Soft Yogurt Sandwich Rolls April 21
One of my favorite parts about breads - especially homemade bread - is the crispy crust that forms in the oven, but a crispy-crust bread isn’t always ideal for all applications. Sandwiches and hamburgers, for instance, usually do better with something a little softer. I love my standard hamburger bun recipes, but lately, I’ve been on a bit of a mission to come up with a new recipe for soft sandwich rolls that keep well and don’t involve a ton of fat (since, if I wanted my sandwich on challah or brioche, I could always just go with that to begin with).
I decided to experiment with yogurt in my bread because it often contributes a nice tenderness to baked goods. It didn’t take long for me to realize that yogurt was a very good idea. The rolls turned out to be soft and moist on the inside, with a soft crust - a classic sandwich roll-type crust that is easy to bite into and doesn’t shatter into a million crumbs with each bite. The crumb of the bread is open enough to soak up juice from, say, a nice piece of hot roast beef, but is sturdy enough to hold your average cold sandwich - with mayo and mustard - for hours without getting soggy. They have a very mild, slightly sweet flavor that will go with any filling you might come up with.
I feel that I should also note that there is no dairy in these rolls other than the yogurt, and this makes them a great choice if you (or the person you’re baking for) are lactose intolerant. The bacteria used to turn milk to yogurt feed off lactose, so it shouldn’t upset any stomachs, while still giving you the soft texture and nice flavor of your average made-with-butter-and-milk soft sandwich roll.
The amount of flour you need will depend completely on how thick your yogurt is, so don’t worry if you don’t use the exact amount I’ve specified below. I used my go-to yogurt of choice: a thick, nonfat, Greek-style yogurt. It is about 50% thicker thick than your average plain yogurt and has a nice tang to it. The tanginess doesn’t really translate straight to the rolls, much like using buttermilk in a bread or cake doesn’t leave you with the sharp tang of buttermilk - however, both add tenderness to the finished products.
The rolls can be cut in half to make dinner rolls, too. You will probably have to cut the baking time down by 5 minutes if you chose to go this route. Fortunately color is a reliable indicator of doneness for these, so just take a peek in the oven every now and again and you should be fine. The rolls will keep for a couple of days when stored in an airtight container, so if you bake a batch on Sunday, they should still be just fine for sandwiches on Tuesday or Wednesday. I can’t guarantee they’ll last that long, since they’re also excellent with butter and jam and make a nice addition to breakfast, as well.
Soft Yogurt Sandwich Rolls
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp active dry yeast
3 tbsp honey
1 cup water, warm (100-110F)
1 cup yogurt (nonfat/lowfat is fine; I used Greek-style)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup flour, the active dry yeast, the honey and the warm water. Stir well and let sit for 10 minutes, until slightly foamy.
Stir in yogurt, vegetable oil, salt and 2 cups of the remaining flour. Gradually stir in more flour until you have a soft dough that sticks together pulls away from the sides of the bowl (This can all be done in a stand mixer with the dough-hook attached, as well).
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding additional flour if necessary to prevent sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic, or about 5 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Turn risen dough out of bowl and onto a lightly floured surface. Gently deflate, pressing into a rectangle. Divide dough into 10 even pieces with a board scraper or a pizza cutter. Shape each piece into a round roll. To do this, take all the corners of one of the squarish pieces you just cut and pull them together, pinching them to create a seal. This will pull the rest of the dough “tight” across the top of your roll, giving you a smooth top. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
Once all rolls have been formed, press down firmly on each one to flatten. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise for 25 minutes.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until rolls are deep golden on the top and the bottom.
Cool on a wire rack.
Store in an airtight container.
Makes 10 rolls.
Rachel Apr 21
These look great - possibly my next baking project! Do you think a partial whole wheat flour substitution would work?
Nicole Apr 21
Rachel - You’re going to get a coarser texture with whole wheat, but the rolls should still taste good. I would try subbing in 1 cup of whole wheat and seeing how the resulting rolls turn out. If you can find white whole wheat flour, try using that. It should give you a finer texture than regular whole wheat and you’ll probably be able to use a greater proportion of it.
Rachel Apr 21
Sounds great! I’ll see how it goes. Thanks!
Rachelle ~ “Mommy? I’m Hungry!” Apr 21
These look wonderful! Yet another recipe from your blog I’ll have to try! My favorite place, lately!
Lisa in Poland Apr 22
Oh! I need to make these! I don’t quite understand the direction “Shape each piece into a round roll, pinching the edges together and pulling one side of the dough “tight” across the top.” Would it be possible for you to clarify a little? These look so delicious, and pretty simple. A definite must make!!
Hannah Apr 22
These sound so tasty.
Quite low in fat too.
Thanks for the great recipe.
Laura Apr 22
Those look great! Do you think sour cream might be a good substitution for the yogurt? I don’t usually buy plain yogurt since all I can find are the huge tubs.
Erika Apr 22
These look great! I made soup last night and I was wishing I had something like this to go along with it!
Karina Apr 22
I have soft roll ENVY!
Mariah Apr 22
OH my.
I think I may have to buy a pork roast and bribe the neighbors to make BBQ pork if I make homemade rolls…..
I bet these would be GREAT for BBQ sandwiches… *drools*.
brilynn Apr 22
You’d think that with the warmer weather I’d be baking less bread but somehow the opposite is true. I’ll have to add these rolls to my ‘to-make’ list.
Patricia Scarpin Apr 22
I love baking with yogurt, too, Nic. These look so tender, yum!
lyra Apr 22
These look yummy. I just emailed the recipe to myself-a light fluffy roll is not something that I make very often, and I think now may be the time!
Hannah Apr 22
I’m planning to make these today.
But I was wondering if you think this recipe would work well as a loaf. I don’t make a lot of bread so I’m sure about the mechanics of it.
Would this dough be too soft for a loaf?
Nicole Apr 22
Hannah - You could certainly try it as a loaf. I’m not sure if the dough would be too big for a loaf pan, but you could always free-form it. Baking time will be significantly longer. Try 40 minutes to start and go from there, but be sure to look for a good color and use an instant-read thermometer to make sure the center of bread reaches about 200F. That’s how you’ll know it’s done.
Hannah Apr 23
Thanks Nicole I think I’ll give it a shot. I made the rolls this afternoon. The kids are gobbling them up as I type. lol.
They are fantastic. I am so excited I blogged them right away, I hope that’s okay?
Thanks so much for the recipe, I’ll give the loaf a go and let you know how it turns out.
Catherine Apr 23
Hi and thanks for this, I am going to give them a go. I will make the dough up in my Breadmaker and then transfer to my oven. The only question I have is that I am in the UK and when making bread here I would normally use Strong Flour that is specially for bread making but am not sure if this is what you would use Nicole. Many thanks.
Jeni Apr 23
These look fantastic– perfect for this wet Edinburgh weather!
Catherine, “all-purpose” flour in the States is the same as “plain” flour here. If a US recipe calls for “bread” flour, that’s “strong” flour here. Hope that helps!
Lynn Craig Apr 23
These look great! I’m surprised that the yogurt didn’t give them a gummy texture. I love how fluffy they look. I’ll definitely have to try these.
BTW - I use a Mac and Safari and your site won’t accept comments using that browser even when I change settings to accept all cookies. You might look into that. I switched to Firefox to submit this comment.
patsyk Apr 23
I am printing this out right now! These look wonderful, and I would prefer to make sandwich rolls myself - that way I know what’s going in them!
rhyleysgranny Apr 23
These look amazing. I am still reeling that you made them with all purpose/plain flour and not bread/strong flour. I have to go and try them now.
Catherine Apr 24
Thanks Jeni!
Cath Apr 26
How can I use fresh yeast instead of active dry yeast? Where I live I only find this type or baking powder! Do you think it’s possible make this bread anyway?
Kristin Apr 27
Wow — great recipe! I made these with 2.5 c. all purpose flour, 1 c. whole wheat and 1/2 c. wheat bran, and they taste great! Lighter/softer than you’d expect for that mix of flours. Also very easy!
Leila Apr 29
I just love your recipe specially because I don’t need to have a bread machine to make it. I made a yogurt brioche last saturday and I was so happy with the results and softness. I am sure I’ll like your rolls as well. Great Blog.
Heather May 2
I made these yesterday and they are delicious! We used them last night for pulled pork and will use them again tonight for hamburgers. YUM!
Jana May 8
Hi, I am a searcher of bread recipes — I liked this one, I am sure I will bake the rolls soon. The recipe sounds perfect to me- yoghurt, olive oil, yeast, flour… thank you.
Gina May 8
Thanks so much for this excellent recipe. I haven’t had time to blog about them yet, but I made my first batch the other day using white whole wheat flour just for a little more nutrition and texture. They were quite good, and we’ve already devoured most of them making our sandwiches for lunch this week. I will definitely make them again, but maybe I’ll try the plain old white version next time! Thanks again!
Michelle May 9
Love these rolls! I made them today and used them as buns for mini burgers. They were a perfect texture for that. I LOVED how silky smooth the dough was, and I was able to use my Kitchenaid for the whole mixing and kneading process. Great recipe!
Kristin May 12
For more flour experimentation — I also just wanted to say that these work beautifully with spelt flour. I reduced the water to 3/4 c. and ended up using about 3-2/3 c. flour in total. The dough had that amazing spelt silkiness! It didn’t rise as high in the bowl, which is common with spelt, but the rolls had good loft.
Simran Jul 11
I just tried these, and the rolls were simply delicious. Thanks for the recipe
nidhi Aug 3
I have never baked in my life. I guess your sandwich rolls have motivated me enough to give it a try this time. Will let you know as an when I will post it.
nidhi Aug 19
I had a doubt…I want to bake these in microwave oven… Which mode should I use?
Thanks!
Zeze Aug 22
My son in allergic to milk, can I make the same recipe without using yogurt.
Zeze Aug 23
Well I made it without yogurt, and they turn out really nice and soft, its the best sandwich rolls I have ever made, thank u very much for this great recipe.