BROTCHEN (German Hard Rolls) 
1 pkg. yeast
1 1/4 c. lukewarm water
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. shortening
1 egg white, stiffly beaten
4 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. In mixing bowl combine yeast, 1 cup water, salt and shortening. Fold in stiffly beaten egg white. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Let dough rise twice until doubled, punch down and let rise again. Punch down and divide into 10-12 pieces.

Form into slightly flattened balls and place on greased baking sheet. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and bake 20 minutes. To ensure a hard crust, place pan with boiling water in bottom of oven during baking. Serve warm with jam, or cold. A German staple.

recipe reviews
Brotchen (German Hard Rolls)
   #47342
 Kitchen of Erin (California) says:
The yeast mixture never rose, even though I was using new yeast and had it in a warm kitchen. Mixture was too sticky to handle to mold into rolls. Also, in recipe list it calls for sugar but then doesn't tell you when to put it in. I ended up putting it in with the rest of the ingredients. Beware that cookie sheet will get much hotter than anticipated due to the boiling water pan underneath. (Burned my thumb) But rolls did turn out EXCELLENT. They were a little weirdly shaped but DELICIOUS. Would make again. Thanks.
   #60679
 Tanya (United States) says:
These were excellent. To the other commenter, if the yeast mixture "did not rise", either the yeast was not good or the water was too warm/cold.
 #71349
 Rhoda (Alaska) says:
RE: Erin, the sugar is supposed to be combined with the yeast and water to help it activate.
 #141276
 Kat (North Carolina) says:
You need to add sugar to the yeast get it started...
   #145275
 Katrina Ray (Florida) says:
A couple steps left out of this recipe. Add the sugar to the mixture (recipe had sugar in the ingredients, but not in the instructions), and let rolls rise until double prior to baking them. Otherwise, a pretty simple recipe!

 

Recipe Index