Kefir Yogurt Burger Buns with sesame seeds – a delicious from scratch recipe for homemade kefir burger buns that are perfectly soft on the next day too. Made with just a few basic ingredients (like plain kefir yogurt, all purpose flour, water and instant yeast), these kefir burger buns may become your new favorite. Recipe can be prepared with plain yogurt too.
If you’ve ever tried kefir yoghurt, you’ll know it tends to be a bit of a love-it-or-leave-it sort of thing – or at least that’s how it was for me. Given that I cook with it regularly, it’s fair to say I fall firmly into the ‘love-it camp’, as does the rest of the family. I usually buy mine from a local specialty shop that stocks a range of Russian, Ukrainian and Baltic goods.
This burger bun recipe is quite a versatile one – the kefir yoghurt can easily be replaced with a plain yoghurt of a similar consistency, if you prefer it that way.
Behind the Bites
Kefir has a much older and more interesting story than most people expect – it didn’t actually begin in mainstream European cuisine at all.
Story has it, Kefir originates in the Caucasus Mountains, where it was traditionally made by mountain communities, particularly in areas that are now part of Russia and Georgia. For centuries, people there fermented milk using “kefir grains” – a living culture of bacteria and yeast. The drink was valued not just as food, but almost as a kind of folk medicine, believed to promote longevity and strong health.
Its journey into Europe is often tied to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during the time of the Russian Empire. According to popular accounts, Russian doctors became interested in kefir’s health benefits and sought to bring it to a wider population. One well-known story involves a woman named Irina Sakharova, who was sent to the Caucasus to obtain kefir grains. After a rather dramatic series of events (including an alleged kidnapping by a local prince), she eventually succeeded in bringing the grains back to Moscow.
By the early 1900s, kefir began to be produced commercially in Moscow and spread gradually across Eastern Europe. It became especially popular in countries like Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltic states, where fermented dairy products were already a staple.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Kefir Yogurt – homemade or store bought, or plain Greek Yogurt
- All purpose flour – of whole wheat flour
- Water – lukewarm is best for activating yeast
- Sugar – just a pinch for the yeast
- Pinch of sea salt
- Sesame seeds – for sprinkling
How to make Kefir Burger Buns?
1st: In a large bowl combine lukewarm water, yeast and sugar and let rise for 3-5 min. Add in the kefir yogurt and flour and knead a soft dough. Cover and let rise in a warm room.
2nd: With oily/ flour dusted hands divide the dough into equal balls. Shape it and place onto parchment paper to rise again. Brush with some kefir and sprinkle with some sesame seeds before baking.
Kefir Yogurt Burger Buns
Ingredients
- 500 g flour, all purpose
- 180 g water, lukewarm
- 200 g kefir yogurt, plain
- 1 tbsp. instant dry yeast
- pinch of sugar
- pinch of sea salt
- pinch of sesame seeds, for sprinkling
Instructions
- First, combine lukewarm water and instant dry yeast. Sprinkle with some sugar and let yeast dissolve for 5-10 minutes.
- Next, pour in the kefir yogurt and stir to combine. Then, add in the flour and a pinch of salt as well.
- Then, knead a soft, non stick dough and let it rise in a warm room. Cover with a cloth.
- When the dough has doubled (tripled) in size, divide it into 10 equally sized balls.
- Shape each ball and place onto non-stick baking surface. Cover with a cloth if needed and let rise for the second time.
- Brush with some kefir yogurt on top of each bun, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in preheated oven on 200C/400F until golden (or a toothpick comes out clean).
Notes
Nutrition
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The buns turned out great. They were so soft. I used homemade kefir yogurt.
Happy to hear you liked the recipe 🙂