Brötchen are classic German bread rolls with a crisp crust and soft, fluffy inside. They’re perfect for breakfast or sandwiches and taste best fresh from the oven.
Brötchen
Brötchen, also called Semmel in parts of Austria and southern Germany, are small, crusty bread rolls enjoyed throughout the German-speaking world.
They’re most commonly eaten for breakfast, either plain with butter and jam or topped with cheese and cold cuts as simple open-faced sandwiches (belegtes Brot).
Brötchen are also served as a side with warm dishes like goulash or Currywurst, and make a great base for hearty sandwiches like Schnitzel sandwiches.
When they go stale, they’re perfect for making Semmelknödel (bread dumplings), a traditional and beloved comfort food.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this easy recipe:
You can use all-purpose flour (this is what I used) or bread flour for this recipe, it works well with both. Bröthchen made with bread flour will be more chewy and less soft/fluffy.
I tested this recipe with US all-purpose flour (King Arthur) and it works just as well.
How to make it step-by-step
STEP 1: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and yeast.
(4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, not scooped, 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons or 7g) instant yeast)
STEP 2: Add all the other ingredients.
(2 1/4 cups (310g) room temperature water, 1 1/2 tablespoons (17g) olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon (10g) honey, or sugar, 1 3/4 teaspoons (12g) salt)
STEP 3: Stir until roughly combined with a wooden spoon.
STEP 4: Knead the dough until soft and no longer sticky, about 15 minutes by hand or 5-10 minutes with a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add just a tiny amount of flour if necessary, or wet your hands slightly with olive oil and knead the dough on a counter by hand or using the slap-and-fold method (Slap and fold is a method where you lift the dough, slap it onto the counter, and fold it over to build structure without adding extra flour.).
STEP 5: Grase the bowl lightly with olive oil and cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and let it rise until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.
STEP 6: Divide the dough into 8 parts.
STEP 7+8: Brush a large baking sheet with vegetable oil.
Shape each part into a round or oval bun and place it on the greased baking sheet.
To shape the buns: fold all the corners of a piece of dough into the center, pinch them together, then turn the dough over and form a ball using the palm of your hand. For an oval bun, roll it gently between your palm and the counter.
STEP 9: Cover the baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap lightly coated with olive oil (so the dough doesn’t stick).
STEP 10: Let the buns rise for 40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 475°F (245°C) and place a small to medium baking dish at the bottom of the oven.
When the buns are done rising, score each one with a sharp serrated knife or a razor and spray them generously with water.
Pour 2 cups of boiling water into the baking dish in the oven.
Place the baking sheet with the buns on a wire rack in the middle of the oven.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until well browned and crispy. The baking time may vary depending on your oven, so make sure the Brötchen are not browning too much at the end.
Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.
Let them cool completely, then enjoy!
Storage
These bread rolls are best enjoyed fresh out of the oven when the crust is crisp and the inside soft. Later on, they still taste good, but the crust won’t be crispy anymore, just like with every other roll recipe, including those sold in stores where rolls are often freshly baked throughout the day for this exact reason.
The best way to preserve them if you’re not eating them right away is to freeze them. You can reheat them straight from the freezer at 400°F (200°C) for 7–8 minutes.
Top Tips
- The surface of the baked buns will be rather matte. If you want shiny buns, you can brush them with melted butter like dinner rolls, but the crust will lose some of its crispiness. The Brötchen sold in German grocery stores are not shiny.
- Baking sheet: Use a dark-colored baking sheet if you have one. The Brötchen will bake just fine on a light-colored sheet, but the bottoms will turn darker and crispier on a dark-colored one.
- The total time needed to make Brötchen is about 3½ hours: 15 minutes to make the dough, 1½ hours for the first rise, 10 minutes to shape the rolls, 40 minutes for the second rise, 20 minutes for baking, and 30 minutes for cooling.
- Crispy crust: Spraying the dough with water and placing a baking dish with boiling water in the oven creates steam, which makes the crust of the rolls crispier.
- How to measure flour: I use the “spoon and level” method, so 1 cup of flour in my recipes equals 125g. Fluff the flour by stirring it in the bag or container with a spoon, then spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife. I recommend using a digital scale for perfect and consistent results. Measuring flour with cups is unfortunately very inaccurate—1 US cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 120g to 140g, depending on how it’s filled. A 20g difference is just over 2 tablespoons, so if this recipe calls for 4 cups of flour, you could end up adding 8 tablespoons too much—that’s an extra ½ cup!
Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!
Brötchen – German Bread Rolls
Ingredients
- 4 cups (500g) all-purpose or bread flour spooned and leveled not scooped
- 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons or 7g) instant yeast
- 2 1/4 cups (310g) room temperature water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (17g) olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon (10g) honey or sugar
- 1 3/4 teaspoons (12g) salt
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil for greasing the baking sheet
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Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and yeast.4 cups (500g) all-purpose or bread flour, 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons or 7g) instant yeast
- Add all the other ingredients and stir until roughly combined with a wooden spoon.2 1/4 cups (310g) room temperature water, 1 1/2 tablespoons (17g) olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon (10g) honey, 1 3/4 teaspoons (12g) salt
- Knead the dough until soft and no longer sticky, about 15 minutes by hand or 5-10 minutes with a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add just a tiny amount of flour if necessary, or wet your hands slightly with olive oil and knead the dough on a counter by hand or using the slap-and-fold method (Slap and fold is a method where you lift the dough, slap it onto the counter, and fold it over to build structure without adding extra flour.).
- Grase the bowl lightly with olive oil and cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and let it rise until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Divide the dough into 8 parts. Brush a large baking sheet with vegetable oil.
- Shape each part into a round or oval bun and place it on the greased baking sheet.
- To shape the buns: fold all the corners of a piece of dough into the center, pinch them together, then turn the dough over and form a ball using the palm of your hand. For an oval bun, roll it gently between your palm and the counter.
- Cover the baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap lightly coated with olive oil (so the dough doesn’t stick) and let the buns rise for 40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 475°F (245°C) and place a small to medium baking dish at the bottom of the oven.
- When the buns are done rising, score each one with a sharp serrated knife or a razor and spray them generously with water.
- Pour about 2 cups of boiling water into the baking dish in the oven.
- Place the baking sheet with the buns on a wire rack in the middle of the oven.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until well browned and crispy. The baking time may vary depending on your oven, so make sure the Brötchen are not browning too much at the end.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.
- Let them cool completely, then enjoy!
Notes
- The surface of the baked buns will be rather matte. If you want shiny buns, you can brush them with melted butter like dinner rolls, but the crust will lose some of its crispiness. The Brötchen sold in German grocery stores are not shiny.
- Use a dark-colored baking sheet if you have one. The Brötchen will bake just fine on a light-colored sheet, but the bottoms will turn darker and crispier on a dark-colored one.
- The total time needed to make Brötchen is about 3½ hours: 15 minutes to make the dough, 1½ hours for the first rise, 10 minutes to shape the rolls, 40 minutes for the second rise, 20 minutes for baking, and 30 minutes for cooling.
- Spraying the dough with water and placing a baking dish with boiling water in the oven creates steam, which makes the crust of the rolls crispier.
- These bread rolls are best enjoyed fresh out of the oven when the crust is crisp and the inside soft. Later on, they still taste good, but the crust won’t be crispy anymore. The best way to preserve them if you’re not eating them right away is to freeze them. You can reheat them straight from the freezer at 400°F (200°C) for 7–8 minutes.
- How to measure flour: I’m using the “spoon and level method” so 1 cup of flour in my recipes weighs 125g. Fluff the flour by stirring it in the bag/flour container with a spoon. Spoon the flour and sprinkle it into your measuring cup. Sweep off the excess flour with the back of a knife. I recommend using a digital scale for perfect and consistent results.
- Calories = 1 bread roll (1/8 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!
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