Kaiser rolls are a hard, crusty type of roll often used for sandwiches. I like to use them as burger buns too because they are very sturdy and can hold up to lots of toppings. You can’t have too many toppings on a burger in my opinion.
If you want to make the classic spiral cut design that you see on Kaiser rolls you need a stamp. I have this one. It is so much fun to stamp the rounds of dough and see the neat spiral star design appear. You can top these with poppy seeds (traditional), or any other typical roll topping, or you can leave the topping off and just appreciate the look of the design.
The dough for Kaiser rolls is a pretty typical roll dough. It is slightly enriched with one egg which gives a little more richness to the end product. These are one of the few bread items where you want your dough to be a little stiff with not too much water because it helps retain the shape and give the harder/crustier feel to them.
In order to make these, you make the dough in the same way you do for any bread. See my tutorial on my sandwich bread post for some bread basics. The dough is divided into 8 pieces and shaped into rounds. The stamp is gently pressed into the top of the round, and then they rise with the stamped side face down, to allow the shape to be maintained. Then they are flipped back over, brushed with egg wash and seeds if you like, and baked.
Kaiser Rolls
Ingredients
- 3 cups AP flour
- 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp butter melted or oil
- 3/4 cup water
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook. Knead until the dough forms a smooth ball and clears the sides and bottom of the bowl. Adjust the water and flour as needed. This is a stiff dough but it should still be smooth and pliable.
- Place in a greased bowl or bucket and allow it to rise until it is doubled.
- Cut the dough into 8 pieces and form them into dough rounds.
- Using a kaiser stamp, gently mark each round with the design. Be careful not to cut all the way through to the bottom of the dough. You want to make shallow cuts enough to show the design but not to totally divide the dough into pieces.
- Place them stamp side down on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with greased plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 45 min to 1 hour, until they are almost doubled in volume and if you poke one gently it springs back slowly and leaves a small indentation.
- Flip them back over and egg wash and sprinkle with seeds if you are doing that.
- Bake at 425 for 15-17 minutes or until golden and at least 200 degrees inside.