Filipino Bread Rolls (Pandesal)

A bowl of freshly baked Pandesal, served with an espresso and a regular latter, ready to be enjoyed.

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An all-around bread that's good at any time of the day, Filipino Bread Rolls (Pandesal) are so easy to make at home. So soft, and delicious, you will make it a regular in your home too!

Prep Time40

Cook Time20

Total Time3

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Filipino

Servings:

Calories: 127kcal

Author: Neriz

Equipment

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 cups milk (divided into 1/2 & 1 cup)
2 & 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour (plus 1/2 cup more for adding)
2 cups bread flour
2 large eggs
1/3 cup breadcrumbs

Instructions

Preparing dough:

Warm-up ½ cup of milk and mix with the yeast. Set aside until foamy.
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients – all-purpose flour, bread flour, salt, and sugar. Mix evenly.
Once the yeast mixture is ready, combine all the wet ingredients in the stand mixer bowl – 1 cup milk, eggs, yeast mixture, and vegetable oil.
Add half of the dry ingredients and mix (using the dough hook) of the stand mixer. Set your stand mixer to low at this time, so you don't sprinkle the flour.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients in batches and continue mixing until a dough starts to form.
Adjust the speed of the mixer into medium and continue kneading until the dough becomes smooth. It usually takes 20-25 minutes. You can also do the kneading manually if you don't have a stand mixer.

Proofing dough:

Place the smooth dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Set aside until the size of the dough has doubled. It generally takes me no more than 2 hours.
Punch the dough in the middle and remove it from the bowl. Divide it into 24 equal portions.
Form each portion into a ball and roll it in breadcrumbs.
Place each ball in a baking tray lined with a baking sheet. Keep some distance between rolls to allow when they expand. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside for about 30 minutes.

Baking pandesal:

Halfway during this proofing time, preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).
The rolls are slightly puffy by this time. Uncover the baking tray and place it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the rolls turned golden.
Take out of the oven and serve.

Video

Notes

You can skip the bread flour and just use all-purpose flour instead. The result would still be great. The bread flour gives the rolls a chewier texture.
Make sure you are mixing lukewarm milk with the yeast, not hot or boiling -- or you'll end up killing the yeast.
Beat the eggs before mixing them with the rest of the liquid ingredients.
Do not use olive oil. Stick to vegetable oil or any other oil that has a neutral taste.
Do not add the salt directly to the wet ingredients; mix it with the flour instead.
Do not hesitate to add more flour (slowly) if the dough is too wet. The dough for Filipino bread rolls should be just slightly sticky, not wet.

Nutrition