Submarine Sandwich Rolls

Soft, airy, and light bread rolls – perfect for sandwiches, meatball subs, bruschetta, Bahn mi, and toasted garlic bread.

Bread, the staff of life. Or so it’s been quoted over the past few centuries. Bread has reportedly been around since the beginning of time. Bread may be shaped differently around the world; but it’s essentially the same no matter where in the globe you live. In fact, almost all bread contains the same three core ingredients: flour, yeast, and water (substituted for milk in some recipes). And yet, so many different flours are available to create a variety of breads – whole wheat, pumpernickel, rye, white, sourdough, and so on.

Then there are even more types of breads you can make – loaves, Flax Dinner Rolls, Soft Hamburger Buns, hot dog buns, baguettes, French loaves, focaccia, Soft Vegan Flour Tortillas, flat bread, challah, ciabatta, Pizza, croissants, naan, roti, bagels, English muffins, Vegan Cornbread Muffins, etc. So perhaps bread truly is the staff of life.

I tend to have strong feelings about bread. I’m actually quite fond of bread, I don’t think I have ever met a bread I didn’t like. I grew up eating delicious freshly milled whole wheat bread every day. Today, I immediately feel grounded when I smell freshly baked bread. It seems to physically soothe my soul. And I truly enjoy making it. It’s therapeutic. There’s something satisfying about creating bread by merely mixing yeast, flour, and water together.

In recent years, my time has been focused on work, family, and other commitments; so I haven’t been able to make bread as often. But in recent weeks, we all seem to find ourselves at home with a great deal more time than we ordinarily have. Add on to this the fact that my husband and I earnestly strive to eat a lower sodium diet.

So, now when we do want bread for a particular dish, I tend to make it myself. Essentially, purchasing bread may be a whole lot easier, but it’s nowhere near as much fun and doesn’t fill your home with the wondrous aroma that only freshly baked bread can.

Enter this amazingly simple submarine roll. It may take some time. But other than a few minutes at each stage, the time needed for this recipe is mostly hands-off time; which means you can do a lot of other things while the dough does it’s own thing (rise). These rolls are featured in my Vegetable Bruschetta and Vegetable Bahn Mi Sandwiches featuring Roasted Cauliflower or Tempeh.

Ingredients

1. 2 cups bread flour*
2. 2 cups all-purpose flour
3. 2 T sugar
4. 1 T instant yeast
5. 1 ¾ cup warm water (120-130 degrees Farenheit)
6. 2 T olive oil

Instructions

1. Combine bread flour, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of your mixer.
2. Add warm water and oil.
3. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes.

1. Gradually add in the all-purpose flour. 
2. Continue mixing on low speed until the dough leaves the side of the bowl.
3. Allow dough to rest for 5 minutes.
4. Mix 2-3 more minutes until the dough is no longer sticky.  Remove hook.
5. Allow to rest 3-5 more minutes.
6. Remove the dough and place into a greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap.
   • Allow to rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.

1. Cut dough into 4-8 equal pieces and shape dough into rolls.
2. Place each roll on a lined baking sheet.
3. Slash tops of loaves with a sharp knife or lathe.
4. Cover with damp towel.
   • Allow to rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size, until lightly golden and aroma escapes your oven.
3. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before storing in a plastic bag or bread bin.

Notes

* I have successfully used a 50-50 whole wheat flour and all purpose flour blend to create delicious soft sub rolls.

To get uniform rolls, you can weigh and divide the dough according to your needs. For instance, if I need six rolls and have 37 ounces, I divide the dough into six 6.1-6.2 ounce dough pieces and shape each into a roll.

The shape of these submarine rolls is more consistent if you flatten them on the counter and roll them up.  Then pinch the ends together. 

I use SAF instant yeast.  If you can’t find it in your local grocery store, you can order it on Amazon via subscribe and save.  

I keep a small portion of yeast in the refrigerator; the rest is stored in a freezer bag or jar in the freezer.  Yeast stores and keeps extremely well in the freezer.