own wheat berries, you will need a grain mill or a high powered blender. I have the Mockmill 100 and it’s worked really well for me.
Large mixing bowl
Plastic Wrap
Large baking sheet
Parchment Paper
Bench scraper or large knife

How To Make Sourdough Hamburger Buns With Fresh Milled Flour

This recipe is really easy, but you do have to plan ahead just a little bit to enjoy fresh hamburger buns with dinner. I have a sample schedule for you further down in this post!

Feed Your Starter

The night before you want hamburger buns, make sure to feed your sourdough starter so that it will be bubbly and active in the morning. I usually feed my sourdough starter on at least a 1-1-1 ratio, meaning equal amounts of flour and water based on how much sourdough starter is in your jar (starter – flour – water). Typically i feed closer to a 1-3-3 ratio for a really active starter.

Make Your Dough

The next morning, your sourdough starter should be thick, bubbling, and roughly doubled in size. It’s ready to go!

1. If you are grinding your own wheat berries, prepare your flour by running the wheat berries through a grain mill, or with a high powered blender.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt together.

3. Add the sourdough starter, honey, and a cup of water. Mix the dough with a spoon or with your hands, adding water until the dough just comes together.

Freshly mixed whole wheat hamburger bun dough

4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Stretch & Folds

After 30 minutes, uncover the dough and do a set of stretch and folds. Do this by stretching one side of the dough up, and folding it over the top. Rotate and repeat until you have turned the bowl in a full circle.

Perform 2 more sets of stretch and folds every 30 minutes, recovering the dough with plastic wrap in-between each one.

First Rise

After 3 sets of stretch and folds, recover the dough and allow it to rise until roughly doubled, about 6 hours. The rise time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. It will help if your dough is in a warm place.

Shape The Buns & Second Rise

Once the dough has doubled, it’s ready to shape into hamburger buns!

whole wheat hamburger bun dough that has doubled

1. Prepare a large baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.

2. On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough

3. Using a bench scraper or sharp knife, divide the dough into eight equal pieces. I like to make a long “log” of dough, and then half it, and half it again.

4. Shape each piece of dough into a smooth ball by folding the outsides into the middle. Take the dough ball in your palms and flatten it while rotating it. You can also press it against your work surface.

5. Place all of the shaped hamburger buns on the prepared parchment paper and cover them with a tea towel.

6. Let the dough rise until puffy, about 1-2 hours.

Bake The Buns

1. Prepare an egg wash by mixing an egg with 1 tablespoon of water.

2. Preheat the oven to 375

3. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

4. Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown and cooked through.

5. Let the buns cool on a wire rack, and slice and enjoy with your burgers!

Storing Leftovers

Homemade hamburger buns are best enjoyed fresh! If you have any leftover hamburger buns, store them in an airtight container. At room temperature, they will keep for a few days. Alternatively, you can freeze hamburger buns for up to 3 months. To thaw them, leave them out at room temperature or reheat in an oven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! While fresh milled flour has the most nutrients and flavor, you can use store-bought whole wheat flour. Just note that the texture and rise may differ slightly.

Fresh milled flour absorbs moisture differently than pre-packaged flour. The dough might feel sticky at first but will firm up after a rest. Try not to over-flour it too early.

Yes! I will often make a double batch to have some extras in the freezer. You can bake and cool the buns, then freeze them in an airtight bag or container. Bake them in the oven or set them out at room temperature before serving.