These New England Hot Dog Buns are the be all end all of buns. Their unique shape and soft texture make them so delicious that you’ll never go back to store bought buns again!
Hot dogs, get your hot dogs! Hot dog buns that is. These homemade New England Hot Dog Buns, also known as New England top split hot dog rolls, are soft and delicious. They’re perfect for toasting, or the ideal vessel for hot dogs, sausages and my personal choice, lobster rolls! Not familiar with them? Let me show you the way.
New England Hot Dog Buns
- Easy To Make
- Easier To Eat/Serve
- Simple Ingredient List
- Versatile
These buns are a classic for a reason! Their unique shape, with the round top and flat sides are the perfect vessel for many dishes, and their soft, buttery texture and flavor is unmatched. If you’ve never tried these New England style hot dog buns, you’re in for a real treat!
Ingredient Notes
- Flour – All-purpose flour works best for these buns.
- Yeast – I used instant yeast, however active dry yeast can be used. It will just need to be activated first.
- Sugar – Plain granulated sugar.
- Milk Powder -Milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and does not need to be refrigerated, due to its low moisture content, which is why we are using it in these buns. This is the key ingredient that makes these buns unique.
- Cornstarch – This will give us super tender buns.
- Salt – Imperative when it comes to baking, it’s what flavors the buns, without it they would taste flat.
- Butter – I used unsalted, make sure it’s softened.
- Egg – Large egg for the buns and another will be beaten for the egg wash!
- Water – It is imperative that it is lukewarm water as to not kill the yeast.
How To Make New England Hot Dog Buns
- Make Dough: Add all the ingredients to the bowl of your mixer, starting with ¾ cup of water, and mix until the dough is elastic and shiny, about 5 minutes. Add more water as needed, until the dough is smooth, soft and comes clean from the sides of the bowl.
- Rise: Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp clean towel and allow it to rise in a warm, draft free environment until doubled in size.
- Prep Pan: Lightly grease your New England hot dog pan.
- Shape Dough: Cut the dough into 10 equal pieces. To be precise, you can weigh the dough, this way you’ll get 10 equal portions. Roll out each piece so that it’s about 4×6-inches, then tightly roll up the shorter side to form a tube shape. Pinch the seam to seal it and then place it sealed side down, in the prepared pan. Repeat with remaining pieces.
- Rest: Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place them in a warm, draft free environment. Let them rest for another 45 min to an hour or until doubled in size.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees.
- Bake: Brush the buns with the egg wash and transfer the pan to the preheated oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool: Let the buns cool enough so you can handle them comfortably. Remove them from the pan and let them finish cooling on a wire rack. Gently pull the buns apart before storing them or using them.
FAQs & Expert Tips
FAQs
New England-style hot dog buns, also known as “top-loading hot dog buns”, are the buns most commonly used in of course, New England, USA. They’re round at the top, with flat sides and may also be referred to as split-top, top-sliced, frankfurter rolls, or frankfurt rolls. No matter what you call them, they’re delicious!
New England Style buns are split in half at the top rather than along the side. They were invented in Maine by the JJ Nissen company in the 1940s by bakers and restaurateurs who wanted a hot dog bun that would stand up straight and be easier to prepare, serve, and eat! They also use a little more butter, and includes milk powder as opposed to regular milk, making it more tender and able to last longer!
Certainly! You can either make your dough in advance and let it sit overnight in the fridge, or you can make the rolls and freeze them for future use. Scroll down to “storing/freezing” for full instructions.
Of course you can use these buns for hot dogs and sausages, but they also make for a perfect vessel for a buttery lobster roll! Pile high with your favorite toppings and dig in! I always toast my buns so that the flat sides become extra crispy and delicious, with the inside staying soft and tender.
Tips
- If using active dry yeast, make sure it is activated before adding it in.
- To be precise, you can weigh the dough, this way you’ll get 10 equal portions.
- I like to toast my buns when serving because the straight sides become perfectly crunchy, and golden brown!
- If you don’t have milk powder, you can leave it out of the recipe. However, I highly recommend it. The milk powder is what tenderizes the bread, resulting in a soft and delicious roll.
- To make these New England hot dog buns, you will need a specialty pan to get those flat sides. You can find them on Amazon.
- You could make your own tray with foil. But if all else fails, you can bake the buns really close together on a regular baking tray to achieve those soft sides (which may not be as straight as the traditional, but will still be soft and delicious).
Storing
Since we used milk powder, these buns can be stored on the countertop, wrapped tightly or in a bag with the air pressed out for up to 5 days.
Freezing
To keep the buns longer, wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and place them in the freezer in a freezer bag for up to 2 months.
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New England Hot Dog Buns
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon instant yeast
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ cup milk powder
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon butter unsalted, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1-1¼ cups lukewarm water
- 1 egg beaten, for egg wash
Instructions
- Make Dough: Add all the ingredients to the bowl of your mixer, starting with ¾ cup of water, and mix until the dough is elastic and shiny, about 5 minutes. Add more water as needed, until the dough is smooth, soft and comes clean from the sides of the bowl.
- Rise: Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp clean towel and allow it to rise in a warm, draft free environment until doubled in size.
- Prep Pan: Lightly grease your New England hot dog pan.
- Shape Dough: Cut the dough into 10 equal pieces. To be precise, you can weigh the dough, this way you'll get 10 equal portions. Roll out each piece so that it's about 4×6-inches, then tightly roll up the shorter side to form a tube shape. Pinch the seam to seal it and then place it sealed side down, in the prepared pan. Repeat with remaining pieces.
- Rest: Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place them in a warm, draft free environment. Let them rest for another 45 min to an hour or until doubled in size.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees.
- Bake: Brush the buns with the egg wash and transfer the pan to the preheated oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool: Let the buns cool enough so you can handle them comfortably. Remove them from the pan and let them finish cooling on a wire rack. Gently pull the buns apart before storing them or using them.
Recipe Notes
- If using active dry yeast, make sure it is activated before adding it in.
- To be precise, you can weigh the dough, this way you’ll get 10 equal portions.
- I like to toast my buns when serving because the straight sides become perfectly crunchy, and golden brown!
- If you don’t have milk powder, you can leave it out of the recipe. However, I highly recommend it. The milk powder is what tenderizes the bread, resulting in a soft and delicious roll.
- To make these New England hot dog buns, you will need a specialty pan to get those flat sides. You can find them on Amazon.
- You could make your own tray with foil. But if all else fails, you can bake the buns really close together on a regular baking tray to achieve those soft sides (which may not be as straight as the traditional, but will still be soft and delicious).
- Since we used milk powder, these buns can be stored on the countertop, wrapped tightly or in a bag with the air pressed out for up to 5 days.
- To keep the buns longer, wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and place them in the freezer in a freezer bag for up to 2 months.
I have made 4 batches of these buns but am not quite getting it right. I have the special pans but my batches are coming out thick and fragile. I am a new baker with only banana bread under my belt so far. I don’t think you can mess up banana bread. But I followed the instructions and am not getting the fluffy rising dough that you would expect. I am using Fleischmann’s activedry yeast and following the packets instructions. It’s wonderfully tasting but just not fluffy. Mine just falls apart. Help.
That’s because you’re using active dry yeast, in which case you need to activate the yeast first before using in warm water and a bit of sugar. So what I would do is warm up the 1 cup of water so that it’s lukewarm (about 100 degrees) add the 2 tablespoons of sugar and the yeast. Stir it a bit, then let it activate for about 10 to 15 minutes. If the yeast is good it should froth up.
Very much wanting to try this recipe but my question is how much dry active yeast would I use instead of instant yeast. I’ve never used instant and have a large supply of active dry yeast. I bake daily and dont want to make a special trip for one item as I live 30 minutes from closest grocery store. Thank you I cant wait to make these rolls exactly what I e been looking for.
The same amount, the only difference is that active dry yeast needs to be activated first, whereas instant yeast doesn’t need to.
What if I don’t have the New England hot dog pan? Can I use a rectangular gratin dish for instance?
To make these New England hot dog buns, you will need a specialty pan to get those flat sides.
However, you could make your own tray with foil. But if all else fails, you can bake the buns really close together on a regular baking tray to achieve those soft sides (which may not be as straight as the traditional, but will still be soft and delicious). Hope this helps!
Do you need a mixer or can you mix the dough by hand?
Absolutely!
Can you use regular milk to replace the milk powder and some or all of the water?
I would replace all the water with milk.
Cannot wait to try these. Do you think I could use my bread machine to mix the dough and go through the first rise?
You can definitely try it out for the mixing and see how it rises there. Let us know how it went!
Can you use milk instead of milk powder?
You can, but the milk powder is what makes these rolls extra soft. 🙂