Easy Homemade Pizza Buns - Seasons and Suppers (2024)

For the pizza bun dough:

• 2 1/2 – 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoon Active Dry or Instant yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water, lukewarm, about 105F
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable, canola or other neutral oil

For the toppings:

• 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce, store bought or make your own
• 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

• I have recently updated this post, but rest assured that the original recipe above has not changed. I have adjusted the yield of this recipe from 16 buns (original) to 12 buns (new), for a bit bigger pizza buns. I've also added some additional detail to the instructions.

• *For Active Dry yeast, you'll need to proof the yeast in 1/4 cup of the lukewarm water and a pinch of sugar before adding to the bowl. Be sure to reduce the additional lukewarm water added accordingly (only use 3/4 cup).

• For the dough: In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the kneading hook, mix together 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt and the Instant yeast. In a measuring cup, combine the lukewarm water with the oil. Add the lukewarm water mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. (Add the Active Dry yeast mixture now, if using). Knead by hand or with the mixer, adding more flour in small increments, as needed, until the dough comes together into a smooth dough, that wraps the kneading hood and cleans the bowl. (I find I generally end up using just shy of 3 cups of flour in total.) Remove the dough to a floured work surface and knead briefly. The dough shouldn't stick to your hands or the work surface. If it does, add a touch more flour, as needed. Grease a bowl and place the dough ball into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 30 – 45 minutes, depending on how warm your kitchen is.

• Prepare two large baking sheets. You can use bar or line with a sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.

• Remove the dough to a floured work surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces You can do that by weighing the entire piece of dough, then dividing by 12 to calculate the weight for each piece, then weighing out the pieces individually (mine were 53g each). Alternately, you can cut the dough evenly in half. then cut each piece in half again, repeating until you have 12 roughly equal sized pieces.

• Take a piece of dough. Form it in to a ball, then stretch in to a circle about 3 inches in diameter. You don't need to stretch them completely at this point. Once you have stretched each one, go back and stretch each piece to about 4-inches diameter. Repeat with each piece of dough, placing 6 on each of the prepared baking sheets (you can place them fairly close together as they don't spread much, but don't allow them to actually touch each other). On the baking sheet, stretch the rounds one last time, until they are about 5 inches in diameter.

• Using a Tablespoon measure from your cutlery drawer, top each piece of dough with with a heaping Tablespoon of pizza sauce, spreading it over the top, going right to the edge, as far as you can without it spilling over the sides. Top with a generous amount of shredded cheddar cheese. Repeat with all the buns. Let stand 20-25 minutes, while you preheat the oven.

• With racks in the upper and lower third of your oven, preheat oven to 375° F. (regular bake setting/not fan assisted). *For softer pizza buns, bake at 350F and extend the baking time slightly. After the buns have stood for 20-25 minutes or so (or until they look a little puffy around the outside edges), bake in preheated for 20-25 minutes , switching the pans from top to bottom half way through baking. Cook golden and bubbly. Remove from oven then immediately remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy immediately or place in an airtight container and refrigerate. Or see below for freezing instructions!

• Freezing: These buns freeze really well. Freeze them on baking sheet and then transfer to a freezer bag. Enjoy straight from the freezer, no need to thaw! Just place the frozen buns on a baking sheet and warm in a preheated 400° oven for 7 or 8 minutes.

As written, the pizza buns will have a bit of crisp when freshly baked, but will soften as sit and are refrigerated or frozen. If you are looking for really soft pizza buns, bake at 350F instead, as indicated above, be sure to use parchment paper on the baking sheets and after baking, place into airtight containers while they are still a bit warm. I’ve also found that using half milk/half water produces a softer bun, if you’d like to experiment with that.

Be sure to read the notes in the original post, for more tips on making this recipe. You’ll also find step-by-step photos there, that you might find helpful.

Cuisine: American

Course: Lunch, Main Course, Snack