There was a girl singing Summertime (and the living is easy) outside of my window as I made these Sloppy Joes today. She wasn’t the best singer in the world. I imagine that if I had the gall to sing in public, I’d be just around average as well. A lot of times it’s way more about feel and guts when it comes to singing in the streets. You just have to step out there and mean in. That’s just about everything.
I’m feel the same way when I step in the kitchen to make bread. Feel and guts, every time.
I’ve had every intention of making homemade hamburger-type buns for (no joke) two years now. Two years!?
I think that’s called self-procrastination. Sometimes even the best laid plans take years to activate. Feel and guts! I’m telling you. It’s so real.
Here’s the deal with my baby steps into this homemade hamburger bun situation: I wanted my hamburger buns to be as rich and lovely as brioche buns without the tremendous amount of work it takes to make actual brioche buns.
I wanted a cheat!
I’ve had my eyes on Deb’s recipe from Light Brioche Buns for (you guessed it) years. With just a bit of butter and a bit of egg, her recipe seems just right.
Except… I forgot to add the egg.
Two years and I forget the egg!!!!!
Luckily, this hamburger bun story still has a happy ending.
We’re working with bread flour, mixed with a bit of all-purpose flour. Truth be told I used just a bit of while whole wheat flour. I don’t often make so many intentional and not so intentional substitutions. I promise. Butter is worked into the flours, kinda like we’re making biscuits!
Warm water, milk, years and sugar are stirred together and added to our flour mixture.
This is just a bowl and spoon happening. No mixer needed!
The dough starts shaggy.
And stays pretty shaggy.
We knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes.
The dough will be tacky, but not overly sticky. That’s because I forgot the egg.
There’s no need to add extra flour.
After 10 minutes the dough will be pretty, smooth, and happy.
We leave it to rest in a big bowl coated well with olive oil.
While the dough rests, the Turkey Sloppy Joes come together!
Onions, red bell pepper, a bit of jalapeño, and a good amount of garlic.
Tomato sauce and paste, barbecue sauce, and hella Worcestershire sauce, too! I like to shake in the hot sauce as well. That vinegar spice is perfect!
Brown sugar for sweetness, and chili powder for that round spice flavor. It’s all very good!
Ground turkey, of course!
It’s cooked down with the onions, peppers, and garlic.
Once the vegetables and turkey is cooked down we add the chili powder, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
Tomato paste helps deepen the rich tomato flavor.
All mixed up and so hard not to devour by the spoonful!
Just as the sloppy joe filling finishes simmering, the dough finishes its first rise.
The dough is divided into 16 pieces. Each piece is rolled into a little bun and placed on a lightly greased piece of parchment paper. Before we brush with egg and sprinkle with poppy and salt, the buns need to rest for another hour or so. They need more time to fluff (don’t we all).
Lightly brushed with egg wash and sprinkled generously with sea salt and poppy seeds.
Baked to golden!
If we tap the buns just out of the oven, they’ll sound hollow. That’s how we know they’re done.
A major amount of sloppy joe filling, please!
The buns, even without the egg, are light and fluffy. The dough was totally easy to work with, and I love how golden and brioche-y these buns are! Two years was worth the wait… but wwwhhhyyy did I wait?
Check out Deb’s recipe for Light Brioche Burger Buns for her plus-egg recipe although I had great results and a super manageable dough by making it without the egg.
This is a most lovely summer meal! It’s perfectly comforting and familiar.
Turkey Sloppy Joes with Buttery Buns
makes 16 small sandwiches
recipes adapted from Smitten Kitchen and NY Times
For the Buns:
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons warm milk (any fat percentage)
2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) active dry yeast
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, beaten with a splash of water
coarse sea salt and poppy seeds for topping, optional
For the Turkey Filling:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 of a seeded jalapeño, minced
1 pound ground turkey meat
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons butter, for serving
To make the Buttery Buns, in a liquid measuring cup, stir together water, milk, sugar, and yeast. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. The mixture will foam and froth. That’s right! If the mixture does not froth, start over again with new yeast.
In a medium bowl, whisk together bread flour, all-purpose flour, and salt. Add the softened butter and use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture will be crumbly.
Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to stir together into a shaggy dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes. The dough will be tacky, but not overly sticky. That’s right. After kneading into a smooth dough, place the dough in the medium bowl we used to stir the dough together. Just grease it well with a bit of olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest until doubled in size, between 1 and 1 1/2 hours.
Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Remove the risen dough from the bowl and place on a clean counter. Divide the dough in 16 pieces. Gently roll each piece of dough into a round ball and place, leaving about 2 inches of space, on the prepared baking sheets.
Lightly spray a piece or two of plastic wrap and place sprayed side down over the buns. Allow to rest for 1 hour.
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a small bowl beat together egg and a splash of water. After the rolls have risen a second time, gently and lightly brush each bun with egg. Sprinkle generously with poppy seeds and sea salt, if using.
Bake rolls until golden brown, turning baking sheets halfway through baking, for about 12 to 14 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.
To make the Turkey Filling, in a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and red pepper and cook until softened and slightly browned, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the jalapeño and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes more. Add the turkey and stir, breaking the turkey into bits as it cooks down and browns.
Once turkey meat is completely cooked through, add tomato paste, brown sugar, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
Add the tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce. Stir until thoroughly combined and warmed through. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.
To serve, melt butter on a griddle over medium heat. Cut each bun in half and toast of the griddle. Top each bottom half generously with sloppy joe filling and serve.
43 Responses
I made the Turkey Sloppy Joe recipe for my husband. He loves it. He asks for it often now. I’m too intimidated to even “try” to make the rolls – so I used burrito wraps and called them “Sloppy Joe Burritos.” I thought they were delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
I like the way you think, Carol. Thatta girl!
Delicious! The only thing I would change would be to maybe double the recipe because my family devoured everything :)
This recipe is a keeper! I just made this for dinner tonight and my kids (ages 11, 8, and 5) who are picky eaters loved it! They usually don’t like anything spicy so I omitted the hot sauce but did kept the jalapeno and they still had to have seconds! Thank you Joy!
thats fantastic!!
Can the buns be made ahead of time up to the point of shaping the balls and then refrigerated for a day before the 2nd rise?
So… I haven’t made the filling yet, but my buns (heh) just came out of the oven and they’re pretty damn… flat. They taste great, and I’m totally still going to use them for dinner, but I’m a little bummed. I’m new to the whole yeast thing, and my little NYC kitchen is pretty warm these days. Should I have cut the second rise time in half maybe? They rose quite a bit.
i know it’s super hard to give advice on things like this, but I’d love your thoughts!
I’ve never been been a sloppy Joe fan. I guess I always equated sloppy Joes with the stuff out of a can so I just never gave them a second thought. This recipe however intrigues me and I’m bubbling over with ideas right now. I’m definitely going to try this recipe using my own banana mango ketchup and bbq sauce. I think I’ll also play around with ground lamb and pork for the filling. I must admit, I probably won’t hand make the buns because of my tight schedule, but I an finally excited about Sloppy Joes which is a big deal for me. :)
Not fair. Not fair not fair not fair.
I was all, “eh, sloppy joes. Don’t ca…wait, those BUNS.”
…that sounded creepier than I intended.
In short, it’s all your fault that I’m gonna spend my weekend making twenty variations of these tasty little things (and eating at least 80% of them). I blame you. Just so you know.
And also, thank you.
Yum!!! Totally gorgeous and yummy. :)
Wow those bun look really good! Might have to give it a try
I love Deb’s buns. No seriously though, it’s my go-to bun recipe. Occasionally my husband will bring home the store bought ones, and they lie sadly atop the microwave gathering dust, though (frighteningly) never mold.
i love the pictures! happy summer to you Joy!
This looks delicious!!! I’ll definitely make this recipe some time next week. :D
Why have I never attempted making buns before? Well, now I know! Because I was waiting for this recipe ALL ALONG! Lovinggggg this ! <3
I haven’t had sloppy joes in ages! And those buns! Such buttery goodness.
Oh yum! I’ve made Deb’s bun recipe before but for beer brats and thought it was a fantastic recipe….and I think your sloppy joes look perfect. Now I’m hungry again!
those buns look to die for! seriously, my mouth is watering. thanks for sharing
http://www.stateofsunshineblog.com
Very random but I used to really really want to try Sloppy Joe’s because in this one Mary Kate & Ashley movie where they were at camp and one of them was a fancy British girl and the other was a normal girl they (obviously) switched places and the fancy girl had a Sloppy Joe for the first time and looooved it.
Still have not had my life-changing Sloppy Joe but this would be a good one to start, your bread looks gorgeous (egg-free and all)!
Yum! I love me some turkey sloppy joes and these look fantastic! If it means anything, I’ve been waiting a few years as well on those buns. Maybe I’ll try and make them finally.
xoxo
Taylor
way to finally cross these off your baking bucket list!
I just made honey brioche loaves and it was so super simple – I am ready for hamburger buns from scratch. Why not, right?
I read your recent post about different flour types and am glad to hear you successfully used white whole wheat as a sub for AP flour in this recipe. We’ve been a whole grain / whole wheat only household for years now and bread really hasn’t been on our table but I would love to try and bake these buns. I take it there is no such thing as “whole wheat bread flour”? Never seen it in a store. Any sub suggestions for how much more whole wheat I might be able to successfully use and / or other changes I need to make if using more whole wheat? Thanks, Robin
that’s actually a really good question that I don’t feel entirely qualified in answering. i would totally call king arthur’s baker’s hotline… no joke.
It’s great when you forget to do a step, but it still turns out great! Looks delicious!
it’s like PHEW!
Guess that means that the next podcast discussion topic is an updated summer bucket list?
I have not had a sloppy joe in years! I love this “grown up” version. And ahhhh those buns!
Hey Baker readers,
Can you help me fill out a neat food survey? It would help a lot!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KsF1aLP2EJ3SBeisYEv1taFcG9CFmHpccETscvng5Ek/viewform
Seriously, I didn’t even think I liked Sloppy Joes until now!
Hi Joy – I remember hamburger buns being on your summer to-do list. They look so perfect. Thanks for sharing this recipe – do you think it would work with gluten free flour? I haven’t tried making a gluten free enriched dough, so if you had any tips I’d be really grateful, thank you.
Looks perfect…love those buns!
I love sloppy joes and with homemade buns, yummy. I book marked them, now all I need is time.
I love sloppy joes and with homemade buns, yummy. All I need is time to make them.
These buns look incredible!
I made homemade pretzels this weekend, and I’m thinking these buns should be next weekends yeast project. Plus, I really like saying buttery buns.
Well butter my buns ;) These are screaming to be made!
Mmm, sounds delicious. Love the idea of using turkey mince as a nice lean meat – trying to keep calories low at the moment and keep fat levels down :)
Nice buns. (sorry I couldn’t help it!)
You are a rock star!
These look so good!
Hamburger buns are must bake for home made sloppys. I love to make my own bread too even though i may not be the best at it. Yours came out great and I love the even golden colour.
Congratulations on finally making those hamburger buns I remember you talking about for so long. You’re much more ambitious than I. They look beautiful.