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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
Beth says
Wow. I don’t know what happened to mine. Did not come out at all like everyone else’s experiences. I had to add a lot more water. Dough was heavy, not stretchy, never did get stretchy really…oh well. When I went to put it to rise it was like a brick…not light and airy. I make pizza dough every week so I’m used to dough that is a bit stretchy but not too much…I make regular and wheat bread, Kaiser rolls, etc so this really mystifies me…oh well. Will try again maybe in another week or two. 🙁
TKWAdmin says
Beth,
This dough is completely different than pizza dough. You want the dough to be very soft and billowy. You should be able to take the dough out and not hold a shape at all. Pizza dough will do this. If the bread was heavy and dense it didn’t have enough rising time. If it was like a brick it’s because either A – the dough was overworked (too much gluten formed) or again, not enough rising time.
I make this recipe every week if not every 2 weeks and I’ve never had to add a lot more water. I may have to add a tbl here or there but that depends on the temp and humidity in my house.
Definitely give it another shot. Your dough should look like this:
http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/slackdough.jpg
http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/slackdough1.jpg
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Kent says
Just a note from my experiences…
Anyone who lives out west in a drier climate or in higher elevations, the flours that are in grocery stores, especially the multi-grain or whole wheat sit for many months, and may be a lot drier than in sea-level areas and such. An extra small amount of oil, butter or oil can make a huge difference.
I am trying this recipe now, and had the same incorporation problem with the butter cubes in my Kitchen Aid mixer. Taking the same method I use for my pie crusts, I probably would grate it in with a box grater from a cold solid block of butter. Works like a charm.
Also, vital wheat gluten is essential for rapid-rise recipes in your breadmaker or non-bread flour applications. Well worth seeking it out in your organic or local health food stores.
Cheers from BC, Canada. :’)
TKWAdmin says
That’s a great tip Kent about living in the drier or higher elevations! Thank you! As for the butter cubes I think what I am going to work on in 2015 is a video tip on this recipe to show what it should look like. The butter isn’t a quick integration into the dough but that’s a FANTASTIC suggestion about using frozen grated butter. I use grated butter a lot in recipe for certain cookies.
And I love vital wheat gluten as well!
Best Kitchen Wishes for a blessed New Year!
Stephanie says
I’m in the process of making these in my Cuisinart CBK-200 bread machine. I thought I would write a review to help those making this recipe in a bread machine.
I followed the instructions above exactly. I warmed my bread pan with warm water, dumped that out, added the 6 tablespoons of water, sugar and swished it around to help dissolve it. I added the yeast and waited about 10 minutes. Then I added the bread flour and the rest of the remaining water, put the pan in the machine and selected dough setting, 2 pound loaf, no mix-ins, and hit start. With the lid open, I let the machine mix about 5 minutes, slowly sprinkled in salt, and let it mix for about another 5 minutes. I added the small pieces of butter and after about a minute it looked like a sloppy, greasy, bread ball, and I started to get worried because the dough ball was just spinning around in the machine and the butter was not incorporating. I sprinkled about a teaspoon of AP flour in to help the ball get some traction and after about another 5 minutes it was a gorgeous looking ball of dough! On the dough setting it kneads for a total of 35 minutes before a 65 minute rest.
After the rise I dumped the bread on a board and cut it into 8 separate pieces. I didn’t use much flour at all, just shaped them into 2×4 inch baguettes and let them rise another 40 minutes or so. I baked them at the recommended time.
They taste absolutely wonderful, I just wish they would have risen higher. I think that was totally on me though, when I did the second rise after I had formed them into the baguettes.
The taste is wonderful, and I’m happy I found this recipe cause for the first time I’ve used my bread machine in a different way and it turned out wonderful! Go bake this bread!
TKWAdmin says
Thank you SO MUCH Stephanie for taking the time to leave some an amazing comment! I LOVE LOVE LOVE when you guys talk about how you make it – especially when it comes to using a bread machine or something other than the original recipe.
You so made my day!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Josie says
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for taking the time to respond and provide pictures!! My dough didn’t look exactly like that, I’m wondering if I over kneaded it in my Kitchen Aid mixer? I can’t wait to make another batch….I also need to work on forming the rolls.
I wanted to experiment to see how they would be once they were in the freezer. After the roll was thawed, it was still delicious.I put one in the toaster oven and it was so good. I’m a novice, I used to be afraid of yeast 🙂 Thank you again for sharing your recipe and skills – you’re amazing. xxx’s
TKWAdmin says
You are most welcome Josie! You so made my day! I’m beaming from ear to ear. You got this and don’t let yeast scare you. Soon enough you’ll be an expert bread baker!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
josie says
Hi. I made your hoagie recipe. It had good flavor but I’m not sure I’m getting you ‘slack’ can you post a picture 🙂
TKWAdmin says
Hi Josie!
Slack dough means when then dough cannot hold a shape; it has no elasticity or spring back at all. It’s wet dough but not too wet. It’s “billowy”. The dough is super, super soft and smooth.
Here are 2 pics of Slack dough:
http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/slackdough.jpg
http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/slackdough1.jpg
See how they are billowy and really don’t hold a shape? They are almost blobish.
Does that help?
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Andrew says
Trying out this recipe now….will let you know how they turn out. I am going to brush the rolls with butter while cooking them, we will see what happens!
-Andrew
TKWAdmin says
Hi Andrew!
Just watch how may times open the oven and how long you leave the oven door open. You want to maintain an even temp while baking. Uncontrolled heat may have an adverse affect on the rise during baking and the texture.
Brushing the butter on prior gives you a darker crust. Brushing it on after gives you more of a softer crinkly crust.
Let me know what you think!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Barb says
I’ve made these rolls twice and had the same difficulties both times. First, the cold butter never got incorporated into the dough. It just coated the bowl (I used a stand mixer with a dough hook). Second, the dough didn’t become slack, it retained it’s shape. They tasted good but were not the East Coast hoagie rolls I expected – more like big biscuits. What am I doing wrong?
TKWAdmin says
Hi Barb,
Hmmm, I’m sorry you have difficulty with these. The butter should be cubed. For clarification I cut my butter stick in 4 long strips then cube it. That helps it blend in better. 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.
If after a few minutes it just coats the bowl, stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape down the bowl and put the butter on the dough (top of it). The dough hook will incorporate it.
The butter will seem to cling to the sides and it’ll seem like the dough ‘broke’ because the butter isn’t mixing it but it will. It just takes a little bit of time. It’s okay if you have some smaller pieces in the dough but you don’t want to leave any pieces on the wall of the mixer.
I would go with low speed when you add the butter in initially but then to medium for the brunt of the mixing just to bring it back together.
If your dough never goes slack (meaning it’ll stretch beautifully but won’t hold a shape) even after the 6 minute mark (after adding salt) add about a 1/4 cup more water – SLOWLY THOUGH! Dough can be tricky none the less as so many external forces can interfere with it – humidity, too hot in the kitchen, too cold, it’s Tuesday (wink) LOL
Let me know if that helps!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
If your dough doesn’t go slack
Melissa says
This recipe is excellent! I’ve made it twice now and they are the closest to a store bought roll or bun as I have found but have a much richer flavor. If you want to you can shape these into a round shape and use them for hamburger or sloppy joe buns. I have done this and they are very good! If you’re having problems with toughness, reduce the baking time. I like 14 minutes and I think I will try 13 next time to see how they turn out. When they are medium golden on top of each roll is when you should take them out. Also, the bread will come out of the oven hard. Let it cool 15-30 minutes and you will have soft, perfect rolls. So don’t let that scare you into thinking they aren’t soft. They really are. This recipe is so easy and tasty that I am so glad I found this site. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
TKWAdmin says
Thank you so very much Melissa! And your feedback and tips are AWESOME! I so love it when folks provide “hey try this!” suggestions!
I make these as mini rolls and while they are hot, I brush them with honey butter and dive in as soon as they cool/soften!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Mary Walker says
These are perfect! I sped up the rise time with a pan of hot boiling water in the oven and let my dough rise over the pan. Other than that, I made no variance. Perfect for Philly cheese steak sammies! YUM!Thanks for sharing this! I sure have booked marked the page!
TKWAdmin says
Thank you so much Mary! Next time you make these, try one fresh from the oven with butter and honey. Oh dear lord they are amazing!
Best Kitchen Wishes!