Soft, buttery, and flakey with a moist center, egg bread rolls are as good as it gets. This post shares how to make the tastiest rolls that can steal the spotlight from even the yummiest entrees.
There's nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread straight from the oven.
Indeed, egg bread rolls turn the house into an old-fashioned bakery and have everyone getting out of bed. Even on cold winter mornings!
Now, I don't really consider myself a professional baker, so I love creating no-fail and straightforward baked recipes.
Slowly but surely, I've been able to sharpen my baking skills with healthy pizza dough recipes, cookies, and pies.
And since I'm a HUGE fan of bread, I decided to try making these egg bread rolls to accompany some of our savory dinners. Trust me; you're gonna wanna try them with this Hearty Beef Stew or this Healthy Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup made with protein filled ham.
If you're looking for a bread you can serve with pride, bread that the kids will love, and bread that's sure to awaken the baking prowess in you…look no further! You don't need a stand mixer for these, just arms ready for kneading. Grab a baking sheet or tray, and get ready to stir and knead your way to ah-mazing rolls!
What Are In These Egg Bread Rolls?
These buttery and soft egg bread rolls use only seven simple ingredients.
Here’s all you need:
- Egg: Rich in protein, eggs are also a fantastic source of vitamin D, choline, and betaine. They support good cholesterol, eye health, and weight loss. They also help the dough rise and give it a lighter texture.
- Butter: Without this, you won’t get that moist deliciousness in the middle and the flakey crust. Butter will also give your bread that nice, caramelized glow. Use grass-fed butter for the healthiest option.
- Flour: This gives your bread structure. You'll see in my recipe that it takes 2 cups of flour and that I don't use white bread flour. For a list of healthy flours I use, check out this post!
- Salt: Bringing out the buttery flavor of these egg rolls, salt contributes to the texture, too.
- Yeast: A yeast mixture helps your dough rise, stretch, and expand. Yeast also provides the distinct flavor we love in bread. Make sure you have active dry yeast; never chance it with yeast that is out of date.
- Milk: For more moisture and flavor in your dough, milk adds protein and color to your baked treats.
- Water: This will balance out the consistency of your rolls and help further ferment the yeast.
What Does An Egg Do In Rolls?
Eggs provide lift, texture, and consistency to bread dough. As a leavening agent, they are often crucial in helping bread dough rise (high and fluffy!). Because they also contain fat from the yolk, eggs help soften the texture of your dough. The added protein is always a bonus in my book, too.
Wanna know more about eggs? Check out 10 Benefits of Eggs and Why You Should Eat Them More Often!
What Is The Difference Between Egg Bread And White Bread?
Egg bread is yeasted bread dough enhanced with eggs. This mixture provides a golden yellow color and a distinct richness. Eggs are added directly to the flour (with fats like butter, milk, and oil) to make this decadent and fluffy bread.
The result? A nice pillowy bread with great flavor.
White bread, on the other hand, is made from refined flour. This type of all purpose flour goes through a milling process that removes the germ and bran. While this gives it a smoother texture, this process also eliminates the beneficial nutrients.
In fact, it's practically devoid of any nutritional value. Bummer! Learn more about why I avoid refined flour in this post.
Is It Better To Make Bread With Milk Or Water?
You can bake good bread with or without milk and water. I have some recipes that don’t require either! It just depends on what type of bread you’re making.
However, if you want your rolls to have a moist center and a rich caramelized flavor, I suggest adding milk or water.
Here’s how they can help.
Milk:
- Helps soften your bread
- Gives it that rich flavor
- Adds a browner and caramelized color
- Gives your dough an even rise
- Helps give your bread a longer shelf-life
- Makes your crumb finer and uniform in size
Water:
- Helps balance the consistency of your bread
- Acts as a solvent for the yeast and flour
While this specific recipe turns out better when you use milk and water, here are some recipes you can try that don’t require these ingredients:
Does Oil Or Butter Make Softer Bread?
Oil and butter can both make softer bread and dinner rolls. Really, in my experience, they're on a level playing field. Here's how they contribute to a moist, delicious middle.
How butter softens your bread:
- Due to its high-fat content, butter (my recipe calls for unsalted butter) helps you achieve that rich and moist crumb we want for bread rolls.
- Because it does contain water, it allows the dough to release steam in your oven (for a flakey and airy texture).
How oil softens your bread:
- Oil also contains fat which helps tenderize the gluten in your dough to make it moist and soft.
- With many fatty acids and lecithin, your dough becomes easier to handle (and enhances texture for softer results).
How Do You Store These Egg Bread Rolls?
To properly store, remove your yummy golden brown rolls from the baking tray, place them on a rack, and check they have cooled completely. Here’s how to maximize their shelf life...
- At room temp: wrap them tightly in plastic wrap (you can store them for 1 to 2 days).
- In the fridge: wrap them tightly in plastic wrap (you can store them for about a week).
- In the freezer: wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and place them inside a freezer bag or airtight container. (you can store for 1 to 3 months).
More Tasty Bread Recipes
Once you’ve had fun kneading, baking, and eating these awesome egg bread rolls, you’re gonna want to make more delicious bread recipes! Mark my word! Here are some of my faves:
- How to Make Healthy Banana Nut Bread (Without Added Sugar!)
- Healthy Cranberry Orange Bread | Naturally Sweet!
- Easy Sweet Cornbread
- One Bowl Healthy Pumpkin Bread
- Apple Pumpkin Bread
This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.
Egg Bread Rolls | With A Flakey Crust And Soft Middle
Equipment
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoon melted unsalted, organic grass-fed butter (can also use coconut oil, if desired)
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon yeast
Instructions
- Start with egg at room temperature
- Combined 1 ¾ cups of the flour with salt and yeast in a large bowl
- Combine milk and water and heat to between 105-115F
- Whisk in melted butter and egg into milk mixture.
- Slowly pour milk into flour while mixing.
- Add reserved flour as needed so dough is not too sticky, actually also needed a bit extra flour
- Kneed 5 minutes, and form into ball.
- Lightly grease a large bowl, put dough inside, lightly grease top of dough, cover with plastic wrap or damp cloth and rise in warm place until doubled, about 1-2 hours.
- To proof, I heated oven to lowest setting and used oven thermometer. Place bowl with dough in when oven was 90F and shut the door.
- Punch down dough, separate into 6 or 7 portions (form per existing instructions), rise again per existing instructions (mine took about 30 minutes).
- Bread is done baking if it sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, or if it registers about 200F.
Emanuel
At this moment I am going to do my breakfast,
after having my breakfast coming yet again to read other news.
Jeff
This recipe is horrible, followed the directions to a tee and it came out sticky, had to continue adding more flour until the stickiness went away and even then it still was tacky and shredded apart and would not knead well. I am a complete novice and it was not easy to fix this because I don’t know what causes the stickiness. I would not recommend this, it was extremely frustrating.
Shari
Can I make these with a stand mixer? I don’t have a bread machine
Sherry Murphy
I love this recipe and I make it two or three times a week. I searched for a bread recipe that had no sugar and stumbled upon this gem of a recipe. I make it exactly as stated and it comes out perfect every time. We use it for sandwiches, hamburgers and it is also great for breakfast with butter and jelly or cinnamon. Thank you for posting this recipe!
I love this recipe and I make it two or three times a week. I searched for a bread recipe that had nomsugarmand stumbled upon this gem of a recipe. I make it exactly as stated and it comes out perfect every
Sherry Murphy
Oops sorry I posted a duplicate.
Paty
Can I make this in a KitchenAid mixer?
Fawn Neun
Am I the only one that had to work in a whole cup of flour after the first rise just to handle and shape the dough?
Dustin
Love these
Maha Khan / sooperchef.pk
Wow This Is great recipe.I love Your Way of making Recipe.I am going to make this recipe for my family now.
Lissette
I want to try and make these tonight, can I use all purpose flour instead of bread flour? I don't have any at home. Thanks!
Lacey Baier
Yes, you can use regular flour. Bread flour helps to make the bread more chewy, but it's also possible to use reg ap flour
Mei
Made this today! Tasted yummy! Went well with the pulled pork. Added extra 1/4 C of flour. Also added 1 tbsp of sugar. Did an egg wash with sesame seed. Thanks for the recipe.
Sarah
Love this recipe. I use goats milk, due to my boyfriend being allergic to cows milk, and I also add a tablespoon of sugar. Made them the other day and they went down a storm. I'm making them again tonight, they are currently rising downstairs. This time I've double the recipe to make 12 buns, shaped them into rosettes, and I'm going to brush with and egg wash, and sprinkle on some sesame seeds. Hoping they'll be as yummy as the first time. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Maria
Your recipe looks amazing. I'm looking for a bread machine. What kind do you have?
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Sonia
Tried this recipe last night, it was really good! I added some sugar to give it a sweet taste. Really Easy too! I don't have a bread machine but they turned out just as good. I'll definitely make it again. Thank you!
Hannah
Sonia : On behalf of a my sweet bread-loving husband, I am curious how much sugar you added; 1-2 tsp., perhaps?
Lacey : Sans breadmaker myself, I will attempt these rolls as I do all my dough, via my KitchenAid stand mixer. If my mommybrain complies, I will try to report back with the results of this method (as you requested a report from the handmade attempt) -- I don't anticipate any problems, only deliciousness. Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful recipes despite being a busy Mommy, etc. yourself! 🙂
Lacey Baier
Good luck, Hannah! I'm excited to hear your results 🙂
Simone
Hello Lacey, I was going to make it but I was in doubt about what kind of yeast did you use? It was active dry east or instant dry yeast? thank you very much!
Lacey Baier
I actually use Bread Machine Yeast when I make doughs in my bread machine, but you should be able to use Active Dry Yeast without a problem. Good luck!
fitness girl
hi,
Egg bread buns looks delicious maybe I should consider myself experimenting this next week......
And I'm just a little bit confused can it serve as substution for a burger???
Lacey Baier
I hope you try them out! I use it as a hamburger bun, a sandwich bun or even just a roll alongside a soup. It's a very versatile bun 🙂
Rebecca
Can you give info on baking these from scratch, without a bread machine?
Lacey Baier
Hi Rebecca! Well, you happen to be my guinea pig, as I've never made this particular bread recipe by hand.
To make the dough by hand, combine 2/3 of the flour along with the other dry ingredients in a large bowl, form a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet with a wooden spoon, whisk, fork or your hand. Your goal at this point is to create a smooth and creamy mixture. Once this is accomplished, try not to over-mix. Mix in the remaining flour, bit by bit, until the dough is sturdy enough for kneading. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for approximately 5-10 minutes, until the dough bounces back when lightly pressed. Lightly cover the dough at this point with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let sit until doubled in size. Once doubled in size, follow the directions above and form the buns.
I hope this helps you make the dough by hand. I'd really appreciate it if you can share how these instructions worked for this dough. Good luck and enjoy!
Elizabeth
heyy can I just transfer the dough into a bread tin without making the buns? will it drastically affect the texture and the timings for the baking? =]
Lacey Baier
Hi Elizabeth! I've never tried this recipe in a loaf before, but you have me intrigued! I did a little research for you and it looks like you would need to bake the loaf for about 45-60 minutes instead. I'm very interested to know how it turns out if you try it! Good luck!
Dustin Baier
I love these. They make great hamburger buns.
Lacey Baier
Dustin, they sure do!
Steph@PlainChicken
These look great! I am going to bookmark these to try - maybe next weekend. They look really good!
Lacey Baier
Hi Steph! Thanks, I'm so glad you think so! I love them and I hope you will too 🙂
Peggy
I'm in the same wanna-be baker boat as you, but it definitely looks like you're more advanced than me! Can't wait to try these out!
Lacey Baier
Peggy, I hope you do because they are really good. Maybe they'll help you look like a baker too! 😉
Memoria
These buns look absolutely AMAZING!! I'm bookmarking this recipe.
Lacey Baier
Hi Memoria! Thanks for the comment and the bookmark! Feel free to come back and share how it goes when you try them 🙂