Posts may contain affiliate links that help enable me to continue to provide you with free recipes. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my Privacy Policy for further details.
The BEST soft and chewy bread roll for hoagies/submarines/grinders. Pillowy soft rolls that are begging to be filled with deliciousness!
*note this post was drastically updated on 1/20/2020 to include more step-by-step instructions and detailed explanations.
Depending on what part of the country, or world, you’re from these things are called various names. I’ve heard “Subs, Submarines, Hoagies, Grinders, Hero, Italian Sandwich, Torpedo, Blimpie, Po’Boy, and Rocket” just to name a few.
Whatever you call it, I’m talking about those luxurious sandwiches full of meats and cheeses then wedged into a chewy, soft bread roll.
Hoagie Roll Ingredient List
- Bread Flour – it must be at least 11-14% protein content
- Yeast – Active Dry or Instant
- Water
- Salt
- Sugar
- Butter
- Items for a bread wash *optional
Can I use All-Purpose Flour?
Normally I’d advise against it because you’ll end up with a different texture and outcome.
However, given the current state of the world and the difficulty people are having finding bread flour, you can BUT there are differences in the outcome.
- You won’t get the same result with US all-purpose flour as you would bread flour. The higher protein in bread flour is what gives the bread its “chew” and rise.
- Plus, AP flour will make the bread denser. You can use it but they won’t be like classic hoagie rolls but they still will taste yummy.
Since bread flour is so hard to find (I’m feeling that pain too), grab some Vital Wheat Gluten and make your bread flour using your AP Flour.
I have the formula on my blog. Check out this post on how to make your own bread flour.
Working with yeast – no fears, you got this!
One of the most comment comments I get when I ask why folks don’t make homemade bread at home is that they are afraid of it. They are afraid to work with yeast or aren’t sure about the techniques. Well, that’s where I’m here to help you.
Baking bread, rolls, and dough is something I honestly find truly cathartic. It’s relaxing albeit using the stand mixer or kneading the dough by hand. Because I use only Red Star Yeasts (99.9% of the time it’s their Platinum), it’s pretty foolproof.
- Store your yeast in a dark, cool area. I tend to store mine in the fridge or the freezer for extended storage.
- When adding it, add it to very warm liquids (120-130F). You don’t want to add it to boiling or super hot water as you will kill the yeast.
- With the Instant Platinum yeast, you don’t even have to let it proof first – like how I added it to this recipe. Proofing yeast is used more for dry active yeast. Because I use the Instant Active Dry yeast, there’s no proofing involved.
- To Proof, Active Dry Yeast, place a portion of the warm liquid in a bowl and add the yeast. Give it a little stir and let it sit for 1-5 minutes or until the yeast is completely dissolved. It should bubble up and “bloom”.
- If, after 5 minutes the yeast isn’t bloomed then your yeast is old (expiration dates matter here!) or the liquid you used is too hot
The Best Hoagie Rolls at Home – yes, you can do it!
Feel good about working with yeast? You should. It’s really easy and just don’t be afraid! You can do this! Baking is a science and when you add ingredients it matters. Plus we need to discuss how humidity can affect how much water you put in.
Active Dry yeast
- If using Active Dry Yeast (not the Instant I use) you have to proof the yeast first. Add the Active Dry Yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of warm water in a bowl of a stand mixer. Using a whisk or spoon, mix and set aside for 5-10 minutes or until the yeast has bubbled quite a bit.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (this would be the same bowl your yeast mixture is in) add 2 cups of flour and the remaining cup of water. Start off on low. Mix for 4 minutes.
- Add in the salt and 1 cup at a time of the remaining flour and mix for 5-6 minutes until the dough is slack (See note). At this point, your mixer should be at medium speed. If your dough, after 5-6 minutes is not slack add up to 1/4 more cup of water (taking you up to a full 1 1/2 cups used) but add one Tablespoon at a time. The additional water will fully depend on how humid your room is.
Instant yeast
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook add in 2 cups of flour, water, sugar, and Instant Yeast. Start off on low. Mix for 4 minutes.
- Add in the salt and 1 cup at a time of the remaining flour and mix for 5-6 minutes until the dough is slack (See note). At this point, your mixer should be at medium speed. If your dough, after 5-6 minutes is not slack add up to 1/4 more cup of water (taking you up to a full 1 1/2 cups used) but add one Tablespoon at a time. The additional water will fully depend on how humid your room is.
Now, depending on the temp in the kitchen or how humid it is, you can add anywhere from 3 1/2 – 4 cups of flour. Just go slow. The worst thing you can do is add too much flour because you’re impatient. At this point, your dough should start to look and feel “Slack”
What is Slack Dough?
Think of a blob. It’s kind of fluid but it’s not liquidy. It’s the point where if you were to dump the dough out onto a board and try to form it into a shape, it would just blob back out and not hold a shape.
That’s what Slack Dough is. Slack dough means when the dough cannot hold a shape; it has no elasticity or spring back at all. It’s a wet dough but not too wet. It’s “billowy”. The dough is super, super soft, and smooth.
Below is what Slack dough looks like
How Humidity affects dough and bread baking
If your bread dough never turns slack there can be 2 reasons for this
- You didn’t mix it enough. Give it another minute or two. If it still doesn’t turn slack, add a tablespoon of water at a time until it forms slack.
- Your house is super dry – add a bit more water.
The rule of thumb is if your area is hot & humid then reduce the liquid by 10%.
Now, back to making the dough.
- Once all the flour is added and the dough is slack, add in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Just like the flour, you’ll add it in slowly allowing it to incorporate into the dough. Don’t panic if it doesn’t go in all at once or the dough looks to break down. Just be patient, it’ll combine again. Patience – that’s the key.
Cold Butter or Softened Butter?
I was raised using cold butter in this recipe though you may use room temp or equal amounts of olive oil. When using cold butter, even though you ‘meld it into the flour’, you’re helping with gluten formation and the development of dough structure. I’ve made it with room-temperature butter and it works just as well. You can use either folks.
- Once it’s mostly all in, turn the mixer up to medium and mix the dough until it pulls completely away from the side and is smooth and shiny.
- Transfer the dough to a large, lightly sprayed bowl.
- Cover with plastic wrap or use what I use – Disposable plastic clear shower caps. They have a stretchy-band that snaps around the bowl and remained ballooned to allow the dough to proof without sticking to it.
- Once it’s doubled in size, it’s time to shape the hoagie rolls.
How to shape hoagie bread rolls
- Punch the dough down and place on a very lightly floured board. I would advise using as little flour as possible when shaping these. The more flour you add, the tougher the hoagies will be.
- Divide into 4-8 pieces and shape. *See below on how to shape!
- Once shaped, transfer to a parchment-lined tray and cover with lightly sprayed plastic wrap. Allow to rise again until almost doubled. ~30-45 minutes. Do NOT overproof them otherwise they will fall flat.
What does Overproof mean?
In simple terms it means the was let to rise too long, It will almost “super balloon” in size. You’ll know you’ve over-proofed dough if, when you poke it for 2 seconds, remove your finger and see if it springs back. If your dough does not spring back, it’s over-proofed.
But that doesn’t mean all is lost. Simply remove the dough from where it was rising, degas it (meaning press down firmly on the dough to get rid of the gas), then re-shape. Place it back on your pan and repeat the second proofing.
Watch your dough – things like ambient temperature, humidity, etc will cause your dough to rise slower or faster. The 30-45 minutes is fairly standard time but you need to use your judgement in the kitchen.
Chef’s Tips on shaping hoagie rolls
Shaping does take practice but that’s the fun of baking, right?!
- When you divide the dough, with your fingers, gently pat it into a rectangle where the dough is about 1/4″ thick.
- Next, fold up the bottom third to the center and then fold the upper quarter (like an envelope) towards the center and press gently to seal.
- Rotate the dough 180 degrees (so the last fold faces away from you) and repeat the above folding step then using your hand to seal the dough seams as you fold it. What you’re doing is folding the dough into itself.
- At this point, your dough is almost shaped like a log/snake. Gently cup your hand over the center of the dough and, without applying pressure/pressing down, gently roll the dough back and forth to reinforce the seal and roll it out into a log. If necessary, gently pinch the seam closed.
- I then grab the ends, lightly, and carefully pull them outwards to help stretch out dough (just an inch or so – again dependent on how long you want your rolls).
- To help round out the ends, cup each hand at the end of the roll and move them in opposite directions with a back and forth motion to roll the ends and then tuck underneath the roll.
- At this point, they are ready for the next rise.
Adding Slashes/Slits
While completely not necessary, you can add slashes/slits to the rolls before they bake to give them a prettier look. Cutting them adds zero taste value; it just pretties them up.
However, it does help with the texture. Did you ever make or buy bread that has a huge bubble or has a blowout? The bread “ruptures” in a sense. By scoring the bread, you can help control where the gas can escape without destroying how the bread looks.
I use a Lame to do mine.
A lame is a handle that has a very thin razor blade on the end of it specifically used for bread slashing. In a quick motion, make a slash (or multiple slashes) down the center of the bread but not go in deep. You’re going in maybe a 1/4″ at best.
Can I use a sharp knife instead?
Personally, I would say no as the blade isn’t thin enough and the knife may not be super, SUPER sharp. You could risk tearing the bread instead of a quick, pretty slash.
Coating your rolls before baking
You do not have to coat these if you do not want to. They will bake up beautifully and taste amazing BUT they won’t really have that deep color, crust, or shine like the ones most pizzerias have. Again, not a bad thing. Go with what you like.
When it comes to these rolls, depending on the application you use to coat, you’ll end up with different results. For my hoagie rolls, I use an egg white mixed with just a Tablespoon of milk
- Whole egg: this will give your bread a sheen and color
- Egg Yolk: this will give your bread color and will help brown it
- Egg White: Will give you a firmer crust
- Milk: will give your crust color
- Butter: will make your crust softer and richer
- Egg White with Milk: will give you a firmer crust and deeper crust color
Cutting your hoagie rolls
At first cut, the bread insides are so soft and billowy. It’s as if it’s held together by pockets of air and strands of sweet dough.
While it’s hard to resist, I HIGHLY recommend waiting about 10 minutes before trying to slice into these hoagie rolls. If you don’t, you risk tearing the bread (even with the best bread knives) because it’s simply too hot and too soft inside.
Trust me on this, it’s worth the wait!
I would HIGHLY recommend using a quality bread knife to slice these as the rolls are soft and chewy and nothing is worse when cutting into them with a crappy knife! You’ll love this knife! Sani-Safe S162-8SC-PCP 8″ Scalloped Bread Knife with Polypropylene Handle Pan is a great knife that’s affordable!
How to use The Best Hoagie Bread Roll Recipe
There’s no limit to how you can use these hoagie rolls or what you can put in or on them.
- Italian Rocket Hoagie or any favorite hoagie topping such as steak, meatball, cheese, pizza… you get the idea!)
- Meatball Hoagie like the pics below – use any of my meatball recipes, top with sauce of choice, cheese, and bake at 400F for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted
- French Bread Pizza – split in half, top each side with cheese and pizza toppings. Bake at 400F until the cheese is melted
- Stuffed Breakfast Boats – these were such a HUGE seller at our pizzeria (even though they were on the ‘secret’ menu
- Make them smaller as dinner rolls and, while still warm, top with honey cinnamon butter right before serving
How to store your Best Soft and Chewy Hoagie Rolls
Store them uncut. When you’re storing overnight, you’ll want to store in a paper bag OR, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then in a plastic bag. Air is your enemy here.
Freezing
These rolls can be frozen either before they are baked or after.
Post-baking
- I personally prefer to freeze these after they are baked. Simply wrap each cooled loaf in plastic wrap, twice and place it in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
Pre-baking
- If you do this add a little more yeast (about a teaspoon more) to the recipe. This ensures that the post-freeze rise will give you a stunning result.
- Allow the dough to proof and then shape it on a parchment-lined pan.
- Wrap the pan with plastic wrap. Once each loaf is frozen stiff, wrap each roll twice in plastic wrap. Store in a freezer-safe bag for up to 6 months.
- To use frozen dough rolls, remove a loaf from the freezer the night before you want to bake it. Keep the loaf wrapped in plastic and let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Place the thawed dough in a greased bread pan, cover it, and let it rise in a warm, dry place. Bake the bread per the recipe below.
Chef Tips About Bread Baking
- As mentioned above, humidity and heat in your kitchen will drastically affect the dough texture (too wet/too dry while mixing) as well as proofing.
- If your kitchen is warmer, your bread will rise faster. Think of bread dough like a toddler. You really can’t let it be unsupervised for very long. Use the times as a guideline but your eyes will be your best judge.
- If you overproof your dough it will fall flat when it bakes. The gluten structure will be too weak to hold the gas production.
- USE GENTLE HANDS when shaping your dough.
- Make sure your yeast is FRESH!
- Watch your oven as it bakes. If your oven thermostat is on the fritz this can affect your bread either baking too fast leading to burnt bread on the outside and raw on the inside.
- Just relax. If you don’t get it perfect the first time, try again. Ask questions if you’re not sure what went wrong. The biggest things are:
- Not mixing your dough enough before the first proof
- Too rough on shaping it and you lost the gas in it
- Over proofed the 2nd shape and the bread went flat upon baking
- Your oven thermostat is on the fritz
- PATIENCE – BE PATIENT and keep dumping in more flour or water. Rome wasn’t built in a day, just as the dough won’t come together in a minute or two.
Subbing Sourdough Starter
I get asked this question a lot. I never use sourdough starter in this recipe as I love it as-is however you can sub in sourdough starter with some recipe modifications.
- 8 ounces of ripened sourdough starter
- Reduce the total flour to 334-339 grams
- Reduce the total water to 177-237 grams
Using Whole Wheat Flour
So the answer is yes, but you have to modify it and play with the texture to get it right. Let me explain.
- You only use 3/4 cup of whole wheat for every 1 cup of flour substituted. AND,
- I’ve YET to go full whole wheat and end up loving the flavor. I, right now, ONLY recommend subbing in 50% whole wheat and the rest flour (again you need to use the measurements in step 1). AND,
- You’ll need to add another 2 Tablespoons of water for every 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour added.
- And don’t forget to factor in humidity too with this.
I personally have yet to have an OMG YUM moment when making the recipe with a 100% whole wheat swap. It’s still too dense for my liking. Then again, 100% wheat bread tends to be dense in general (at least in my experience).
I’m still working on it though I believe I can nail it and get the results I want and love.
PrintThe Best Super Soft and Chewy Hoagie Rolls
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
- Category: bread
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: baking
The BEST soft and chewy bread roll for hoagies/submarine/grinders. Pillowy soft rolls that are begging to be filled with deliciousness!
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 – 4 cups bread flour/448-512 grams *see note
- 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoon – 1 1/2 cups warm water (110-115F degrees) / 308-355 grams *see note
- 2 Tablespoons / 25 grams of sugar
- 1 packet instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon of RedStar Platinum Yeast) / 7 grams
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt / 6 grams
- 4 Tablespoons / 56 grams cold unsalted butter, cubed *see note
Instructions
Using Active Dry Yeast? Start here
- If using Active Dry Yeast (not the Instant I use) you have to proof the yeast first. Add the Active Dry Yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoon of warm water in a bowl of a stand mixer.
- Using a whisk or spoon, mix and set aside for 5-10 minutes or until the yeast has bubbled quite a bit.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (this would be the same bowl your yeast mixture is in) add 2 cups of flour and the remaining cup of water. Start off on low. Mix for 4 minutes.
- Go to Step 1 of Recipe Continuation and follow the rest of the recipe
Using Instant Yeast? Start here
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook add in 2 cups of flour, water, sugar, and Instant Yeast. Start off on low. Mix for 4 minutes.
- Go to Step 1 of Recipe Continuation and follow the rest of the recipe.
Recipe Continuation
- Add in the salt and 1 cup at a time of the remaining flour and mix for 5-6 minutes until the dough is slack (See note). At this point, your mixer should be at medium speed. If your dough, after 5-6 minutes is not slack add up to 1/4 more cup of water (taking you up to a full 1 1/2 cups used) but add one Tablespoon at a time. The additional water will fully depend on how humid your room is.
- Add in the butter 1 Tablespoon at a time and mix until almost fully melded in before adding the next Tablespoon. In total, mix for 1-3 minutes or until the dough comes back together and the dough until it pulls completely away from the side and is smooth and shiny. Remove from bowl and transfer to a greased, covered bowl until doubled in size. ~1 hour.
- Punch the dough down and place it on a very lightly floured board. Divide into 4-8 pieces and shape. I would advise using as little flour as possible when shaping these. The more flour you add, the tougher the hoagies will be. Transfer to a parchment-lined tray and cover with lightly sprayed plastic wrap. Allow to rise again until almost doubled. ~30-45 minutes. Do NOT overproof them otherwise they will fall flat.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. If you want to slash your bread, using a lame, make your slashes. If desired, brush with a coating of choice and bake for 16-23 minutes or until golden brown. To ensure doneness, test the internal bread temp. It should be at 200F.
- Allow to cool before cutting with a quality bread knife ( Sani-Safe S162-8SC-PCP 8″ Scalloped Bread Knife with Polypropylene Handle Pan )
Notes
Flour & Water
Depending on the type of bread flour as well as how humid your kitchen is you may need to increase the water to 1 1/2 cups (which is only another 2 tablespoons more than the original). At times I’ve had to actually go up to 1 3/4 cups total but that was due to how humid my house was at the time.
Cold Butter
I was raised using cold butter in this recipe though you may use softened or equal amounts of olive oil. When using cold butter, even though you ‘meld it into the flour’, you’re helping with gluten formation and the development of dough structure.
Slack Dough
Slack dough means when the dough cannot hold a shape; it has no elasticity or spring back at all. It’s a wet dough but not too wet. It’s “billowy”. The dough is super, super soft, and smooth.
Equipment
I would HIGHLY recommend using a quality bread knife to slice these as the rolls are soft and chewy and nothing is worse when cutting into them with a crappy knife! You’ll love this knife! Sani-Safe S162-8SC-PCP 8″ Scalloped Bread Knife with Polypropylene Handle Pan
Coating your bread
- Whole egg: this will give your bread a sheen and color
- Egg Yolk: this will give your bread color and will help brown it
- Egg White: Will give you a firmer crust
- Milk: will give your crust color
- Butter: will make your crust softer and richer
Stephanie says
I would like to make these today but don’t have bread flour. Will using APF make difference?
TKWAdmin says
Hi Stephanie! You need bread flour due to the gluten in it.
I show you here how to make your own:
http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/2013/05/04/how-to-make-bread-flour/
Best Kitchen Wishes!
icecoldmilk says
i made them with apf, they turned out fine. of course they would have been better with bread, but they were still great.
TKWAdmin says
They will work but they won’t be as chewy as they would be with bread flour. Plus if you ever run out of a certain type of flour I have tutorials above in the Recipes section/Tips & Tricks/Flours on how to make your own!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
icecoldmilk says
these were great. used half the sugar because they seemed like they would end up sweeter than i want. turned out perfect.
TKWAdmin says
Thank you so much!
Bob says
Hi,
My wife and I received a Kitchenaid stand mixer as a gift from my Mom yesterday so this is going to be the first recipe I use. Didn’t wish to try the food processor and let it lapse till now.
Question: So the One cup of water is separate from the 3/8 cup you use for the yeast and added with the flour, correct?
Thanks
Bob
TKWAdmin says
Hi Bob!
Yes the 3/8 cup is added to the yeast and the remaining 1 cup is added later with the flour.
The biggest tip with this recipe is you want a slack dough. If you’re unsure what that is read above in the comments as I go into great detail about it.
I can’t wait to hear how they turn out for you!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Bob says
Hi,
Followed the recipe to the letter…..I have no idea what you mean by ‘slack dough.’ Do you mean tough and elastic, rolling around on the dough hook until it clears the edge of the bowl? I’ve had to stop it several time to push it back down in the bowl. And adding the butter? All it did was smear all over the side of the bowl. It was cubed and chilled. They looked nice and were edible but were the standard, home made, hard tack bread I’ve had before. Not at all billowy as I expected. I’m sure I had to do something wrong….my measuring cups do not increment in eighths, by the way, so that was guess work there. Other than that I followed the recipe to the letter and when the dough did not react as the instructions said they would, like whatever ‘slack’ means and smeared butter after 3 minutes, I was ready to throw it all out the window.
How about making a video? Is one available?
TKWAdmin says
Bob,
Not only in the “Notes” section of the recipe do I describe what slack dough is but I also noted to read above in the comments my detailed explanation of what slack dough is/should look/feel like.
In addition in the notes field I tell you that 3/8’s cup is equal to 6 Tbl for those that don’t have a measuring cup that goes to eighths. I’m sorry yours didn’t turn out right. I’ve never had them turn out hard ever. They are always soft and billowy, like how a hoagie/sub roll should be.
When adding the butter, it will seem to smear all over the place. This is normal. The dough will separate a bit and you’ll panic (I did my first time adding it) but let it go. The mixer will bring it all back together. The cold butter is what separates the flour “layers” thus creating the soft ‘n chewy pull-a-part texture.
No, no video yet. I’m working with some folks that actually produce videos to get their assistance.
Best Kitchen Wishes.
Bob says
Hi,
Thanks. I’m sure I messed up somewhere. “First time with new mixer” is as good as an excuse and any other! lol. I did read your notes and it doesn’t paint the picture in my minds eye. Also, the mixer has numbers not “low” “medium” or “high” but thanks for the tip on the measuring with the tablespoons. I’m not going to give up on it. I’ve ‘blown’ many dishes throughout my life before I got them right so. Thanks for all your help. Will try, try again!
Bob
TKWAdmin says
Okay… Numbers. Let’s say they are 1-10 where 1 is slow and 10 is the highest. 1 is used just in the beginning. For the first day 3 min go to about #3. For the slack phase you should be about 5-7, no higher. When you add the butter reduce to say 4 then once it separates and starts to come back together go yo about 6 or 7 for a few.
Let me think how else to explain slack dough…
*this is me thinking* lol
Normally when you make dough for say pizza you want the dough to be soft so when you take it out of the mixer you can shape into a ball and it’ll hold it’s shape. Well slack dough is where the dough is do soft that it’s billowy; almost marshmallow-like. It’s so soft that if you put it on the counter it wouldn’t hold a shape.
Does that help?
What I’ll do next time I make these is take pictures if what slack dough looks like.
You can do this!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Bob says
Got it! and Will do. I think the water wasn’t warm enough for a good, frothy yeast. It wasn’t sudsy, if you know what I mean, rather flat. Well, everyone appears to have success with this so I am going to try it again. Thanks!
TKWAdmin says
If you have a thermometer, you want the water right around 110F to proof. Also if you buy yeast, keep it in the fridge or freezer versus your pantry. It’ll last longer and help retard it in expiring/going bad.
Let me know how this works out for you!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Andi W. says
Wow! These rolls are exactly what I have been searching for.I think I’ve made just about every recipe on the Web by this point. The first time I followed the directions exactly. The second time I used the dough cycle on my bread machine and swapped out half the flour for King Arthur’s white whole wheat. They turned out amazing both times. I’m impressed with how much softer and yummier they are the second day. Thank you so much posting this. I have another batch mixing in my bread maker as I write this.
TKWAdmin says
Hi Andi!
Thank you SO MUCH for your compliments1 That means the world to me! This recipe is tried and true and my all time favorite recipe to use for subs/hoagies. It’s also awesome as buns and rolls. But wait there’s more (in her infomercial voice.. LOL). Make this into a long rolled ‘snake’ and then join the ends. You want a large circle (with a very wide opening). Once it rises, it’ll become a bit more closed and when baked will turn into one of those large sandwich rings!
Oh love the swap out of the white whole wheat! You could also try grains in this, sesame seeds on top, dried onions and so forth!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Jasmany lopez says
What is the correct way to shape these loaves. Thanks.
TKWAdmin says
Hi Jasmany,
Please see my response dated March 18, 2014 7:29pm on how to roll and shape them.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Loyston says
Thank you so much for the help. The roles came out great! (although I did have some problems with measuring and rolling, my fault) I will definitely be using this recipe again. Do you have any suggestion on ciabatta style rolls for Chicago style beef poor boy sandwich? Thank you again for your help.
TKWAdmin says
Yeah!!! That’s awesome to hear! Now if you want to get really adventurous, take this same recipe and form it into one (or two) long ropes and then join them into 1 big circle or 2 circles leaving a large opening in the center. Think those round sandwich hoagie rings you buy for parties. Why buy when you can just make your own!
I make ciabatta rolls but my recipe is signature one that I use in my commercial line. Let me see how I can make one just as awesome as that to share 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Loyston says
Thank you so much for the recipe. I am planning on making it tomorrow. I am a rank,amateur. Do you have any suggestions on shaping the dough into rolls? Are there any special instructions? Thank you in advance for any Advice.
TKWAdmin says
Hi Loyston!
Hmmm… let me think of the easiest way to explain how to shape. Once you cut the dough in sections, instead of rolling them into a ball you want to roll them almost lengthways making them about 4-6″ long by a good 2″ or so wide. Now you can make these longer and fatter (like a 12″ bun); that’s your choice. Once you cut the dough, use lightly floured hands to almost ‘cup’ the dough on the board and gently roll/cupping as you shape. I start rolling them with one hand at first, using pressure in the middle of the ball, extending out to the edges. As the dough stretches you can use two hands, utilizing the the edge of your palms applying stronger pressure in the middle and easing up as you get to the ends. This helps to create uniform shape and prevent a fat middle with tapered ends.
You can do this! Let me know how it turns out for you!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Emily says
Thank you for this recipe. I made them the other night and they were very soft and delicious. I used whole wheat bread flour reduced to 3 1/2 cups, added 1 Tbsp. of gluten, and let it sit as a sponge for 1 hour before proceeding with the recipe. They were wonderful.
TKWAdmin says
Emily,
I’ve been working on a whole grain wheat version as well! LOVE the idea of letting it sit as a sponge for an hour! That may be the key to getting them super chewy! Great tip!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Wendy says
I have been making bread and folks for many years now and I’m always looking for new recipes. I decided to try something different and searched for Hoagie and your page came up. OMG these are delish!!!!
I made them using my mixer and admit to using fast action yeast. I also just bunged everything in together at the start (well apart from some of the water as I’d misread the quantity!) as again I’d skimmed the method (must stop doing that *wink*). When it. Looked a tad dry I re-read things and realised my error! It was too late to remove ingredients so I just chucked in the rest of the water (again I admit to being a bit haphazard with this as the ‘cup’ measurements confuse me a bit (UK baker!) and I didn’t notice the addition of the tablespoon measurement! Eeek! Oh well, I carried on regardless and kept my fingers crossed.
When rolling them out I also used a sprinkling of semolina mixed with flour and sprinkled semolina over the top prior to baking. Proving took an hour (had to pick DS up from school &took longer than I meant!)
Despite all my errors they were absolutely gorgeous! A bit rough round the edges shape wise but tasted amazing!
Thank you for posting this recipe……I will be using it all the time from now on! 🙂
TKWAdmin says
Hi Wendy!
I’m so thrilled that you loved the recipe and the way the turned out. And I’m happy to hear even with some of the mishaps they turned out for you! This is my absolute favorite recipe. This was one people kept telling me to not share as it’s a “gold mine” but this is one of those recipes that the world needs.
Also, in case you didn’t know I have a recipe conversions page (http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/recipe-conversions/) if that helps you out when converting the recipes.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Wendy says
Thanks! I’ll take a look at the conversions cheers!
Oh and it’s ‘rolls’ I make not ‘folks’ *wink* (Stoopid autocorrect!!)
Oh and my DH has just eaten one of the rolls (folks!) and states they’re better than any bakery!! I’ve to make more….
Now I’m off to study your other recipes to see what delights I can find!