How to Make Crusty German Bread Rolls | Brötchen

These crusty bread rolls are a staple on German breakfast tables. With this recipe, yours will be just like the ones from the bakery.

One of my fondest childhood memories is when I would go to the bakery with my dad on Saturday mornings and get a bag of freshly baked crusty German bread rolls, also called Brötchen.

If you have ever had them, you might be familiar with the golden-brown color of the crust, nice, sweet smell, and audible crunch when you take a bite.

Ever since I moved from Germany to the US, I have been wanting to recreate these rolls – so that they taste just like from the neighborhood bakery.

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What are German crusty bread rolls?

The German word for bread is “Brot” and “Brötchen” literally means ‘little bread’. However, depending on the region, they can have various different names. Some of those are Wecken, Schrippen, or Semmel.

If you visit a German bakery, you typically find many different types of these rolls. Some of them are white or whole wheat. You can also find rye or spelt crusty rolls. And then there are all sorts of seeded rolls or pretzel buns.

Why you’ll love this recipe

I have baked dozens and dozens of these German rolls and am super excited to share my recipe with you!

I will teach you what ingredients to use and exactly how to make them. You will love their authentic look, feel, sound, and taste.

With this simple Brötchen recipe and the detailed instructions, you, too, can bake these tasty German bread rolls – just like the ones from the bakery!

What are the ingredients?

You will mostly need some very basic ingredients:

• flour: for this recipe, we are using regular all-purpose flour.
• yeast: instant dry yeast is easiest to use and perfect here.
• salt: salt really brings out the traditional flavor of these bread rolls.
• fat: I like butter the best here.
• sugar: we only need a pinch to ’round out’ the flavor and to help the yeast along.
• malted barley flour: this is completely optional but I highly recommend you add diastatic malt powder to your dough. It really makes these rolls turn out very light and airy.

Useful tools and equipment

Here are some tools that I find helpful:

• Stand mixer: this helps to knead the dough in the beginning.
• Kitchen scale: even though I am adding US measurements, I highly recommend that you use a kitchen scale that shows you the weights in grams and kilograms
• Bench scraper: this nifty tool comes in handy when moving and separating the dough.
• Bread lame: this is essentially a razor blade on a nice handle and helps with the scoring of the rolls
• Baker’s half-sheet: if you don’t already own one, I highly recommend you get a baking sheet.
• Silicone mat: even though parchment paper works just as well as greasing the baker’s sheet, I really like the non-stick silicone mats

How to make these crusty German bread rolls

Preparing the dough:

• In a measuring cup, dissolve sugar and instant yeast in warm water. Set aside. This step helps to see if the yeast is active.
• In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, salt, diastatic malt, and soft butter.
• With the dough hook attached, turn the mixer to slow, and then add the yeast mixture.
• Keep mixing at low speed until the dough comes together (5-10 minutes).
• Place the dough ball onto a work surface and knead by hand by folding and stretching a few times. Form it into a smooth ball by gently stretching the top and folding under.
• Grease a large bowl with the extra oil.
• Place dough ball first face down, then flip so that the entire dough ball is coated with oil.

Slow fermentation

• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight. I highly recommend a slow fermentation at a low temperature. If you’re in a rush, you can also let the yeast dough rise at room temperature for about 2-3 hours.

Second fermentation

• With a knife or bench scraper, divide the dough into 8 equal parts and shape each into small balls or oval rolls.
• Place the rolls onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
• Cover the rolls with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until they have almost doubled in size (depending on the temperature, that can take 2-3 hours).
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400˚-450˚F. Place a heat-resistant bowl in the bottom of the oven. Have a handful of ice cubes or about 1 cup of water ready.
• Gently score each roll with a lame or a sharp knife.

Baking the rolls

• Place the rolls in the preheated oven. Immediately add a handful of ice cubes or 1 cup of water to the dish in the oven to create steam. Quickly close the oven door.
• Bake for about 20 mins or until golden brown. You can turn the cookie sheet halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning.
• Remove the rolls from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.
• For best results, enjoy the rolls while they are fresh!

Substitutions and variations

• Flour: you can use a variety of flours here: you can use different ratios of whole grain flour to white flour or make them all whole grain (they will be denser then). I have also successfully used spelt, rye, or einkorn flour.
• Additions: these crusty rolls are perfect with toppings such as sesame seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, or cracked grains. You just gently press them on after shaping them. Or you throw those seeds right into your dough so they will be on the inside.
• Vegan rolls: I really like the taste of butter but you can use a mild oil instead, such as avocado oil or canola oil.
• Barley malt: if you don’t have it, don’t worry. A bit more sugar will also do.

How to eat German buns

Obviously, you can eat them any way you want!

However, here are some traditional ways that Germans eat their Brötchen:

• for breakfast: you can find fresh bread rolls in every bread basket on German breakfast tables. Germans cut them in half horizontally, smear butter on them, and top them with jams, honey, quark, sliced cheese, or cold cuts. Basically, they eat them as open-faced sandwiches.
• for snacks: crusty bread rolls are the perfect holders for sausages, schnitzels, or even all sorts of fried or marinated fish. These days, you can even find complete sandwiches with cheese or some meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and so on.
• for supper: the traditional German supper is often very similar to breakfast, except that it tends to be savory. Again, Germans put butter on their dinner roll and then add sliced cheeses, cold cuts, or spreads.

How long do German rolls keep fresh?

These are actually best eaten fresh! By that I mean, on the day that you bake them.

If you would like to keep them for just another day or two, you can keep them in a paper bag. You can also wrap them in plastic but then they will get soft and chewy.

To crisp up day-old rolls, you can spritz them with some water and briefly bake them in the oven at 180˚F for 5-10 minutes.

What to do with stale rolls?

There are a lot of uses for stale rolls:

• you can use them in bread puddings
• you can let them get completely dry and make breadcrumbs
• many German recipes need stale rolls that you soak in milk
• find a good German Knödel (dumpling) recipe

Can you make these German rolls ahead of time?

In short, yes, you can!

The best way is to bake them. While they are still a bit warm, simply place them in a plastic bag or freezer bag, squeeze out as much air as possible, and freeze them for up to 4 months.

When you’re ready to eat these rolls, simply spray a bit of water on them and bake them at about 180˚F for about 10 minutes.

Even though you can freeze the unbaked rolls or the yeast dough before shaping but I find that you just don’t get quite the same results as with freshly made dough.

Other recipes you might like

Soft Sourdough Pretzel Recipe

Authentic German Pretzels

Sourdough English Muffins

How to make German whole-grain bread

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Kitchen scale

Bench scraper

Kitchenaid stand mixer

Diastatic malt

Bread lame

Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

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