Pandesal (Filipino Bread Rolls): Step By Step Guide To Perfectly Fluffy Rolls
Learn how to make the perfect Pandesal, a popular Filipino bread roll, with this step by step guide. Fluffy and delicious, these rolls are a staple in Filipino cuisine. Love Filipino breads? Check out my Spanish Bread recipe. More Filipino classics? Check out Ube Hopia, Cassava Cake and Suman Malagkit.
Oh, pandesal in the sweet hours of the morning! Nothing beats a warm tray of these freshly baked Filipino-style dinner rolls with the morning cup of tea or coffee.
Pan de Sal in Spanish mean salt bread. And despite the name, many pandesal recipes have evolved from salty to being slightly sweet with just a touch of salt.
Pandesal is one of the most raved-about recipes here on the blog. If you would like a bread machine version, check out Bread Machine Pandesal!
How to Enjoy Pandesal?
- Pandesal is probably the Philippines’ favorite bread. There is something about these golden dinner rolls that are dusted with breadcrumbs that make them so out of the ordinary. A bread that is delicious on its own, or dipped in coffee.
- For a filling version, we slice the bun in half and fill it with sliced hotdogs, fried egg, and even sauteed corned beef. Sweet tooth? Try peanut butter or coconut jam. Oh, the little things that bring us so much joy!
- If you love pandesal, you need to check out my other pandesal creations like Ube Cheese Pandesal , Red Velvet Pandesal and Chocolate Pandesal with Nutella Filling!
The Perfect Pandesal Recipe
- These pandesal are lightly toasted on the outside. The nice golden exterior has a nice tender-crisp texture, and it renders a nice toasty flavor. Just the way I like it.
- The inside is soft and light. It is not dense and tight-knit, but not too airy either. Just pure crumb perfection.
- They are pillowy soft out of the over AND remain soft the days after.
- Eat them plain, dip them in coffee, slather Nutella, slather butter. You decide how to enjoy it. Lately, we slather it with non-hydrogenated margarine. I think it’s the only way to enjoy it now, and nothing else 🙂
The Process
Proof the Yeast and Mix in the Dough Ingredients
In a bowl of a stand mixer, pour the milk and then sprinkle the yeast. Sprinkle approximately 1-2 teaspoons of the sugar in there as well. Let this mixture sit for 7-12 minutes until it looks thick and creamy.
Add the eggs, the remaining sugar, and the oil. Stir to combine. In a bowl, combine 4 cups of flour and 1 tsp of salt. Gradually add this mixture to the mixing bowl, about 1 cup at a time, stirring well after adding.
Knead the Dough in the Stand Mixer
Now attach the dough hook to the mixer, and on medium speed, mix the dough for 10 minutes. During this period the dough will start to take form, gathering slowly in the center.
After ten minutes of mixing, slowly add more flour with the mixer still running, about 1-2 tbsp at a time. As you add, the dough will gather more and more and it will start to clean the sides of the bowl.
The Dough Gathers in the Center of the Bowl
Continue the mixing and adding, until the dough gathers in the center of the bowl and cleans the sides and bottom of the bowl entirely.
You will also hear the slapping sounds that the dough makes against the bowl. This should take around 10 minutes more, for a total of 20 minutes or so in the mixer.
To test if the dough is adequately kneaded, you can do the windowpane test found in my How to Knead Bread Dough post.
Finish Kneading and Allow the Dough to Rise
You may also need to increase the mixer speed for the dough to release at the bottom of the bowl. You may need less of the 1/2 cup reserved flour, but not more.
Shape the dough into a ball, and let the dough rise in a bowl, Allow it to rise for 1 hour and a half, covered with a clean towel.
Shape the Dough and Dust with Bread Crumbs
After rising, gently deflate the dough. Shape it into a log and divide it into 25-28 pieces.
Roll each piece into a plate of bread crumbs, then arrange the balls in a parchment-lined, light-colored baking pan.
Allow the Shaped Dough to Rise Again, then Bake!
Allow these to rise once more, for 30-40 minutes, covered loosely with a clean kitchen towel. Bake the pandesal for 23-25 minutes, or until golden on top.
Let them cool slightly before serving.
Pointers for Making Pandesal
- The milk should not exceed the temperature of 110F. Hotter than that and you risk killing the yeast.
- If the yeast did not turn foamy after 10 minutes. Discard the mixture and start again.
- The recipe calls for 4 and 1/2 cups of flour. 4 cups are added initially to the dough. The remaining 1/2 cup will be added one tablespoon at a time just until the dough gathers into the center of the bowl. You may not have to use all of the 1/2 cup of flour.
- Use a light-colored baking pan to avoid too much browning of the bottom of the pandesal.
p.s. These will be so good with this Sweet and Spicy Squid or this Filipino Style Pancit Canton.
More Bread Recipes:
- Mamon Recipe
- The Best Ensaymada
- Cassava Cake
- Ube Cheesecake
- Chocolate Mamon
- Yema Rolls
- Coconut Buns with Milky Sweet Filling
- Japanese Milk Buns
- Spanish Bread
- Hawaiian Rolls
- Sweet Cheese Rolls
- Sweet Beehive Buns
- Milk and Sugar Mini Buns
- Pineapple Buns
- Whole Wheat Potato Dinner Rolls
- Crescent Butter Rolls
Pandesal
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 and 1/4 cup warm milk heated to 105-115 F
- 4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour divided
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- bread crumbs for dusting the pandesal dough
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the warm milk, yeast and about a tablespoon of the sugar. Let this mixture stand until it is foamy. In another bowl, combine 4 cups of flour and salt.
- Once the yeast mixture is foamy, add in the eggs, sugar and oil to the bowl of stand mixer. Gradually add the flour mixture, about a cup at a time while stirring with a wooden spatula or spoon. Briefly mix everything together until a shaggy dough forms.
- Attach the dough hook to the stand mixer and run the mixer on medium speed to start kneading the dough. After ten minutes of mixing, gradually sprinkle little amounts of flour to the dough ( about a tablespoon at a time) to help in the kneading process. Continue to knead until the dough gathers in the center and is cleaning the sides and bottom of the bowl. This should take about 20 minutes or so and you should only have used up to 1/2 cup of flour. Gather the dough into a ball. Place it inside a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let stand in room temperature to rise for an hour, or until the size is doubled. Meanwhile, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Gently deflate the dough. Divide it into 25-28 equal sized portions. Smooth and shape each portion into an imperfect ball, about 2 and 1/2 to 3 inches in size. Roll each portion of dough in the bread crumbs and place in the baking sheet. Allow little spaces in between portions. Cover the rolls with a kitchen towel and let rise for 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake the pandesal for 23-25 minutes or until the top is lightly golden. Serve warm. Store leftovers in a tightly closed container at room temperature.
Made my pandesal following about recipe and my family and I loved it. First time baking was an absolute success! My pandesal is so soft & delicious.
Thanks Jovy! I am so happy to know that!
Hello Ms. Sanna,
Thanks for sharing your recipe. It was my first time to bake pandesal last night and it was great.
I used instant yeast which is individually packed as 11 grams.
Checking whether this one pack in this part of the world will give just 2 1/4 tsp or not, I measured it as I used it.
Just found out it’s not so maybe that’s why the other readers were confused.
The 11g pack of yeast is around 2tbsp.
Hope this helps, too.
Thanks again and will surely make more batches in the next coming days.
Hi Shirley! Thank you for the info. It helps a lot!
I used instant yeast and tried it 3 times but my dough comes out sticky. When I mixed it with the spoon before kneading it does not form into a dough but hard batter consistency. Proceeded to knead it by machine but it came out gooey. Second time I tried not to pre rise the yeast since it is instant yeast. Hence I did not warm the milk. Mixing it still not resulting into a dough more the consistency of batter. I still baked it but it was hard since it came out sticky. It still tastes good. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
Hello! I am sorry that you are having trouble. Some cases you might need to sprinkle more flour as you start to knead with the machine, especially if it is not coming together after 10 minutes.I think that because the dough is still sticky, it was still underkneaded, too.
Thank you for this recipe! It’s the 2nd time that I tried making pandesal and the first one was not so good (different recipe). When I tried yours, it came out fluffy and exactly the pandesa that I wanted to have.
I am so happy you love it, Lala!
Hi Sanna, I haven’t made it yet but my mom has requested for cheese or ube filling. Would that change the recipe or bake time in any way?
Hi Rica! Baking time will almost be the same 🙂 Good luck!
Can I prepare the dough at night and bake it the ff morning for breakfast?
Hi Nene!
Yes you do that:)
What kind of bread crumbs do you use?
Hello Elsie! I used plain, unflavored bread crumbs. Enjoy!
Will vegetable oil work instead of canola oil?
Hello Nat! Yes, it will work 🙂
currently baking now. fingers crossed x i used coconut oil instead of canola oil, not sure if its a good alternative though.
question: i haven’t baked all the mixture i made can i store it in the fridge and bake them on a later date?/
You can freeze the unshaped dough. Just wrap it well in plastic then in foil. Freeze for up to 3 weeks. Let me know how it turns out with coconut oil. I would love to know. 🙂
Can this be done if you knead by hand? Dont have a dough hook or stand mixer.
You can definitely knead by hand. Remember to flour your board well and also your hands to prevent sticking. However, don’t over flour to the point the dough is too dry. Good luck!
can i use almond milk instead? Will it alter the taste and texture?
Thank you.
Hello there! Unfortunately, I have not tested this using almond milk. I am guessing the fat in the cow’s milk is needed to add to the property of the dough.
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Do you think I have to use cow’s milk or can I use oat milk or other dairy free milk?
Hello Celine! You are welcome! I have not tried other milk than cow’s milk in this recipe and I feel that the texture will be altered if you were to use non-dairy milk.
Hello Sanna, been looking for a good pandesal recipe and this is it!Thank you soooooo much! I am happy that you shared you recipe to those who love to bake and is honest with the ingredients and procedures. Followed your instructions to a T and made perfect pandesal that everyone at home loved. Since I love soft and pillowy pandesal, I baked it for 15-18 minutes only just enough to have light browning of the top. I stored in an air tight container and it stayed soft as the day I made them 2 days ago. I remember a friend who used to have a bakery and he had the best pandesal I ever tasted… soft and sweet. Can I add a little bit more sugar or will it change the texture?
Hello Marivic! I am so glad you loved these. I have not tried adding more sugar to the recipe and I think that it can alter the texture of the dough 🙂
Thank you so much for making this!
Hi! Thank you for sharing your recipe. After so many trials of different recipe, this one is the best and really turned out great and how I like my pandesal to be, soft,airy and a bit crispy on the outside. I just want to ask, if I make a big batch of this, or maybe double. Should i double the no. Of eggs too and yeast? Thank you so much and God bless!
Hi Jobelle! Thank you for trying the recipe. I am so glad you liked it. If you double the batch, you have to double the eggs and yeast too. Good luck!
Hi Sanna,
I would like to know , how will you make pandesal dense? yung bang malaman, ayoko yung nabibili, walang laman:)
Thank you!
Hello Eliza! For a dense bread, try the dough for hawaiian rolls, also found here on the blog, or use the dough for honey buns. Those bread are on the denser side. 🙂
Hi Sana.. How are you?
I just tried your recipe and it turn out perfectly and taste good..I’ve tried 2 different recipes before but failed..
Thank you so much.. Will try your other recipes
Hi Stella! Thank you, I am doing good. How are you? I hope you are well. Thanks for trying out the recipe and I am very happy that you like it. Keep yourself safe and have a good day!
Hi Sanna,
Good morning, i’ve tried your pandesal recipe earlier. It taste and looks good but my issue is that my pandesal didn’t really rise that much after baking. Can you help me please. Thank you!
Hi there Kyla! It could be that the yeast may not be fresh or you need to knead the dough a little bit more:) I hope that helps!