One of the things I miss from Germany is a soft bread roll. I know German Bread is famous, but… in Hong Kong, most of our bread is soft and fluffy, and I really like these kinds of soft bread rolls.
Recently I found my favorite recipe for making these soft bread rolls. It takes some time and effort, but we always need to be a bit patient for the good stuff, don’t we? So take the time you need, be patient, and you will also be able to make your best soft bread roll, the bread roll that reminds me of the taste of home.
The bread is tasty to eat it as it is, but my favorite way is to take some of my favorite butter, spread a little bit on it, and enjoy the taste of the butter, and the softness of the bread. Yum! It’s also delicious to spread with jam, or if you have a family gathering, bring them along and eat with some soup.
Hand Knead Soft Bread Roll
Ingredients
- 600 g Flour 100% All-purpose or 50% All-purpose + 50% Bread Flour
- 310 ml Milk
- 22.5 g Dry Yeast
- 60 ml Water
- 105 g Caster Sugar
- 7 g Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 95 g Butter
Instructions
- Heat the water to lukewarm. Put the dry yeast in a small bowl and add the warm water in. Add 1tsp (5g) of sugar. Mix gently and leave it aside for 5-10mins.
- Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add 100g Sugar and Salt, mix well.
- Add eggs and milk in the middle of the flour. Mix slightly from the center to outside. Add the yeast mixture and mix to form a dough.
- On a big smooth surface, sprinkle some flour and transfer the dough from the mixing bowl. Start kneading, when the dough gets less sticky, add 75g of butter, and continue kneading until a smooth dough formed - in total the kneading process can take up to 20 mins.
- Sprinkle a bit of flour into a large mixing bowl and put the smooth dough inside. Cover with Clingfilm and place it in a warm area. Let the dough rise until it doubles the size, around 45 - 60 mins.
- When the dough doubles its size, transfer it to a smooth surface that is sprinkled with flour on top. Press the air from the dough, cut it equally to 16 pieces. Roll and shape into a small bread roll. Line a piece of baking paper on a baking tin and put the bread roll on it with enough space between each of them. Put a warm damp clean kitchen towel on top, covering all spaces from the dough, leave it at a warm place for another 45-60 mins.
- Preheat the oven to 205 degrees Celsius.
- When time is up, put the bread roll in the oven. The bread roll gets burnt very quickly. The total baking time is around 12-15 mins. If you see the bread is getting too brown, put a foil on top to avoid further browning.
- Melt 20g Butter. When the bread roll is ready, take it out of the oven, and brush some melted butter on top. Then the bread roll is ready to serve!