In the Northeastern part of the United States, they’re famous for the incredibly soft sub, Italian, & Hoagie rolls. These soft, chewy, split-top sandwich buns are just NOT available in other parts of the USA. Replicate the texture and flavor of these rolls at home! Luckily, they’re surprisingly easy to make.
Super Soft Sub, Italian & Hoagie Rolls
There are a couple of things about this recipe that make it work, the first being the type of flour that is necessary. For the most flavorful results, use bread flour, rather than all-purpose flour, and be very scant when shaping the rolls to avoid adding any extra flour to the buns.
Commercial ovens used to bake bread are actually steam ovens that inject controlled blasts of steam at time intervals, which is what gives bread-crusts the soft wispy texture you find in bakeries or at the supermarket. Since we obviously don’t have an expensive steam oven, there’s a trick for recreating this effect.
When placing the dough into the oven to bake, immediately toss in 5-6 ice cubes into the bottom of the oven. If your oven has slats in the bottom, or if it makes you feel better to keep it contained, you can place a disposable mini-loaf pan on the rack while preheating and then drop in the ice cubes as you put the dough in to bake.
Achieving Ovenspring without a Commercial Oven
The steam created by the ice cubes creates a burst of activity known as Ovenspring. During the first few minutes of baking, the yeast is still active, rising rapidly as gases trapped inside the dough expand. The steam, created by the ice cubes, settles on the surface of the bread, thereby dissolving the sugars that are in the dough. After a few minutes, the bread stops expanding, the steam evaporates, and those sugars then caramelize, creating a deliciously soft, glossy crust.
You might be tempted to use pans of hot water or to open the oven door and spritz the bread with a mister or spray bottle. The pan of water creates too much steam, which is only helpful during the first 5-10 minutes of baking while the yeast is still actively working. Once the yeast has set, the crust needs to dry for the sugars to caramelize properly.
Using a mister or spritz bottle causes the oven temperature to drop drastically, hindering the ovenspring. It’s also challenging to spray the bread evenly, resulting in some areas being soft, while others are more crispy or hard.
To make perfect soft pillowy Subway-style rolls, we recommend this impressive non-stick baking liner form. It fits perfectly on a half-size sheet pan.
Super Soft Sub, Italian & Hoagie Rolls Recipe Using Bread Machine Rapid Rise Yeast
You’ll Need:
4 cups bread flour
1 3/8 cups warm water (120°-130°F degrees)
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs active Bread Machine Rapid Rise dry yeast or Instant Yeast
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs cold butter, cubed
Combine 2 cups of flour, yeast, and sugar in the stand mixer bowl. Add the warm water, attach the dough hook and mix on low for 1 minute, add the remaining flour, and continue to mix for 3 minutes.
Add in the salt to the formed dough and mix for 4-6 minutes until the dough is slack and no longer holds any shape at all. At this point, your mixer should be at medium speed.
Add in the butter and mix for 3-7 minutes or until the dough comes back together.
Transfer the dough to a large bowl that has been lightly greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
Once the dough has sufficiently risen, overturn it onto a lightly floured surface.
Divide the dough into 5 pieces and shape into rolls. Do not use flour to shape (you won’t need it!) Adding flour will cause the rolls to become tough, rather than light and tender.
Place the shaped rolls onto a non-stick sub-liner or a parchment-lined tray and cover lightly with a lint-free cotton kitchen towel.
Allow rising again. ~30-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400°F
As you put the rolls into the oven, toss 5-6 ice cubes in the bottom of the oven (or use a disposable tinfoil loaf pan to hold the ice cubes). Then immediately reduce the heat to 375°F.
Do NOT Open the oven again for the first 15 minutes of cooking!
Bake for 16-23 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven, apply butter to the top. I usually just peel away the paper at one end of a stick of butter and rub it generously over the loaves, then cover with a clean lint-free towel. Allow the bread to cool completely before removing the towel, this is what gives the rolls their super-soft texture.
Super Soft Sub, Italian & Hoagie Rolls Recipe Using Active Dry Yeast
You’ll Need:
4 cups bread flour
1 3/8 cups warm water (110°-115°F degrees)
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs cold butter, cubed
In a stand mixer bowl combine active dry yeast, sugar, and 3/8 cup (6 Tbs) warm water in a bowl of a stand mixer. Mix lightly, cover with a clean towel and let the yeast bloom for 5-10 minutes.
Add the flour and remaining cup of water. Attach the dough hook and start the mixer on low until the ingredients are nearly incorporated, increase speed slightly and mix for 4 minutes.
Add in the salt and mix for 5-6 minutes until the dough is slack and lacking in the ability to hold any shape. At this point, your mixer should be at medium speed.
Add in the butter and mix at medium speed for 3-5 minutes or until the dough comes back together.
Transfer the dough from the mixing bowl to a greased, covered bowl until doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.
Divide into 5 pieces and shape without adding any flour (you won’t need it). Adding flour during shaping will cause the rolls to be tough and heavy.
Place each shaped roll onto a tray that has been lined with a non-stick sub lining or with parchment paper and cover.
Allow the rolls to rise again for about 30-35 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F
As you put the rolls into the oven, toss 5-6 ice cubes in the bottom of the oven or use a disposable tinfoil loaf pan to hold the ice cubes. Then reduce the heat to 375°F.
Do NOT Open the oven again for the first 15 minutes of cooking!
Bake for 16-23 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven, apply butter to the top, then cover with a clean lint-free towel. Allow the bread to cool completely before removing the towel, this is what gives the rolls their super-soft texture.
Super Soft Sub, Italian & Hoagie Rolls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 ⅜ cups warm water (120°-130°F degrees)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoons Active Bread Machine Rapid Rise dry yeast or Instant Yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons cold butter (cubed)
- 5 ice cubes
Instructions
- Combine 2 cups of flour, yeast, and sugar in the stand mixer bowl. Add the warm water, attach the dough hook and mix on low for 1 minute, add the remaining flour and continue to mix for 3 minutes.4 cups bread flour1 3/8 cups warm water2 tablespoons sugar1 tablespoons Active Bread Machine Rapid Rise dry yeast or Instant Yeast
- Add in the salt to the formed dough and mix for 4-6 minutes until the dough is slack and no longer holds any shape at all. At this point, your mixer should be at medium speed.1 teaspoon salt
- Add in the butter and mix for 3-7 minutes or until the dough comes back together.3 tablespoons cold butter
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl that has been lightly greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
- Divide the dough into 5 pieces and shape into rolls. Do not use flour to shape (you won't need it!) Adding flour will cause the rolls to become tough, rather than light and tender.
- Place the shaped rolls onto a non-stick sub-liner or a parchment-lined tray and cover lightly with a lint-free cotton kitchen towel.
- Allow rising again. ~30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- As you put the rolls into the oven, toss 5-6 ice cubes in the bottom of the oven (or use a disposable tinfoil loaf pan to hold the ice cubes). Then immediately reduce the heat to 375°F.5 ice cubes
- Do NOT Open the oven again for the first 15 minutes of cooking!
- Bake for 16-23 minutes or until golden brown.
Equipment
Notes
If you altered the ingedients above by doubling or tripling the recipe, you may also need to change the pan/dish size and adjust the cooking/baking time.
These rolls are spot on for the Maine Italians we had last summer! The texture was soft, light, airy and the ham hoagies I created at home were just as delicious as the ones we ate in Boothbay.
Thank you for this recipe, it’s nice to know we can have a little taste of Maine without spending all the money on gas or shipping!
I have what is probably a dumb question. It says to “Allow the bread to cool completely before removing the towel, this is what gives the rolls their super-soft texture.”
Do you put a towel on the baked bread immediately after removing from the oven?
These look really good, but I was confused about that.
Thank you.
Thanks for sharing the recipe for these delicious Super Soft Sub, Italian & Hoagie Rolls! I’m so excited to give this a try and make some amazingly soft and tasty sandwiches. I love making homemade breads and rolls, and having a reliable, easy-to-follow recipe like this really makes all the difference.
I absolutely love Super Soft Sub, Italian & Hoagie Rolls! They are so flavorful and make for the perfect sandwich every time. Not only do they taste delicious but they are incredibly soft too
“Soft” and “Italian bread” are mutually exclusive.
Can this be done in a bread machine?
That what I do. I add water first, then flour and then the other ingredients as listed.
When the dough cycle is through I decide into five and you can place them on dollar (non-stick) sheets or sprinkle some fine corn meal on your sheet pans.
Cover with a light, fuzzless clean dish towel. If you oven has a proof setting, proof for 45 minutes to an hour or until double in size.
Then take out of oven and turn oven to bake and temperature to 400 degrees F.
At this point you can do an egg wash if you want a shiny finish on your rolls.
If you don’t have that proof setting, place trays in a warm, draft free area and check the dough after 45 minutes.
When double you may do the wash if you wish with one scrambled egg with a Tbsp. of water or milk and brush on carefully with a pastry brush.
Once your oven has reached 400°F place the pie tin with about six ice cubes in it on the floor of the oven or on the bottom rack.
If you have to place them on the rack you’ll have to bake your rolls one tray at a time, which is no big deal.
Set a timer and check the color of the rolls at 16 minutes.
If they aren’t dark enough, reset the timer for another four to five minutes.
Once they’ve reached a perfect yellow brown color remove tray from oven and allow rolls to cool without tray on a cooling rack. If you have to bake a second tray don’t forget to replace the ice cubes.
I’ve been baking all kinds of breads for forty years. This is the best sub roll recipe I’ve tried, but they’re best if used right away. If you have a crowd bigger than five I suggest making one batch earlier than the other give yourself a good break then start all over again. My rating is definitely for the recipe!
I love Italian rolls! They’re soft, fluffy, and packed with flavor. I’m a huge fan of homemade breads, and there’s nothing like the smell of fresh-baked Italian rolls.
These turned out fantastic! Nice and soft. The perfect sub roll. Exactly what I was looking for. I’ll definitely be making these again.
where do youghet the pan you used