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–+ servings
A close-up of several oval-shaped french bread rolls with light brown crusts and slits on top, arranged in a cloth-lined basket.

Hard French Dinner Rolls (Restaurant Bread Basket-Style!)

Rebecca Eisenberg
My recipe for crusty, hard French dinner rolls is super easy and makes the best restaurant-style bread rolls to go with your dinner. They are crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, and super easy to make, too. Once baked, these dinner rolls freeze and reheat beautifully, so I like to make a double batch and stash some away for later!
Servings 16 rolls

Ingredients
  

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. Use the dough hook on low speed to mix until all the water and flour are incorporated into a rough, messy dough that collects on the dough hook, about 3-4 minutes.
    • I do all my mixing and kneading on speed 2-3 on my KitchenAid mixer. Sometimes I'll go up to speed 4, but mostly I keep the mixer at speed 2-3.
  • Knead. Increase the speed slightly and knead until the dough is smooth, soft, and a little sticky to the touch, about 4-5 minutes. It should pull cleanly from the walls of the bowl, but might stick to your fingers slightly if you pinch it. If needed, dust in additional flour while kneading, just enough to help the dough pull away from the bowl.
  • Rise. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly to tuck all the edges into the middle to form a ball. Lightly grease the inside of the mixer bowl, then place the dough ball inside. Cover the bowl, then let the dough rest in a warm spot (72°F) until just about doubled in size, about 1 hour.
    • Use the fingerprint test to determine if the dough is ready!
  • Pre-shape. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Gently deflate the dough, then knead it back into a ball. Use a kitchen scale to weigh the dough and divide it into 16 equal pieces (they should each weigh about 51g). On an unfloured surface, knead and tuck each portion of dough into a tight ball with a smooth top and a barely-visible pinched-together seam underneath.
    • If the dough is really sticking to you as you shape the dough balls you can dust in the tiniest pinch of flour. Don't overdo it or the flour will prevent the dough from sticking to itself.
  • Shape. With the seam of each dough ball against the counter, briefly press down on the middle and roll it back and forth once or twice with gentle yet firm pressure to shape it into a short oval log, about 3 inches long and 1½ inches wide. The dough will shrink back slightly, so I find it works best to roll to about 4 inches first and let it shrink back to the right size. Transfer the shaped rolls to a parchment-lined sheet pan in four rows of four.
  • Rise. Dust the tops of the rolls lightly with flour, cover with a clean dish towel or plastic wrap, and let them rise until puffed up and almost doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes.
  • Preheat. Toward the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 450°F and fill a small misting spray bottle with water.
  • Score. Immediately before baking, spritz (or brush, if you don't have a spray bottle) the tops of each roll with water, then use a sharp knife or a lame to cut a ¼" deep slash down the center of each roll. Make sure the score mark goes end-to-end for the best results.
  • Bake. Bake until pale golden brown on top, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer the rolls to a wire rack and let cool almost completely before serving — these are best served slightly warm!

RECIPE NOTES

  • For a shinier crust, brush the rolls with an egg wash or an egg white wash before baking instead of using water. A whole egg wash will give a darker brown crust, while an egg white wash will make them shiny without extra browning.
  • If you have a perforated baguette pan, you can let the shaped rolls do their final rise in that. Place the whole baguette pan on the baking sheet to bake — you'll get that little dotted pattern on the bottom, like you see on some restaurant rolls!
  • Overnight rise: Immediately after kneading, place the dough in the fridge to rise overnight. The dough will be fine for up to 24 (mayyyyybe 48) hours in the fridge before shaping and baking.
  • Reviving day-old rolls: Pop day-old rolls in the microwave for 10 seconds and they'll be practically good as new! 
  • To Freeze: Place the cooled, baked rolls in an airtight bag with as much air pressed out as possible. Defrost to room temperature, then microwave for 10 seconds, or pop the frozen rolls in a 350°F oven until warmed through.