Homemade Hoagie Rolls
Homemade Hoagie Rolls are delicious, soft-baked rolls made out of the best French bread dough. This simple, 5-ingredient recipe makes the BEST sandwiches and can be stored in the freezer for several months.
Hoagie Roll Recipe
There really is nothing better than homemade bread. I’ve been making my mom’s Chewy French Bread for years now, and this recipe is her bread simply made into hoagie rolls. I decided to share this version with you today because sandwich rolls are life when you have a bread-loving family as I do.
These hoagie rolls were used in my Pressed Cuban Sandwiches (highly recommend!) after eating them out at a local restaurant and then coming home to make a copycat version. You could also use them for any deli sandwich, my Beef Au Jus Sandwiches, my Roasted Vegetable Pesto Panini, and this list goes on and on.
Ingredients needed for Homemade Hoagie Rolls:
- Yeast – I use Red Star Active Dry Yeast. (This is a very large amount. I keep a bunch in the freezer, and it lasts a long time.) We have perfect bread-making weather here in Texas, and my bread always rises pretty quickly. You may need a Quick Rise Yeast, depending on where you live.
- Sugar – Just a little bit of sugar is needed to help activate the yeast.
- Water – It’s very important to use warm water. I test it with my finger and make sure it’s not too hot, and not cold either.
- Salt – I like kosher salt, but you can use regular salt as well.
- Flour – For best results, use all-purpose flour.
How to make Homemade Hoagie Rolls:
Note: You can definitely make this recipe by hand instead of using a mixer. It will take a little bit more time and some arm strength, but you can do it.
Step 1
Activate the yeast. Using a large standing mixer, combine the yeast, sugar, salt, and warm water. Take a spatula, and stir it around a couple of times. Then let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the yeast activates. You should see a bubbly mixture when it’s ready. See below.
Step 2
Add flour to desired consistency. Start by adding about four cups of flour to the mixer. Let the mixer run, and occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Gradually add more flour until you get a nice dough consistency. It should be slightly sticky, but easy to handle.
Step 3
Let the dough rise. Grease a large bowl with canola or olive oil. Remove the dough from the mixer, and form it into a ball. Then place it in the bowl, and cover it with a clean dishtowel. Place the bowl in a quiet corner of your kitchen and let rise until approximately doubled in size. The rise may be different each time and will vary depending on where you live.
Step 4
Form hoagie rolls. Once the bread rises, it’s time to form the dough into desired shapes. Prepare jelly roll pans with baking spray. (See below for my favorite pans.)Add a little oil to a pastry mat or a large flat surface (a cutting board works too), and form sections of dough into oblong shapes for rolls. Place on pans.
Step 5
Let rise again. Cover rolls with clean dish towels, and let them rise again until almost doubled in size.
Step 6
Prepare for baking. Use a sharp serrated edge knife to cut diagonal slits in the tops of the rolls. Beat one large egg with a bit of water, and using a pastry brush, spread a thin layer over the tops of the bread/rolls. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt.
Step 7
Bake. Bake hoagie rolls in a preheated 400-degree oven, until done, approximately 25 minutes. The bottoms should be slightly browned, and the tops a nice golden brown. Remove rolls to a cooling rack.
Storing Tip: These rolls are best fresh the first day! It can be stored in airtight bags on the counter for 2-3 days.
Freezing Tip: You can freeze these hoagie rolls in freezer bags for up to three months.
Active Dry Yeast vs Instant Yeast:
As a rule, I only use Active Dry Yeast in my bread baking. You can use Instant Yeast as well, but will need just a little bit less. Instant Yeast also requires less time to rise, but since I live in a fairly warm, humid climate (Texas), I’ve never had a problem with my bread rise.
- Active Dry Yeast – A type of dry yeast that’s granular, similar to cornmeal. This yeast is a living organism that’s dormant until proofed, requiring a small amount of lukewarm water and a pinch of sugar to activate.
- Instant Yeast – Also known as quick-rise, rapid-rise, or even bread machine yeast. This yeast is milled into smaller particles so it doesn’t need to be dissolved into water. The dough rises faster with this yeast because enzymes and other additives are included to make this happen. You don’t ever need to do more than one rise with this yeast.
We love using hoagie rolls for our Pressed Cuban Sandwiches and Beef Au Jus Sandwiches!
Kitchen Tools used for this recipe: (Affiliate Links)
- This Bosch Universal Mixer is the bomb of bread mixers! My Mom had one sitting on her counter for as long as I can remember. She used it so often that she literally wore the first one out and bought a second one after she and Dad moved into an apartment. Mike bought me one for Mother’s Day several years ago and I love it. It doesn’t do the work FOR you, but it can handle a lot of bread making (speaking from experience!) and the lid prevents the dough from falling out of the mixer when making large batches of bread. However, a KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook works great too, OR make it by hand.
- 16-3/4 by 12-Inch Jelly-Roll Pan, Set of 2
- Parchment Paper Sheets for High Heat Baking
xoxo ~Sue
Homemade Hoagie Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon yeast – I use Red Star
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 1/2 cups warm water – not hot, not cold
- 5-6 cups all-purpose flour – or until right consistency
Instructions
- Using a large standing mixer, combine the yeast, sugar, salt, and warm water. Take a spatula, and stir it around a couple of times. Then let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the yeast activates. You should see a bubbly mixture when it’s ready.
- Add flour to desired consistency. Start by adding about four cups of flour to the mixer. Let the mixer run, and occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Gradually add more flour until you get a nice dough consistency. It should be slightly sticky, but easy to handle.
- Grease a large bowl with canola or olive oil. Remove the dough from the mixer, and form it into a ball. Then place it in the bowl, and cover it with a clean dishtowel. Place the bowl in a quiet corner of your kitchen and let rise until approximately doubled in size.
- Once the bread rises, it’s time to form the dough into desired shapes. Prepare jelly roll pans with baking spray. Add a little oil to a pastry mat or a large flat surface (a cutting board works too), and form sections of dough into oblong shapes for rolls. Place on pans.
- Cover rolls with clean dish towels, and let it rise again, until almost doubled in size.
- Use a sharp serrated edge knife to cut diagonal slits in the tops of the rolls. Beat one large egg with a bit of water, and using a pastry brush, spread a thin layer over the tops of bread/rolls. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt.
- Bake hoagie rolls in a preheated 400 degree oven, until done, approximately 25 minutes. The bottoms should be slightly browned, and the tops a nice golden brown. Remove rolls to a cooling rack.
These are delicious !! I am making a second batch today!
Made these for “bratwurst sandwiches”, fun and easy recipe for a beginner baker like myself!
You’re doing great!
LOVE these rolls, so easy and sooooo good!
I bake all the time and decided to give a new recipe a try and it was a flop. They rose all through the proper stages but were like little breadsticks after baking. It’s a disappointment since they were for our sandwiches for the zoo tomorrow.
Are they sweet at all, or can be made slightly sweet?
They are not sweet, but you could add extra sugar to make them sweeter.
So easy to make! I’m about to pop them in the oven and enjoy them with some brisket.
Oh great! We love them too. 🙂
Such a perfect sandwich roll!