The Best Bread Rolls

This recipe for the absolute best Bread Rolls is a real humdinger. Sweet, soft and slathered with butter they are outstanding and the best I have ever tasted, seriously. Perfect served with soup or alongside a meal. These come to me in my sleep.......

Home baked bread is the stuff of nostalgic childhoods. Not that my mother made bread at home, but nevertheless somehow that is what it generally brings to mind.

 Best Bread Rolls Recipe

The first twenty times I made bread you could have knocked someone unconscious with it. Dejected and pathetic I tried once more and something clicked. There she was in her tin all big and bronzed. I was hooked.

The moral of my sad bread tale is don't give up, keep trying and soon all the yeasted wonders of this world will be on your plate. It's so worth it and so are you

There is a full recipe card with exact ingredients and instructions at the bottom of the page.

These Bread Rolls are sweet, fluffy and "OMG!" good. The best I have ever eaten and I have got through some bread. My children go bananas for them as do I. Most perfect I feel with just butter, perhaps with some soup or a stew, but I am a traditionalist.

They are made with what is called an enriched dough using:

Ingredients

•  50 grams (2 oz) Butter- melted and unsalted
• 2 medium Eggs-  medium sized
• 15 grams (0.5 oz) Sugar- caster sugar
• 14  grams Yeast- fast action yeast usually in 7 grams packets
• 500 grams (4 cups) Strong White Flour- standard white bread flour
• 200 mls Milk- I use semi skimmed as that is what I have in my fridge but you could use full fat.
• 100 mls Water
• 1.5 tsp salt
• melted butter brush the top of the rolls before baking

One necessary word of caution though. It is a sticky dough to work with so I think it is best to use a free standing mixer with dough hook and perhaps to have made a more traditional batch of rolls before, just so you can keep calm as you roll the sticky dough. It's always about the calm here.

N.B A friend of mine has recently made these several times without a dough hook and all was well, in fact fantastic. She simply mixed the mixture like hell in a bowl with a wooden spoon......good on her.....

Method

I use a 12 " x 9 " baking tray if I'm baking them close to each other or a large flat baking tray if I'm making larger rolls. Always lined no matter what with either baking paper or a reusable liner.

• Simply throw the dry ingredients into your bowl followed by your wet. I mix wet ingredients all together in a jug and pour on top of the dry. I use a dough hook on my free standing mixer to mix it all together on a medium speed for 7-8 minutes. Or simply mix together with a wooden spoon. It is quite a laborious job but entirely doable.

• .As you keep mixing it comes together to a smooth very sticky dough. After five minutes the dough will have begun to form a wet, sticky ball of dough but it is still stuck to the bottom of the bowl.
• Leave covered somewhere warm to prove and double/triple in size for about an hour usually. I oil the sides of the bowl with olive oil or any other flavourless oil that I have in the cupboard even though the sides of the bowl will still have sticky dough on them.
• When proved empty out onto quite a heavily floured work surface and give it a quick knead (here is how to knead) and weigh the dough into either 8 or 12 pieces depending on how big you want your rolls.

• I then divide the total by 8 or 12 to get roughly the same size rolls.

• I roll the dough with floury fingers into tight balls. I pull the dough down to form the tight balls.
• If you are unsure how to then check on some videos on you tube but be very careful what you type in!

• I roll them into balls and nestle them into a roasting tray or on a baking tray for the busty second prove. This usually takes about 30-45 minutes. They puff up considerably against each other.
• When I make them as stand alone bigger buns/baps and make 8 instead of 12 and therefore weigh them accordingly. I put 4 on each lined baking tray.

• I only bake for about 12-15 minutes at 180 C. They bake quicker than those in a baking tray with sides. I don't brush the tops with melted butter either.

Bake your way to heaven...

Baking Tips & Tricks

• Heavily flour your working surface as it is a sticky dough.
• Weigh the dough out to get the same size rolls
• I use a 12 " x 9 " baking tray if I'm baking them close to each other or a large flat baking tray if I'm making larger rolls. Always lined no matter what with either baking paper or a reusable liner.
• Use an oven thermometer to get the right temperature
• Don’t let them colour too much if they are stand alone rolls/baps
• Store as you would bread - exactly how to store bread
• They are best eaten within 48 hours
• Reheat for 10 seconds in the microwave to bring them back to life after a couple of days
• Freeze on the day of baking and double wrap in clingfilm and silver foil or a freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature for a couple of hours still wrapped.

Serving Suggestions

I love to serve them with soups such as my incredible easy celeriac soup, stews such as my slow cooker beef casserole or slow cooker beef and ale stew.

They are perfect served as the bun with slow cooker pulled pork or as the bun in one of my favourite all time recipes, brisket buns.

or obviously just to put your general favourite sandwich fillings in.

However you serve them they will be a winner, trust me, you're welcome.

More Easy Bread Recipes

Garlic Naan Bread

Wholemeal Bread

White Bread Loaf

Garlic Rolls

The Best Bread Rolls.

These rolls are incredible. Soft, sweet and fluffy they are the stuff of nostalgia. Absolutely to die for.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Proving Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Breads

Cuisine Universal

Servings 12 rolls

Calories 225 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricU S Customary

• 500 grams strong white flour
• 200 mls milk warm
• 100 mls water warm
• 2 packets dry instant yeast 2 x 7 grams
• 50 grams melted butter cool or warm
• 15 grams caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 tbsp butter melted to brush rolls when warm out of the oven
• 1 ½ tsp salt

Instructions

 

• Place 500 grams of strong white flour, 2 packets of dry fast acting yeast, 1 ½ tsp salt, 20 grams of caster sugar in a free standing mixer. Put the salt and yeast on separate sides of the bowl.
• Add 200 mls warm milk, 100 mls warm water, 50 grams of melted butter and 2 beaten eggs together in a jug and give a whisk with a fork before pouring into the dry ingredients.
• Mix on a medium speed with the dough hook for about 7-8 minutes. The dough will be a very sticky batter but be significantly less so at the end of the mixing. Or mix by hand with a wooden spoon.
• Cover and leave in a warm place for an hour. It will triple in size so don't be alarmed if it makes a break for it! Cover with oiled clingfilm so the dough doesn't stick to it.
• When ready punch the dough back down into the bowl and give it some more pushing down with your hands to remove most of the air. Heavily flour your work surface and tip the dough out. Flour the top of the dough too and if poss weigh it. Flouring the dough will make it easier to handle but it is a sticky fellow so just bear with. Keep flouring it if it gets sticky again. Weigh out 8 or 12 equal balls give or take a few grams.
• I line my baking tray with Bakoglide but if you don't use it make sure your tray is oiled. Take each piece, flouring gently as you go, and make each into a tight ball. The easiest way to do this is to pull the sides of your dough ball tightly downwards to the bottom. If you keep pulling the dough sides downwards, tucking them underneath, a tight, smooth ball will form. Keep you fingers floured too to help. If unsure how to do this there are videos on youtube but be careful what you type in.......
• Cover with oiled clingfilm and put somewhere warm to rise for half an hour until significantly puffed up. Pre-heat the oven to 180° C./350°F/Gas Mark 4
• Bake for about 15-20 minutes. I have found that the tops of these rolls can colour up too quickly in my oven so I have a silver foil rectangle made to hand to slide quickly upon the top if need be. The best way to check these rolls are baked is really the colour of them on their bottom. Golden brown is what you are looking for..
• Remove from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter. Leave for five mins before putting on a wire rack to cool down a little. Eaten still warm from the oven slathered with butter these rolls are completely INCREDIBLE. They are best eaten on the day so plan accordingly but still lovely 24 hours later.
• Apply to Drooling Face.

Notes

I use a 12 " x 9 " baking tray

• Heavily flour your working surface it is a very sticky dough
• Weigh the dough out to get the same size rolls
• I use a 12 " x 9 " baking tray if I'm baking them close to each other or a large flat baking tray if I'm making larger rolls. Always lined no matter what with either baking paper or a reusable liner.
• Use an oven thermometer to get the right temperature
• Don't let them colour too much if they are stand alone rolls/baps
• Store as you would bread
• They are best eaten within 48 hours
• Reheat in the microwave to bring them back to life after a couple of days
• Freeze on the day of baking and double wrap in clingfilm and silver foil or a freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature for a couple of hours still wrapped.

All nutritional information is intended only as a guide and is approximate

Nutrition

Calories: 225kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 349mg | Potassium: 77mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 205IU | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 2.1mg

All nutritional information is approximate and intended only as a guide.

Keyword Bread Rolls

Tried this recipe?Take a pic and tag @applytofaceblog on Instagram. I would so love to see them!

Do let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love a good old hairy chinwag.