Oma's Traditional Brötchen – German Bread Rolls
This brötchen (German bread rolls) recipe brings the beloved bakery staple to your kitchen. Soft inside, crisp outside, and perfect with any meal!
Prep Time:
3 hours
Bake Time:
20 minutes
Total Time:
3 hours 20 minutes
Servings:
12 servings
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 1¼ cups (300 milliliters) lukewarm water
- 2 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
- 1½ teaspoon (6 grams) sugar
- 1 tablespoon (14 grams) soft butter (room temperature)
- 3½ cups (455 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra if needed
- 1 tablespoon (10 grams) instant yeast
For the egg wash:
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) milk
For baking:
- 1 cup (about 150 grams) ice cubes
Instructions:
- Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
- Put all bread dough ingredients, starting with 3½ cups of the flour, into the bread machine pan. (Follow manufacturer's recommended order.)
- Set the bread machine to the DOUGH setting. This will take about 1½ hours.
- NOTE: After the first few minutes, check that the dough isn't sticking to the sides and has formed a ball. If the dough is sticking, add a tablespoon of flour and let it knead; gradually add more if needed. The dough will be tacky, but should come together without sticking to the pan.
- When dough is ready, remove it from the bread machine.
- Place dough on a lightly floured surface and gently fold it several times. The dough will be very soft. If it’s too sticky, dust with a little more flour.
- Form into a roll, about 12 to 16 inches long, and then cut into 12 equal parts.
- Form each piece into a smooth ball by placing it into one hand. With the other fingers, pull up the outside edges and pinch into the middle several times, dusting fingers with flour if needed.
- Place each of the small balls, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
- Fifteen minutes before baking, set oven temperature to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Place an empty baking tray on the bottom rack.
- When oven is hot, gently brush rolls with egg wash (mix 1 egg white with 2 tablespoons milk). Cut a fairly deep slash in top of each roll with very sharp knife or lame blade.
- Place rolls on the middle rack of the preheated oven and immediately place 1 cup of ice cubes on the hot baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then carefully open oven door slightly to let any steam escape. Close the door and continue baking for another 3 to 5 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
- Remove to a wire rack and let cool for about ½ hour before serving.
Notes/Hints for Making Without Bread Machine:
- If you don’t have a bread machine, you can make this bread rolls recipe with your mixer instead. When making yeast doughs, ingredients are usually added in a certain order. Since ingredients are added all at once to a bread machine, I mimic what the machine does and do the following:
- Using my mixer with a dough hook, I put all the ingredients into the large mixing bowl, starting with the 3½ cups flour. Turn it on low for 2 minutes and then onto medium speed to knead for another 5 to 10 minutes until it no longer sticks to the side of the bowl and forms a ball.
- Make sure the dough isn’t too sticky. If it is, add one tablespoon of flour at a time. The dough should be a bit tacky. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise about 1 hour or until it has about doubled in size.
- Continue with the above recipe from where the dough is removed from the bread machine.
More Notes/Hints :
- The amount of flour depends on things like the brand, humidity, altitude, etc. Whenever I use the bread machine for any baking or dough-making, I always check the dough after the first few minutes of kneading to see if extra flour is needed. Sometimes it’s needed, but other times not.
- If desired, sprinkle the rolls with oats or seeds (such as poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or sunflower seeds) right after you brush them with the egg wash.
- If you’re adventuresome, you can add a bit of diastatic malt powder. Don’t add more than 1 teaspoon though. This powder is considered the secret ingredient to promote a strong rise, great texture, and a lovely brown crust. However, if you add too much, things can get very sticky very quickly.
- Another bread maker recipe? Try this rye bread recipe!
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Recipe updated: April 20, 2025