Last Updated on 2 years by Tim
Crispy on the outside, fluffy and airy on the inside. This pretty accurately describes the perfect German bread rolls. They’re easy to bake and take only very little practice to master.
Bread rolls used to be a special treat for Sunday breakfast. Many people in Germany used to go to the bakery on Sunday morning to buy fresh bread rolls and a loaf of bread that would last the entire week.
Times have changed of course. People nowadays like to enjoy fresh bread rolls on any day of the week.
The Building Blocks of German Cusine Series
This article is part of my basics series, which will introduce you to key ingredients and preparation methods. You can find all these articles in the ‘Basics’ category of this blog. Listed below are the articles that have yet been published in this series:
- Swabian Egg Noodles (‘Schwäbische Eiernudeln’)
- Swabian Soup Noodles (‘Schwäbische Suppennudeln’)
- French Fries (‘Pommes frites’)
- Swabian Pretzels (‘Schwäbische Laugenbrezeln’)
- Kratzete, Eierhaber
- Duchess Potatoes (‘Herzoginnenkartoffeln’)
- Ribbon Noodles (‘Bandnudeln’)
- Muesli (‘Müsli’)
- German Bread Rolls (‘Weizenbrötchen’)
- Potato Puree (‘Kartoffelbrei’)
- German Potato Dumplings Bavaria-style (‘Bayerische Kartoffelknödel’)
- German Potato Dumplings Thuringia-style (‘Thüringer Kartoffelklöse’)
- German Bread Dumplings (‘Semmelknödel’)
- German Potato Pancakes (‘Reibekuchen’)
- Potato Noodles (‘Schupfnudeln’)
- German Boiled Potatoes (‘Kartoffeln’)
- Homemade Beef broth (‘Fleischbrühe’)
- German Pancakes (‘Pfannkuchen’)
- Homemade Semolina Soup Noodles (‘Hartweizen-Suppennudeln’)
- Chicken Broth (‘Hühnerbrühe’)
- Spaetzle (‘Spätzle’)
How to prepare the dough for bread rolls
I like to use a pre-ferment (poolish) to give my bread rolls a little more flavor. It doesn’t help much with freshness as bread rolls are so small. Eaten fresh they taste the best. If you have any leftovers, freeze them.
The poolish is 100 g of flour combined with 100 g water and 1 % fresh yeast. It is left to ferment in the fridge overnight. If you can’t get fresh yeast, then you can use 1/3rd the amount of dried yeast. However, whenever possible, I recommend working with fresh yeast.
The secret ingredient to get your bread rolls light and flavorful as you know them from the bakery is bread improver for rolls (“Brötchenbackmittel” in German). I’ve discussed the theory and shown you how big the effect of the improver really is in a previous post about Bakery-style German bread rolls. If you can’t source improver, then use barley malt.
Barley malt is sold in two forms: enzymatically active (diastatic) and enzymatically inactive. The enzymatically active malt has an effect on the dough volume although it is not as potent as bread improver. The inactive malt only contributes to the flavor of the rolls.
The lard the recipe calls for can be substituted with butter or shortening if you’re a vegetarian. I use lard because it is traditional and solid fat helps to stabilize air bubbles in the dough. Check out my ebook “Baking bread the German way” if you want to know more about that.
It’s important that you knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Otherwise, the dough won’t have enough strength to hold its shape and rise properly. You need to be able to pull it apart thinly without it tearing.
How to rise and proof your dough
You will have to let your dough rise two times. The first time you are looking for it to double in size. After that, you can divide the dough and form it into smooth dough balls.
The smoother the dough balls, the better they will look at the end! You can achieve smooth dough balls by rotating the dough under the palm of your hand.
Let the bread rolls proof in a warm spot until they have puffed up, about 30 minutes. Always cover them with a wet towel or plastic wrap to prevent the surface from drying out.
How to bake German bread rolls
Just before baking, score your bread rolls deeply with a serrated bread knife by cutting across a diagonal line. Spray the surface with water before putting them into the oven.
The bread rolls are baked at 250 °C (480 °F). You will need a lot of steam to get them to expand properly. Therefore, for the first 10 minutes of baking, open the oven door after 2 and 4 minutes and spray the surface of the bread rolls with water. This will make them super fluffy and give you a good crust in the end.
The last 15 minutes of baking are for crisping the bread rolls and to get some color on the crust. The temperature is therefore lowered to 210 °C (410 °F). Just pull the bread rolls out of the oven when their crust color looks appetizing to you.
Once they are out of the oven, lightly spray them with water. This will give them a nice sheen. Let them cool down for at least 20 minutes before cutting them open. Bread rolls are perfect when they’re still a little warm on the inside.
I like to eat these with a little jam on them. But you can also eat them savory with some cold cuts of meat or cheese. Once they go stale, they’re perfect for German bread dumplings.
German Bread Rolls (‘Weizenbrötchen’)
Ingredients
For the poolish:
- 1 gram (0.04 ounces) fresh yeast
- 100 grams (3.5 ounces) water, at room temperature
- 100 grams (3.5 ounces) white soft wheat flour (German Type 550)
For the final dough:
- 225 grams (8 ounces) lukewarm water, at around 35 °C (95 °F)
- 5 grams (0.18 ounces) lard (substitute butter or shortening)
- 5 grams (0.18 ounces) sugar
- 15 grams (0.5 ounces) bread improver for rolls (“Brötchenbackmittel”, optional but highly recommended) or 5 grams (0.18 ounces) active (diastatic) or enzymatically inactive barley malt powder
- 10 grams (0.35 ounces) salt
- 15 grams (0.5 ounces) fresh yeast
- 400 grams (14.1 ounces) white soft wheat flour (German Type 550)
Instructions
Prepare the poolish:
- The evening before you plan to bake, dissolve the yeast in the water for the poolish. Mix with the flour until no dry spots remain. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the poolish ferment at room temperature for 2 hours. After that, transfer the poolish into your refrigerator and leave it there for 12-16 hours.
Assemble and knead your final dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the final dough and the poolish starting with the wet ingredients. Knead the dough by hand or by machine. If kneading by machine, mix the ingredients on the low setting for 2 minutes followed by about 8-10 minutes of kneading on the high setting. If kneading by hand, knead until the dough is only a little sticky and has a nice smooth texture. You should be able to stretch out the dough very thinly without it tearing. If the dough tears, continue kneading it until smooth.
Rise and proof your dough:
- After kneading, cover your dough with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven, ideally with baking stone or steel inside, to 250 °C (480 °F). Place a tray of water on the bottom of the oven to generate steam.
- Divide your dough into 10-11 pieces, each weighing about 80 grams (2.8 ounces). Shape the individual pieces into balls by rotating them underneath the palm of your hand. Place the bread rolls on a baking tray that is lined with parchment paper and cover with a damp paper towel.
- Let the bread rolls proof at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes until they have puffed up nicely.
Score and bake the bread rolls:
- Shortly before baking, score your bread rolls with a serrated bread knife. Score them very deeply with a straight diagonal cut to allow enough room for expansion. Using a spray bottle, spray water onto your bread rolls. Transfer the bread rolls onto your hot baking stone or steel or bake them on a baking tray.
- Bake the bread rolls for 10 minutes at 250 °C (480 °F). Briefly open the oven door after 2 and 4 minutes of baking and spray the bread rolls lightly with water to keep their surface from setting up too quickly. After 10 minutes of baking, remove the tray with water from the oven and bake the bread rolls for an additional 12-15 minutes at 210 °C (410 °F), or until browned to your liking. Remove the bread rolls from the oven and spray them with a tiny bit of water while still hot to give them a nice sheen. Leave them to cool down for at least 15 minutes before eating.
Looks like a good recipe. I will try it. I think that you might want to change one of your labels on it. Using lard, these are not vegetarian.
Thanks – Susan. Yes, lard is not vegetarian but you can easily substitute it with butter or shortening. That’s why I categorize this recipe as vegetarian. The same is true for my recipes that call for chicken or beef broth with vegetables – I know they are not 100 % vegetarian but you can just use vegetable broth instead. – Tim
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German Weizenbrötchen are difficult to emulate in the US, the flour here has too much protein/gluten. After trying several different flours I achieved the best results with the Italian Tipo 00 that from an Italian whole sale/retail store here in Portland/ME.
And, good luck finding fresh yeast here, Tim – sometimes I think we Germans should “get down from our high fresh yeast horse” – even though Whole Foods might have it, it’s likely sitting forever on the shelf. Home bakers in the US mostly use active-dry yeast or, as I do, instant yeast.
Thanks for your comment, Karin!
Yes, I understand the issue with fresh yeast which is hard to source outside of Europe. However, I like to raise awareness to it because I think it is easier to bake with than the dried stuff because dried yeast can either be very active when it’s new or very inactive when it’s old. I also find fresh yeast easier to handle (because of the higher weight required you can be more precise when weighing it). Fresh yeast is also easier to dissolve in water. Of course, if you can’t source fresh yeast it’s better to use dried or instant yeast. My readership is divided mostly between European and American readers so that I decided to put fresh yeast in the recipe assuming that anyone in Europe will use that as the norm.
I agree that the flour in the US is very different from the one in Europe but I still believe that you can bake great bread rolls with it. I think most people miss the commercial dough improvers (Brötchenbackmittel) that make the bread rolls crispier, airier, and more aromatic. I have actually written an article about that issue just case you haven’t seen it already:
https://www.mygermantable.com/how-to-bake-bakery-style-german-bread-rolls-with-enzymes-putting-theory-into-practice/
You could achieve the same results without dough improvers if you give the dough a longer fermentation time and use some other advanced baking techniques. However, if you want them simple, easy, and quick, just like from the bakery, I think using dough improvers is the most convenient choice to bake German bread rolls.
I think your blog is an even better ressource for American readers regarding the German baking recipes because you obviously use the flour and yeast locally available to them. The recipes on my blog are very euro-centric but I always assume my American and Asian readers are smart enough to adapt them to their circumstances.
Hi Tim, I was wondering which brand of dough improver you use? And it you know any way I could order it from the US. Thanks
Hi Caleb, thanks for your comment. Sorry for my late reply. I use a bread improver from a local German shop that is not available in the US. This product on Amazon looks comparable: https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Dough-Improver-1lb-Bag/dp/B00BF0E7CQ/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=bread+improver&qid=1634666942&qsid=168-4590501-8445107&sr=8-4&sres=B08NWBWMHB%2CB00BF0E7CQ%2CB08NWBF2WN%2CB0001AVTDQ%2CB00QTJRHUM%2CB00DUF3EC8%2CB00EFFP966%2CB08741WZZY%2CB075SCSVF9%2CB08171JX78%2CB075SGXGZ3%2CB094YVD43X%2CB00PB8U7Y0%2CB08V8FV9B4%2CB08FVH7LY6%2CB07SDLNF5X%2CB00I0W443Y%2CB00032GHBQ%2CB087HTLQKH%2CB0001CXUHW . I hope this helps you — Tim
Thanks for the reply! I actually already own that one haha! Ill try it with this formula.
Hello! Thank you for the recipe. Is it possible to list the ingredients in the Brötchenbackmittel? I found a few different dough improvers on Amazon but they all have different ingredients (some vastly different). I did use the diastatic malted barley but would really like to try the Brötchenbackmittel (I am not able to get the ulm goldsulz brand in US) thank you!
The bread improver that I use contains barley malt, guar gum, enzymes, ascorbic acid and soy flour.
Hello! Is your conversion of this recipe to ounces is by weight? I don’t want to mess this up!
Yes, the conversion is from grams to ounces by weight. Depending on your flour, it might be that you need to slightly adjust the amount of water needed to form a smooth and just slightly sticky dough. -Tim