Crusty Semolina Rolls
I used to love those early‑morning Brötchen runs—bundled up against the Franconian chill, walking to our little village bakery near Würzburg to pick up fresh, crispy, rustic German rolls still warm from the oven. There’s a special kind of magic in that first crackle of the crust as you tear one open.
But once the cold season settles in, I’m far less eager to leave the cozy warmth of home at dawn. That’s when baking Brötchen myself becomes the perfect solution. These classic German rolls are wonderfully simple to make, and the reward is a tray of fragrant, golden, crusty Brötchen ready just in time for breakfast.
If you don’t have Semolina flour on hand, don’t worry—all‑purpose or whole wheat flour works beautifully too. And the best part is that you can prepare the dough the night before. In the morning, all you have to do is shape, bake, and enjoy the kind of bakery‑fresh rolls that make even the chilliest day feel inviting.
You’ll need Semolina Flour for this recipe. Savvy bread bakers use Diastatic malt powder to promote a strong rise, great texture, and lovely brown crust.
Step 1: Mix the dough
First dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, butter, diastatic malt, milk, yeast in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast water and loosely stir/fold with your hands or Danish dough whisk. Knead with a Kitchenaid or hands and make a smooth dough. Let dough rest covered for an hour, or overnight in the refrigerator (for 8-12 hours). Follow the Brötchen pieces folding process as the recipe below the next morning.
Step 2: Shape the rolls
In the morning, preheat the oven, ideally with a pizza stone or steel. Divide the dough into 9 equal pieces and fold them into rolls by overlapping the corners in the middle (see recipe below). Let rest and fold again twice.
Step 3: Bake
Place the dough pieces on on the pizza stone in the hot oven. Place a pot with some hot water on the oven floor and bake the buns for 25 minutes until golden brown.
Crusty Semolina Rolls
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Semolina flour
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour (King Arthur or Pillsbury)
- 1 tsp Diastatic malt powder (optional)
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp soft butter
- 1 ½ tsp active dry yeast
- 4 tbsp milk
- ¾ cup water (lukewarm)
Semolina flour can be substituted by All Purpose or Bread flour. The dough can be prepared the night before and stored covered in the refrigerator to prepare the rolls in the morning.
Semolina Flour on Amazon
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For strong rise and nice texture use Diastatic Malt powder on Amazon
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For a no-knead dough I recommend to get a Danish Dough Whisk here on Amazon
Instructions
- First dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water.
- Combine the flour, sugar, salt, butter, diastatic malt, milk, yeast in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the yeast water to the flour mixture and loosely stir, fold with your hands or Danish dough whisk.
- Knead with a Kitchenaid or hands and make a smooth dough about 6 min.
- Let dough rest covered with plastic wrap for an hour, or overnight in the refrigerator 8-12 hours to bake in the morning.
- Divide the dough into about 9 portions.
- Flatten dough pieces, pull, and fold (this is important to create tension in the dough)
- Cover the rolls with a towel or linen.
- Let rest for 15 minutes.
- Use your palm to flatten each dough piece again, pull and fold into rolls.
- Put the rolls onto a linen or kitchen towel and cover.
- Let rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to or 450 F, or 420°F convection oven.
- Place the rolls fold down onto a baking sheet.
- Mist all rolls with water (or swipe with lukewarm water) until they are very wet on the outside.
- Optional sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds on top of the rolls.
- Place the baking sheet with the rolls on the middle rack of the oven.
- Create some steam by either spraying water to the walls of the oven or by using a small pot or baking pan with hot water on the bottom of the oven.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes but open the oven 2 minutes before they are done to release the steam.
- Remove from oven and place rolls on cooling rack.
Notes
Let the rolls cool, then eat fresh, or freeze
Yum, my Heritage, my almost husband an I will make these together, Carol & Jeff Gober