Living on the West Coast of the United States, authentic Philadelphia Cheesesteak Sandwiches are as rare to find as hen’s teeth! After some internet sleuthing, I discovered that the traditional Hoagie Rolls are Amoroso Rolls. Since those bread rolls are also impossible for me to find, I baked my own. They were surprisingly simple to make, turned out fluffy and made a suitable substitute for the “real thing”.
To any of you were born and raised in Philadelphia, I realize that my Philadelphia-Style Cheesesteak steak isn’t as authentic as you might know it to be. I can’t do Cheese Whiz and I didn’t use shaved prime rib. If I ever make it to Philadelphia, the first thing I’ll try is this particularly sandwich that y’all are known for. So, for now, let’s start with my Hoagie Roll recipe, shall we?
My one and only experience with the best Cheese Steak sandwich I’ve ever had was from a hole-in-the-wall place in my hometown of Monterey, California. The combination of steak, onion and melted cheese on a soft roll had me returning to that place more times than I can count. Sadly, the young man who ran it closed up shop and moved away. Oh, how I missed those sandwiches!
While I’ve reignited my fondness of baking sourdough bread, I still enjoy baking traditional yeast bread recipes. This Hoagie Roll recipe was surprisingly easy to make, instead of buying commercially baked rolls.
A stand mixer uses a lot less elbow grease, though I won’t judge those who prefer kneading bread dough by hand. With the dough hook, it took about 10 minutes to be cohesive.
My Brod & Taylor Proofing Box is one of my most used bread baking investments. I no longer have to use my oven nor microwave as an “improv proofer”. Just set the temperature you want, fill the water reservoir (humidity) and set the bowl of dough to proof. There’s no need to cover with plastic wrap or anything! The dough doesn’t dry out. Best of all, in the winter, I don’t have to worry about having a cold kitchen. The dough doubled in an hour!
With this recipe, I made four large Hoagie Rolls (you could easily make 8 smaller ones). Yes, my shaping could use a bit more practice! Give the dough a final proof of about 30 minutes. An egg wash will give the rolls a more golden and shiny finish. Slice down the middle for the steam to escape.
Into the oven they go, for about 15-22 minutes. You want an internal temperature of at least 200F. From start to finish, the rolls were baked in less than 3 hours– most of it was proofing time.
TASTING NOTES: These rolls are perfect for any kind of sandwich. The rolls were fluffy inside and could be sturdy enough for my Homemade Sloppy Joe’s. Here’s the recipe for the Philadelphia Style Cheese Steak Sandwich?
Homemade Hoagie Sandwich Rolls
Equipment
- Proofing Box A bread baking game changer!
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 bread flour divided; 2 cups, then 1½ cups Recommended brand: King Arthur Flour
- 1 1/4 cups warm water plus 2 tablespoon (up to 1 1/2 cups) 110-115F degrees **see note
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 ¼ tsp instant yeast for active dry yeast, see instructions
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt if using table salt, decrease by 50%
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter cold ; cubed (*see note in ingredient instructions)
Instructions
If using Active Dry Yeast:
- Active Dry Yeast needs to be proofed first. To the yeast, add the sugar and ¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Whisk the yeast mixture and set aside for 5-20 minutes, or until the yeast has bubbled.
- In the stand mixer bowl, fitted with the dough hook, add 2 cups of the flour and the remaining cup of water. Mix on low for 4 minutes.
If using Instant Yeast:
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, with the dough hook attachment, add in 2 cups of the flour, water, sugar and instant yeast. Mix on low for 4 minutes.
The rest of the instructions for both Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast:
- Add in the salt and 1 cup at a time of the remaining flour and mix for 5-6 minutes until the dough is slack (See note). At this point, your mixer should be at medium speed. If your dough, after 5-6 minutes is not slack add up to 1/4 more cup of water (taking you up to a full 1 1/2 cups used) but add one Tablespoon at a time. The additional water will fully depend on how humid your room is.
- Add the remaining flour and salt and mix until the dough is "slack"; 5-6 minutes. The mixer should be running at medium speed. If your dough still isn't slack, add up to ¼ cup of additional water. (This should take up all of the remaining water.)NOTE: Slack dough is when the dough can't hold its shape. It has no elasticity nor springs back. It's a wet dough, but not super wet. The dough should be really soft and smooth.
- Add in the cold butter 1 Tablespoon at a time and mix until almost fully combined before adding the next Tablespoon. NOTE: Using cold butter helps with gluten formation and the development of dough structure. Mix the dough for 1-3 minutes, or until the dough comes back together. The dough should pull completely away from the side of the bowl, and it should be smooth and shiny.
- Transfer the dough into a greased and covered bowl until doubled in size– about 1 hour.
Shape the dough:
- Punch the dough down, and place it on a very lightly floured board. (In my case, I prefer to lightly spray oil on my quartz counter top.) Divide the dough into 4 (large rolls) up to 8 pieces and shape them. It's best to use minimal flour, when shaping, so the hoagies don't become tough.Transfer the dough onto a parchment lined baking tray and cover lightly with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to double in size– about 30-45 minutes. Don't over proof them, or they could fall flat!
Bake the rolls:
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. If you want to slash your bread, a lame or sharp knife. If desired, brush each roll with an egg wash.
- Bake for 15-22 minutes or until golden brown. The internal bread temperature should be at 200F.
- Allow the bread to completely cool before cutting with a bread knife.
Notes
Nutrition
Will have to try these. As a former New England girl, I often ate cheesesteak subs, always with white American cheese. That’s authentic too- just depends on which side of the street you go in Philly. No Chez Whiz thank you.
Hello!
How many did you make that it equaled 149 calories? I divided my dough up into 8 rolls, and when I did the math, they were roughly 260 calories. Thanks!
I pay for software that creates my recipe cards and I pay extra for nutrition calculation. I looked at my recipe card, and all of the ingredients were listed correctly. I have no idea why our nutrition calculations are so vastly different1 It’s the software, I guess. I pay for that feature as a convenience, but I guess I can’t guarantee the accuracy. Sorry.