Mini Bread Rolls & Loaves

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Mini Bread Rolls – you can’t beat a basket of homemade rolls! The perfect size for dinner rolls, sliders & picnic rolls. Easy recipe & only 6 ingredients.

Easy Bread Recipe

I’ve adapted my popular soft bread rolls recipe for the purpose of making mini bread rolls and mini loaves. I make this tried and tested recipe at least once a week – we love bread here at The Kitchen Shed.

For me there is nothing better than the aroma of freshly baked bread filling your kitchen. Without doubt, this is an easy bread recipe for beginners or seasoned bread bakers alike.

These bread treats are the perfect size for canapés and the possibilities are almost endless. For example, simply load them with your favourite filling or maybe slice the mini loaves and toast them, spread with cream cheese and top off with a little smoked salmon.

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All in all, these mini bread rolls and loaves are just so versatile. While they’re just the right size for dinner rolls, they’re perfect as sliders and picnic rolls or ideal for dunking into a bowl of hot soup.

If you’ve ever been intimidated by the idea of making rolls from scratch, don’t be !

It really is an easy process, made even easier if you use a standmixer to knead the dough.

It doesn’t require much hands on time, about 15 minutes altogether, the rest is rising time and cooking time.

What Do I Need To Make Mini Bread Loaves ?

You need only 6 ingredients for this easy bread recipe.

Bread Flour

It’s important to use flour with a high gluten content.
While there are so many good bread flours available, it’s definitely worthwhile trying different brands and noting how your bread turns out.

I’ve used Marriage’s white bread flour but you can use wholemeal bread flour. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend using all wholemeal flour as I find it delivers a rather dense bread.

With this in mind, a 50/50 mix of white and wholemeal flours will give you the best of both worlds; soft and fluffy rolls with additional fibre.

Yeast

The most important ingredient ! It’s what makes bread rise.
I like to use Dove’s Farm instant yeast (often called fast action yeast or quick yeast) because it’s so easy to use.

You can mix instant yeast directly in with your other ingredients whereas active dry yeast needs to be dissolved first and left to bloom.

Can I Use Active Dry Yeast In This Recipe ?

Yes you can !
Add 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast to warm water along with a spoon of caster / extra fine sugar, stir and leave for 10 to 15 minutes to bubble up.
It’s now ready to be added to the rest of the ingredients.

Remember that high temperatures will kill your yeast and just like us, yeast works best at around 37 °C / 98°F .

Sugar

You only need 1 teaspoon of white sugar.
You might be thinking French bread and sourdough are made without sugar, so why use sugar ?

Basically, adding sugar to your dough mixture speeds up the action of the yeast so your dough will be ready to use within hours instead of the long proving time you would need when making French bread or sourdough.

In short, it’s just the right amount of food to get the yeast activated without adding too much sweetness to the mini bread rolls.

Salt

Important for boosting flavour but also essential for adding strength to the dough.

I like to use sea salt as it contains less sodium than regular salt but any fine salt will work in the recipe.

Rapeseed / Canola Oil

Rapeseed / Canola oil helps the bread keep for longer. Additionaly, it makes for a lovely soft roll.

I like to use rapeseed oil because of its neutral flavour and it gives the best results in this recipe. That said, I’ve also had good results with sunflower oil.

Water

Tepid water is best, that is, you should be able to comfortably dip your finger into your water. Cold water will work but it will take longer for the bread to rise.

How To Make Mini Bread Rolls

Soft mini bread rolls are so easy to make.

I use my KitchenAid stand mixer to knead the dough. All you need to do is add the ingredients and mix on a low speed.

My kids used to love kneading dough and I have many fond memories of my boys and my nephews taking it in turns to improve their kneading skills.

Despite what you may have heard, don’t get too worried about over kneading, it really is hard to over knead a dough. Stop kneading when your dough is smooth and elastic and try the window pane test.

Leave to rise and then all you need to do is shape the dough.

Shape Your Mini Bread

Transfer the dough to an oiled work surface and divide into 16 to 18 x 45 g / 2 oz portions for rolls or 12 x 70 g / 3 oz for mini loaves.

I like to weigh my dough portions to make sure they all get an even bake but you can divide into equal portions by eye if you prefer.

Mini Bread Rolls

Shape dough portions into balls, cupping in your hands and place them on a large baking sheet.

Leave no more than 2½ cm (1 inch) between each dough ball and after proving you will end up with the rolls touching each other – this will keep them nice and soft.

Gently press the balls of dough to flatten them a little.

Mini Loaves

Shape dough portions into balls and then roll into lengths to fit your mini loaf tin / pan.

Cover with greased clingfilm / plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for approximately 30 to 45 minutes.

Baking Bread In Mini Loaf Pans

I use a Masterclass 12 hole mini rectangular loaf tin / pan.

Everyone loves the cute little mini loaves it makes but it is practical too – it’s a heavy duty pan which results in an even bake.
Plus, the loose bases make for a quick and easy release.

Bake in a preheated oven at 325 °F / 180°C Fan /200°C / Gas Mark 6 for 20 to 25 minutes.

Place on a baking rack to cool.

Can They Be frozen ?

Mini bread rolls and loaves freeze well.

Pop into a freezer bag or sealed container and freeze. They will keep for up to three months.

Remove from the freezer a couple of hours before you need them and defrost at room temperature.

They are ready to eat when defrosted like this but we love them refreshed in the oven for five minutes and then served warm with our dinner.

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