These easy no-knead seeded bread rolls are a breeze to make. And even though they are made with yeast, there's no kneading required. Just mix all the ingredients together, leave overnight to rise and bake for 20 minutes for the tastiest (and perhaps healthiest) bread rolls you've ever tasted!
Jump to:
Easiest-ever no-fail seeded bread rolls
Calling all aspirant bakers! Have you always wanted to bake with yeast but were worried that your efforts would be wasted? Or perhaps you are worried that your dough wouldn't rise properly? Or worried that you would have to knead the dough for hours on end? Well, your worries are over - I've got the perfect recipe for you.
This easy recipe for no-knead seeded bread rolls is a recipe that never fails. The rolls have a crispy crust with a soft and chewy texture, packed with oats and seeds, which makes them not only tasty, but healthy too. And because there is no kneading involved, you can mix the dough in minutes.
The oats and seeds ensure that these bread rolls release their carbohydrates slowly meaning you stay full for longer. This makes these seeded rolls ideal for those of you who are watching your weight.
Once mixed, this dough does need a longer first rise (or proof) to allow the gluten to develop. For this reason, I like to leave the dough to rise overnight in the refrigerator. And when you come to think of it, this is actually a great idea, because you can form the rolls in the morning, let them have their second rise while you are enjoying your tea or coffee, and then you can pop them into the oven for 20 minutes and enjoy freshly baked breakfast rolls!
This recipe will make 16 - 18 reasonably large rolls, which are ideal for sandwiches. If you make them smaller you will get at least 3 dozen (or even more) bread rolls which are perfect for serving as dinner rolls.
They also freeze like a dream, so you can keep them in the freezer and simply pop them into a hotoven for 5 to 7 minutes to enjoy the taste of freshly baked rolls whenever you feel like it.
Seriously, these are the bread rolls that you need in your life.
Let me show you how easy they are to make.
What you will need
Equipment
For mixing the dough you will need a large mixing bowl. I like to use a large earthenware bowl (pictured below) because it leaves lots of room for the dough to rise.
You will also need one or two baking trays and some baking parchment to prevent the rolls from sticking to the trays.
Ingredients
This recipe will make 16 - 18 sandwich-sized rolls. If you want to make smaller dinner-sized rolls you will get about 30.
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making these easy no-knead seeded bread rolls on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
Flour - You will need a mixture of bread flour and wholemeal or wholewheat flour. If you don't have bread flour you can replace it with all-purpose flour, but I strongly recommend not substituting the wholemeal flour. The wholemeal flour adds to the texture of the rolls.
Yeast - I've used instant yeast granules. You could use fresh yeast if you prefer, but you will have to double the weight of the instant yeast. For example, this recipe uses 2 teaspoons of instant yeast, which is one-quarter of an ounce, so you will need to use 4 teaspoons or half an ounce of fresh yeast.
Oats (or oatmeal) - this adds a great texture to the rolls.
Yoghurt - thick yoghurt, either Greek or natural. Not fruit yoghurt. Yoghurt works with the yeast to make the bread rise, and as this is a dense dough, it needs all the help it can get! It also adds to the flavour of the bread rolls.
Seeds - I found a packet of mixed seeds at Aldi which I used. It contains sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, golden linseeds and hemp seeds. In addition, I added a tablespoon of black poppy seeds (because I had some in the cupboard). You can use your own mixture, and you will need approximately 60 grams or half a cup of mixed seeds. At the very least I would recommend you use at least pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
Water - make sure the water is lukewarm, or body temperature so that the yeast can activate. Too hot and the heat will kill the yeast; too cold and the yeast won't rise properly.
Salt - this is to your own taste, but I do recommend adding at least one teaspoon of salt. If you do choose to use salt, make sure that it does not come into contact with the yeast when you add it to the dry ingredients.
What to do
Place all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, making sure that you put the yeast on one side and the salt on the other. Also, ensure the mixing bowl is large enough to hold the dough when it rises.
Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix well to combine.
Pour in the water and add the yoghurt.
Mix well until everything is combined and you have a sticky dough. Note - the dough should be sticky, but not sloppy!
Now add the seeds and mix them into the dough. I find it easiest to do this using a flat-bladed knife.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, or preferably overnight to rise. The dough will double in size, and as you can see it has almost filled my mixing bowl.
If you are in a hurry and don't want to leave the dough overnight, you can cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place for at least 4 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. But if you do this, you may find that the texture is not as good as it could be. Remember it is the long slow overnight rise that forms the structure of the rolls.
The next step is to form the rolls and get them onto a baking tray. This dough is sticky so you will have to use a little extra flour to help you form the rolls. Try to use just enough flour to help you form the rolls without introducing too much extra flour into the mixture.
Use well-floured hands for this next step as the dough is sticky! Knock the dough down and break off tennis-ball-sized pieces. Flatten them into rounds or oblongs and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. You can sprinkle the top with a few extra seeds if you like. Cover the rolls with a clean cloth and leave them to rise for about 20 minutes.
Place a baking dish filled with water on the bottom shelf of the oven and preheat the oven to 215C / 420F. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the rolls are golden and crispy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
The reason for putting a tray of water on the bottom shelf of the oven is to create a steamy environment which allows the rolls to rise before they crisp so you get a higher rise on the rolls.
Do be careful when opening the oven and keep your face turned away - the steam is HOT!
Even though these seeded bread rolls have a chewy texture, they are still light and airy on the inside.
If you'd like to be notified of new recipes, why not subscribe to my newsletter? To say thank you, you will receive a free recipe e-book containing some of my most popular cakes and desserts.
No-knead seeded bread rolls FAQ
There is nothing worse than making a batch of bread only to find that the yeast was stale and the bread didn't rise.
To test that your yeast is still active, sprinkle the instant yeast granules onto 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Leave to stand for 5 minutes. If the yeast forms bubbles it is still fresh and you can use that yeast mixture in your recipe. If it doesn't foam, it means the yeast is dead and you need to buy fresh.
Absolutely! Once the rolls have cooled, pack them into plastic bags and freeze them for up to 6 months. To use, reheat from frozen in a hot oven (200C/400F) for 5 to 7 minutes until heated through and crispy.
There are various reasons.
- The dough is not kneaded in this recipe, and one of the ways in which gluten is formed is by stretching the dough by kneading it. To enable gluten to form in this recipe, leaving the dough to proof overnight gives the yeast the time it needs time to interact with the flour and liquid to form the gluten.
- The oats and seeds tend to make the dough heavier and the yeast needs more time to generate sufficient carbon dioxide to form the bubbles that are needed to make the dough rise.
You can use pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, linseeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds or even pine nuts! If you have chia seeds, you could add a spoonful of those too.
Save for later
If you would like to make these no-knead seeded bread rolls yourself, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.
Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
Related recipes
If you enjoy baking bread and rolls you may like to try some of my other easy bread recipes :
📋The recipe
Easy no-knead seeded bread rolls
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Earthenware mixing bowl
- 2 Baking trays
- Baking parchment
Ingredients
- 3 cups / 420 grams bread flour
- ¾ cup / 105 grams wholemeal flour
- 1¾ cups / 175 grams oats
- 1¼ cup / 275 ml Greek yoghurt
- 2 teaspoons / 7 grams instant yeast granules
- ½ cup / 60 grams mixed seeds pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc.
- 1 tablespoon black poppy seeds optional
- 1 teaspoon salt or to your own taste
- 2 cups / 480 ml lukewarm water
Instructions
- Place all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, making sure that you put the yeast on one side and the salt on the other. Also, ensure the mixing bowl is large enough to hold the dough when it rises.3 cups / 420 grams bread flour, ¾ cup / 105 grams wholemeal flour, 1¾ cups / 175 grams oats, 2 teaspoons / 7 grams instant yeast granules, 1 teaspoon salt
- Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix well to combine.
- Pour in the water and add the yoghurt.2 cups / 480 ml lukewarm water, 1¼ cup / 275 ml Greek yoghurt
- Mix well until everything is combined and you have a sticky dough. Note - the dough should be sticky, but not sloppy!
- Now add the seeds and mix them into the dough. I find it easiest to do this using a flat-bladed knife.½ cup / 60 grams mixed seeds, 1 tablespoon black poppy seeds
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, or preferably overnight to rise. The dough will double in size.
- Use well-floured hands for this next step as the dough is sticky! Knock the dough down and break off tennis-ball-sized pieces. Flatten them into rounds or oblongs and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. You can sprinkle the top with a few extra seeds if you like. Cover the rolls with a clean cloth and leave them to rise for about 20 minutes.
- Place a baking dish filled with water on the bottom shelf of the oven and preheat the oven to 215C / 420F. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the rolls are golden and crispy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I'd love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you'd like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!
If you'd like to continue browsing, just click on this link to all my recipes.
Sarah says
Trying to find some heart smart but tasty bread for my spouse. These went down a treat. I had to leave them in the fridge for 13 hours before shaping but it was fine.
VJ says
That's great! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Andy says
Hi
So today I decided to make the loaf using the ingredients and recipe for the no knead rolls
The dough had risen in the fridge overnight. I placed it on baking parchment on a tray to prove for the second time and then placed it in the oven along with a dish of boiling water.
Following your suggestion I reduced the heat to 200 degrees in the fan oven . The loaf was scored with a cross on the top which opened up nicely . After about 40 minutes I checked to see how things were going. The middle of the scored cross was still sticky as was the base . I replaced the loaf and continued at the same temperature for another 20 minutes . I then turned the oven off and let the loaf sit in the cooling down oven for another 10 minutes.
The result was pretty good .The size of the loaf was quite large . The outer crust was wonderful it was thick and crunchy. The very centre of the loaf was just that tiny bit sticky . Maybe could have done with 5 more minutes at the 200 degrees
It was hardly noticeable, so for me it was a great result!
I have already passed on your web site to a friend of mine who is a former chef . He has said that he will make the no knead rolls tomorrow!
I will be Loki g to make your bacon and egg pie soon and also the German rolls too
It has been a joy trying out your recipe, thank you
I was in Lincoln the other week staying with my friends in Scothern .
Best wishes
Andy
VJ says
Hi Andy - thanks for letting me know. I'm going to give this a try and see if I can adjust the times and temperature for an entire loaf. But I'm pleased you enjoyed it. I'd be interested in hearing what your chef friend has to say!.
I hope you enjoy the bacon and egg pie and the German rolls. The bacon and egg pie is one of my favourites - it reminds me of my Granny who used to make it many, many years ago. The rolls are very similar to the ones I used to enjoy when I was working in Germany and living in a hotel from Mon to Fri. The fried breakfasts definitely took a back seat as enjoyed the crusty bread, ham and cheese that was on offer!
I looked Scothern up on Google maps - it's about 45 minutes from where I live (Lincoln is a big place). But if you're ever in this neck of the woods again drop me a message - I love talking food and recipes!
Andy says
Having recently become interested in baking and cooking I fell upon your posting . I had always wanted to make a multiseed roll.
I tried your no knead recipe and was delighted with the results. Crispy crust and a soft inside.
Can I use the same recipe and make one large loaf using all the methods used in the making of the rolls
Very happy
Andy Wakeford-Smith
VJ says
I'm delighted the rolls turned out well for you.
Now, regarding your question - the answer is yes you can but the cooking time may be different as rolls are smaller than a loaf and will therefore cook more quickly.
I have never made these as a loaf, but my suggestion would be to lower the temperature marginally (so the loaf doesn't crisp before the inside is cooked), and leave the loaf in the oven for an extra few minutes.
The loaf will be done when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
If you try this, I'd love to know the time and temperature that you used so I could update the recipe for the benefit of other readers.
Andy says
Thank you for such a quick response!
I have just eaten some with a soup for my lunch , they truly are great
I will certainly try making a loaf and I will follow your suggestions. I will let you know how it goes!!
Thank you again
Andy
VJ says
You are very welcome 🙂
Aniita Assad says
Thank you for all the great recipes. Hugs from Johannesburg south Africa
VJ says
You are more than welcome. I was last in Johannesburg 4 years ago. Hope you're enjoying the sunshine!
Pete says
First of all I must say that I am not an experienced baker. I have made these rolls today (well, mixed yesterday and proved overnight) and although they taste delicious (my wife is cross as she’s trying to avoid carbs but is struggling not to go back for more) they came out very flat. I suspect this may be because unplanned events meant the rolls sat on trays for a couple of hours before going in the oven and they spread out during that time. Do you think that was the issue and that next time I just need to get them in the oven more quickly?
VJ says
Hi Pete, I'm sorry your rolls turned out flat. Let's see if we can find out what the problem was. The most important thing I would like to ask is if you are sure your yeast was fresh. Did you test it as I described in the post? Did the rolls rise properly with the first prove? If the answer is no, then I would suspect that you need to try a different batch of yeast. I must admit I've never left them out of the oven for too long so I can't really say whether this caused your problem. It could be that the extra time they stood out caused the carbon dioxide bubbles created by the yeast to burst, meaning the bread would be flat. Sorry I can't be more help than this, but I'm glad they still tasted OK.