Today I’m really excited to share a recipe with you that’s one of my family’s favorites and has a lot of meaning for me. It’s bread rolls, or “roll-ppang” in Korean. “Ppang” is Korean for bread, and “roll” is a Korean word borrowed from English. You might think that this recipe has nothing to do with Korean food, but it’s something many Koreans make at home.
This is one of my family’s favorites and brings back good memories for me, when I used to make these as a snack for my children when they came home from school. They were so happy to smell and see the rolls when they got home, I never forgot the looks on their faces and it makes me smile, even today.
If you’ve been cooking for a long time like me, you know that certain recipes remind you of certain periods of your life when you made them all the time. These bread rolls are like that for me: whenever I make them again I’m reminded of when my children were young and studying hard. Now they’re all grown up and I don’t cook for them anymore, but we all have good memories of roll-ppang. I hope you enjoy these with your family, too!
This recipe was taught to me by a friend of mine in Korea. She studied nutrition and was a great cook. She had three sons and her house was always full of food! The first time she showed me how to make these I couldn’t believe how delicious they were! I rushed home to make them for myself. So light and fluffy! For me and my friends, the ideal roll-ppang splits apart into light pieces like perfectly cooked chicken breast. Her recipe is perfect every time. The key is to let them rise the second time for a full hour. Even if they look perfect after 30 minutes, let them rise for the full hour, and they will be super-fluffy!
I always served these rolls with milk and homemade strawberry or grape jam, two things my children also loved. It was a perfect snack between lunch and dinner, but me and my friends experimented with this recipe to make all kinds of things: fried twisted donuts, buns with vegetable chunks inside, and even sausage rolls. You could also serve them as dinner rolls with a bit of butter.
In this recipe i made a small batch, but you can double or triple the recipe, whatever you can eat comfortably over a few days. If you make a larger batch, you’ll have to keep the rolls in the fridge as you form them, otherwise by the time you finish forming the last one, the first one will have started to rise already! For large batches, I recommend you put them in the fridge one by one as you make them, and when you’re finished bring them out so they can rise all at once.
Enjoy the recipe and let me know how they turn out!
Ingredients (for 6 rolls) Serves 3 to 4
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup cold milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons dry yeast
- 1 ½ cups plus ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 egg white
Directions
- Heat the butter in a large heavy pot. Turn off the heat.
- Add the milk, sugar, and salt. Mix well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly dissolved.
- Crack the egg, add to the mixture and mix well. Add the dry yeast and let it all sit for 1 minute.
- Add 1 ½ cups flour and mix well with the wooden spoon (or rice scoop) for about 1 minute. The dough will be very sticky.
- Cover the pot and let it rise for 1 hour until it doubles in size.
- Deflate and knead the dough by hand for 1 to 2 minutes and cover again. Let it rise for 30 minutes.
- Deflate and fold the dough for another minute until it makes a smooth dough ball.
- Place the ¼ cup flour on the cutting board and sprinkle with some flour. Transfer the dough ball to a dusted cutting board and divide into 6 equal size pieces.
- Rub a piece of dough between your hands until it forms into a cylinder. Put it on the dusted cutting board and roll it out with both hands until it’s about 8 inch in length. Coil it around itself and bring the end from the bottom up and over to the top of the coil so you can insert it into the center. The dough is very soft and sticky. When you shape the rolls, dust your fingers with some flour so the rolls don’t stick to them. Put it on a non stick baking pan (I used 7 x 8 inch pan in the video).
- Repeat with the remaining dough pieces. Be sure to leave enough room in between the rolls for them to expand.
- Let it rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350° F for 5 minutes. Gently brush the rolls with the egg white and bake for 15 to 17 minutes until light golden brown.
- Brush the remaining egg white onto the rolls. Bake another minute.
- Remove it from the oven and serve hot.
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
It's always best to buy Korean items at your local Korean grocery store, but I know that's not always possible so I chose these products on Amazon that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
Just checked out your video and decided to try it out….my daughter could not wait to take a taste! Thanks
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Fluffy fluffy and gorgeous!
My dough mixture turned out sticky and very oily
In your video you say ‘two teaspoons of yeast’ and you’re seen to be adding only one.
In your recipe you state one teaspoon.
We added two.
Mixture came out sticky and oily and only could do 4 buns.
I will not use the same amount of butter and one teaspoon of yeast
Can you please let us know exactly how much yeast?
Thank you
2 teaspoons yeast is right, I’m going to update my written recipe now. It should make 6 buns exactly, and the mixture should be sticky so that the rolls will turn out fluffier. After rising it will be better. You can modify the amount of butter to your taste.
Hi, thank you for sharing this recipe with us. Super tasty and soft. This was my first time making bread rolls and I must say I am very happy with the end result.
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Thank you, teacher Maangchi!
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Yay! The rolls exactly look like mine shaped with my hands!
Hey Maangchi,
The rolls turned out so good! They are really soft like cotton candy, and the light buttery scent is heavenly with just the right amount of sweetness. Super easy and quick, I’m going to be making these a lot from now on.
(I didn’t have a pan that was the right size so I used my cast iron skillet)
Thank you for the recipe :)
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“soft like cotton candy.”!
Now I’m inspired to make rollppang by looking at your gorgeous rollppang photo! : )
Hi, thank you so much for this recipe for home made rolls it was fun and eazy. I am glad I found this on YouTube. I am amazed how they turned out!! I have not even the slightest knowledge how to make from scratch. So again thank you so much. I am grateful.
Maangchi 선생님
The rolls turned out so good! They are really soft and fluffy.. Thank you .
Followed the video step by step and the bread rolls came out so perfect first time. Second time I added a bit more sugar and wow!!!! I am getting muscles from kneading because I am making them almost everyday for my children and I feel great. Thank you so much Maangchi. You rock. Now I rock too in my kitchen lol. Am following your recipes religiously
Wow! Thank you Maangchi for this recipe, my officemates love it!
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Turned out great! thanks fir the great recipe!
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Wow, it’s so plump! They look like they could rise forever! lol And the final roll-ppang looks like a soft, airy sponge!
Hi Maangchi, just made an account right now because I wanted to tell you how much awesome you are but most imoortantly I tried these today, it was my first time making this kind of kneaded bread and they were amazing, added 4 tbsps sugar to make them more sweeter and everyone loved it. They didn’t rise a lot but that’s maybe due to the weather being quite cold here despite being in oven. All in all, I’ll make sure to try your other recipes too <3
Hii Maangchi, thx for the great recipe. I tried that, it turned out really tasty, the texture is a bit like compound cake. Maybe my way was somewhere wrong. The dough in fact was very sticky, I added flour a bit at a time, but at the end I was exhausted from kneading, so I didnt have enough time forming into small rolls. I just made one big giant roll, but still taste wonderful.
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Lol! I’m inspired by you, maybe next time I will make one piece of bread, it looks great!
Hello i have tried this recipe once and it came out owesome,how do i make a large amount
Can I make a Batch and freeze them? If so do I freeze them after cooking or after I have put them in balls?
I finally did it after my fourth try! Used high protein flour and instant yeast worked better for me! Got rid of the strong yeast smell too!
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It looks great, congratulations!
I tried 3 times, each time I’ve definitely had to add more flour as it gets too sticky right after the first rise. I usually end up adding as much as half cup of flour and then it just wouldn’t rise during baking. I read one of the comments suggesting a reduction in milk if we’re in a more humid country. And since I’m in Malaysia, I did just that but it was my worst attempt ever. Anyone around this area that successfully make this?
My cup is 240 mL by the way, be sure to use the right amount!
Hey sis… My 1st 2nd attempt .. Its sticky too… But i read throught the comment.. They say after the 1st rise… I knead a little bit longer.. Den i wait for 45mins and it works.. Im from Brunei by the way… Give it a try.. Maybe it works for u too.
Will it still taste good if I use brown sugar?
I made these and my husband asked for them to be made again. Love them.
I have NO talent when it comes to bread making, but these were so simple. I just followed along with the video and they came out fine. Served them warm, with the homemade strawberry jam recipe. So tasty!
I’m glad to hear that you made this bread and strawberry jam together, and enjoyed them. Happy cooking!
I am vegetarian and i dont eat egg so can you tell me substitute or can i skip it without any adjustments in other ingredients. Please let me knw i want to make it for my family
Could I add more sugar to this recipe to make sweeter without adjusting the other ingredients? I love these bit would like them to be sweet like Chinese pork buns. Thank you
Could I use self rising flour or do I need to use yeast in my recipe?
please my oven maximum degree is 230° please what can I do would it work
Is it Celsius or Fahrenheit? It should be 446°F.
Okay Maangchi i finally made your roll ppang recipe to make this and not cinnamon rolls. I made it to pair it with my husband’s beef stew. Sorry there was no time to take pictures as soon as they came out of the oven my husband and i devoured them. They were super delicious and fluffy. My husband said and i quote “these are the BEST bread rolls I’ve ever had”
Thank you once again for your recipes and i will continue to make rolls most likely every week :)
I’m happy to hear that! I consider your success as my success! : )
Maangchi! I just love you roll ppang recipe sadly i have not used it for rolls. But this is the recipe i use for my cinnamon rolls. And they are fresh out of the oven at 12:15am. My home smells amazing! They look fluffy and scrumptious thank you for your recipes again! Im going to make me some hot chocolate to enjoy these beauties!
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It looks amazing! I used to make cinnamon rolls with the same dough, too! Someday I will post the recipe.
Hi,
I follow accordingly but my dough is so so so sticky even I added more than 1/4 cup flour. It stick to my fingers . So may I know where did I go wrong ?
Looking forward for your advice
Hey, I’ve been making bread as a hobby and sticky dough can be due to under-kneading. You need to knead until it stops being sticky :). Also, the fluffyness would disappear if you add too much flour so don’t add more than what was said. Since you’re from Singapore, the humidity actually makes the dough stickier than it would with Maangchi who’s in New York. I’d advise you reduce the water added by about 1 teaspoon to cope with the humidity. It might also be the yeast. Just make sure that the yeast is alive and has bubbles before using it :)
Hope my tips help!
Maangchi, thank you so much for this recipe!! It was so easy and the rolls are delicious!! My family and I absolutely love your recipes, please keep your videos coming!
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Your roll ppang looks like mine maybe even better! Congratulations!
Maangchi I used the roll ppang recipe to make panipopo, Samoan coconut buns :D they turned out delicious so fluffy and soft. Basically you just mix coconut cream with water, sugar and flour and pour the sauce over the buns before baking :)
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Each one is well-coiled and fluffy like snail shells! : ) Panipopo sounds very delicious!
Looks yum definetly gonna make some pagipopo using this recipe
Hi Maangchi, I made this yesterday and I loved it!! Thank you very much for the recipe! :)
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6 fluffy rolls made a flower! Gorgeous!
hi Maangchi.! i tried your bread rolls recipe oh you are a heaven sent your recipe is quick and easy. my kids luv it. thank you im ur fan. i just have one question if i want to bake more should i just double or triple the ingredients.? please help. thnks
Hi, Maangchi! I am currently doing your recipe right now.. I hope this turns out great.. will send you pic afterwards!
Hi Maangchi….this recipe is very easy the result are great! Thanks a lot to you for share it with us.
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Hi Maangchi, I had always felt intimidated in baking bread from scratch. But finally had the courage to try after stumbling upon your site and video.
Oh you have no idea how happy I am when those bread came out from the oven!
I was so excited I made another recipe the next day and made filled bread! My daughters love hot dogs and cheese so I used your recipe as my bread base.
Thank you for sharing the recipe and made it look so easy. Thanks to you I no longer have fear of baking with yeast! :)
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Maangchi, what material is the mask for the egg yolk massage made of. I am so happy that I foumd you. I have two adopted daughters from Korea and I cannot wait to make some of your reci-es.
Hi Maangchi, this recipe is so good! I’ve made it several times, but today I used it to make cinnamon rolls and they turned out amazing! Thank you for sharing your cooking skills!
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I’ve made a batch of ppang (bread rolls) before and they turned out great! Today I doubled the recipe and the dough was still too sticky for me to form after the second rising. I had no choice but too add a bit of flour and let it rise again. Fingers crossed this works! Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks & I love all the recipes!
Hi Maangchi, I made the bread this morning, they are delicious. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
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It looks so fluffy and delicious!
Hi,
Sob sob … I am so sad as I mine failed. I follow accordingly but my dough is so so so sticky even I added more than 1/4 cup flour. It stick to my fingers . So may I know where did I go wrong ? I envy those turned out successfully
By the way I used instant yeast instead of dry yeast.
Looking forward for your advice
Hey, I’ve been making bread as a hobby and sticky dough can be due to under-kneading. You need to knead until it stops being sticky :). Also, the fluffyness would disappear if you add too much flour so don’t add more than what was said. Since you’re from Malaysia, the humidity actually makes the dough stickier than it would with Maangchi who’s in New York. I’d advise you reduce the water added by about 1 teaspoon to cope with the humidity. It might also be the yeast. Just make sure that the yeast is alive and has bubbles before using it :)
Hope my tips help!
Maangchi!, I love this rolls!, I made these with my nephew this morning and they are just delicious!. I double the recipe and ad some sesame seeds, it worked so well!, thanks so much for this!. Love your show!
Mr. Neh
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You couldn’t make such delicious rolls without his help! You gave him a very important job! : )