Easy Kaiser Rolls for Beginners (and 3 Ways to Shape Them!)
Behold — a same-day recipe for homemade Kaiser rolls that has been obsessively tested and perfected by me! Friends, the result is soft, fresh, and lightly browned Kaiser buns perfect for sandwiches and burgers. My recipe is great for beginner and seasoned bread bakers with different roll shaping methods shared, including knotted, scored or stamped.
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 600 grams all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
- 15 grams diamond crystal kosher salt
- 10 grams sugar
- 6 grams instant yeast
- 360 grams water (90°F)
- 30 grams olive oil
TOPPINGS
- 1-2 teaspoons milk
- 1-2 teaspoons dried minced onion (poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or everything bagel seasoning will also work)
Instructions
- Mix. In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Make a well in the center and pour in the warm water and olive oil. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until the dough comes together in one shaggy, messy mass on the dough hook. This can take a few minutes, be patient. Pause and scrape down the sides of the bowl if you need to.
- Knead. On low speed, knead for 5 minutes until the dough smooths out but is still a little sticky to the touch. Scrape down the dough hook, flip the dough over in the bowl, and knead 3-5 minutes more. The dough will still be a little sticky but should look smoother.
- First Rise. Tuck the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl (you can use your mixer bowl). If the dough sticks to your hands too much, you can lightly grease them to make it easier to handle. Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1-1½ hours.If your kitchen is cold, place it somewhere nice and warm to rise, otherwise it may need an extra 30 mins or so.
- Divide. Gently deflate the dough and turn it out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface. Divide into 6 equal pieces (about 168g each).
- Shape a knot. Roll a 20" rope of dough (no fancy pre-shaping required). Do not taper the ends. Dust your hands lightly with flour and give the rope a quick roll — the flour will keep it from sticking to itself while you shape it. Create a loop in the middle of the rope, crossing the two ends over each other. Thread one end of the rope through the middle of the loop, leaving some space in the loop. Take the end of the rope that is poking through the middle and wrap it around the loop again so it pokes back through the middle. Then, take the other end of the rope and wrap it around the front of the loop, pushing it through the middle to pinch it together with the other end of the rope so the joined ends are tucked inside. (See video below if this is confusing!)If shaping rolls to score or stamp, knead or shape each piece of dough into a tight ball with the seam tucked underneath. Score or stamp the rolls immediately before baking, after brushing with milk and sprinkling with minced onion.
- Second Rise. Spray the tops of the rolls lightly with non-stick spray. Cover with plastic wrap, and place a sheet pan on top to weigh them down as they rise until doubled in size and quite puffy, 1-1½ hours. The weight of the sheet pan will force them to rise outward rather than upward.
- Preheat to 400°F. Toward the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Toppings. Immediately before baking, brush the Kaiser rolls all over with milk, then sprinkle with dried minced onion. If doing round rolls, use a sharp knife or lame to score 5-6 lines arcing out from the center of each roll, about ½" deep. If stamping your Kaiser buns, do so now.
- Bake. Bake the Kaiser rolls for 18-20 minutes until pale golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheet pan 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
RECIPE NOTES
- If the round rolls have puffed up into round, domed tops in the oven, you can place a sheet pan on top of them immediately after removing them from the oven to deflate them slightly into a flatter burger bun shape. Don't press down on the sheet pan, the weight of the pan alone is enough.
- If using a Kaiser roll stamp, brush the rolls with milk, then stamp the tops, then sprinkle with onion topping. If the stamp is sticking or not pulling away cleanly from the dough, spray it with non-stick spray before each use.
- For a darker or crisper, harder Kaiser roll add 3-5 minutes to the bake time.
- You can knead this Kaiser roll dough by hand, but I find it's a little stickier than I like to handle. Add about 3-5 mins to the kneading time and try not to add too much flour as you work. Just enough to prevent sticking.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 6-7 days. They may be a little dry by the end of that window, but will bounce back when toasted.
- To freeze: Slice them in half almost all the way through, wrap each one tightly with plastic wrap, then place in a large bag in the freezer with as much air pressed out as possible. They can go right in the toaster oven from frozen or you can defrost on the counter at room temperature, then pop in the oven at 350°F for 5-7 mins to perk them back up.
- If you prefer smaller Kaiser rolls, divide the dough into seven (~144g each) or even eight (~126g each) portions instead of six.