Italian Milk Bread Rolls Recipe (Panini Al Latte)

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This Italian milk bread rolls recipe is a slightly sweet, soft, and small dinner roll called Panini al Latte. The dough of these fluffy buns is made with flour, milk, egg, and butter. They are golden brown and served fresh with gourmet filling at buffets or children's parties. This milk bread recipe is easy; it is a fun activity to do with the children.

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Hamburger and beef
Ingredients
An easy way to make the dough
Instructions
Storage
A fun activity for children
Top tips
Other recipes you can make with this dough
Other recipes you may like
FAQ
More bread recipes
📋Italian Milk Bread Rolls Recipe (Panini Al Latte)

This milk bun recipe is not for Japanese milk buns.

They are Italian milk bread rolls called Panini al latte.

These fluffy bread rolls are found everywhere in Italy and used for children's afternoon snacks, quick lunches, or as a buffet for children's parties.

They are soft and slightly sweet, served freshly made at room temperature, and can be filled with anything.

Other buffet finger food are Pizzette Italian pizza bites, Fried mozzarella cheese, Piadina Romagnola, Sicilian Arancini, they are easy to eat on the run, so no playtime is wasted.

Italian Panini bread served at a children party

Hamburger and beef

The sweetness of these panini is also a perfect combination with beef.

They are half way between a dinner roll and a brioche.

I use them as burger buns or filled with roast beef and onion relish and serve them with baked microwaved potatoes.

They are very easy to do and look just like chips.

Ingredients

To make the panini dough, you need the following basic ingredients:

All-purpose flour: if you want to use good quality flour, I would suggest the Caputo bread flour brand
Milk: you can either use low-fat or regular
Melted butter: the butter should be melted. I like to melt it in the microwave with the milk as it is usually cold from the fridge. You can melt it over a regular stove if you don't have a microwave. Before you add the egg to the mix, make sure they are back to room temperature; otherwise, the egg will cook in the hot milk
Egg: I have my own chickens free to walk around the garden, so I always have free-range eggs. I do recommend free range not only for the taste but also for animal wellbeing.
Sugar: the sugar is needed to activate the yeast but also to make the dough sweet, like a brioche.
Salt: 1.5 tsp
Active dry yeast: I prefer dry yeast to fresh one as I can keep a stock at home and make pizza and bread anytime. The fresh yeast should be used within a short time frame and kept in the fridge. As yeast is a living bacteria, the fresh yeast easily perishes, so the dough will not rise.
Egg yolk and some milk for the egg wash: it is brushed over the bread roll to make a golden brown top

An easy way to make the dough

These soft dinner rolls should be served freshly made the same day; this is why I make them at home using the bread machine. It is such a simple recipe.

Before my morning coffee, I put the dough ingredients in the bread machine.

In 1.5 hours, I have the dough ready to make whatever I want.

If you don't have a bread machine, see: How to make brioche or bread rolls’ dough without a bread machine

I use a programmable bread machine, and on this link, you can find more information on why I like it.

Instructions

Making the dough

To make the dough in the bread machine, prepare the wet and dry ingredients separately.

Preparing the wet ingredients

Melt the butter with the milk in the microwave for 1 minute at low power
Let them cool down before you add the egg; otherwise, the egg will cook
Add one egg
Mix until all the wet ingredients are combined

Preparing the dry ingredients

Mix the flour with the salt
The sugar
Stir with a fork

Preparing the dough

Pour the wet ingredients into the bread machine bucket
Add the dry ingredients
Put the dry yeast
Place the basket in the bread machine with the cycle "Dough". The final dough will be ready and had his first rise in 1.5 hours

N.B: If you don't have a bread machine, you can check the article: how to make dough without the bread machine

puting the ingredients in the bread machine

Shaping the buns

Cut the dough in half, and cut each part into equal pieces until you reach the size and number of buns you want.
Roll them in the palm of your hands and lay the dough balls in a baking pan over a baking sheet
Brush them with egg wash made of egg yolk and milk
Let them rest for 30 minutes for a second rise in a warm place covered with a tea towel; they will become nicely round shaped
If you want to make hamburger buns cut the dough into 6 parts and follow the directions above.
Once the buns have risen, bake them in a hot oven at 350 F - 180C for 20-25 minutes.
Leave them on a cooling rack for 10 minutes

Hint: if you are making burger buns, you can top them with sesame seeds

Storage

You can store them for 2 days in an airtight container, however, they are best made fresh.

You can freeze them in a plastic bag and let them defrost at room temperature.

Milk bread rolls with roast beef onion relish

A fun activity for children

The summer on the French Riviera is always very busy. Friends are coming to the region for their holidays, and as the coast becomes very busy, it is easier to invite them to the villa, especially if they have children.

Whatever their age, children love to make these fluffy milk buns.

Once the dough is made in the bread machine, I let the children shape the bread rolls.

The texture of the dough is smooth and soft. It is not a sticky dough, and you don't need much flour.

It is not important to make a smooth ball.

The bread buns will become nicely round once the dough rises.

Place them in the baking tray and let the children paint them with the egg wash.

While the Panini rise and then bake, the children can enjoy themselves in the pool.

The Panini will be ready when the children come out of the pool and immediately ask for something to eat.

For more recipes to make with children, you can check the recipes:

Italian Easter cookies

Homemade Italian pasta tagliatelle

Milk bread rolls panini al latte filled with ham and salami for children's parties

Top tips

To make sure the rolls are all the same size, cut the dough in half, and cut each part in half again until you reach the size and number of buns you want.
If you are making Panini, the rolls should fit inside the palm of your hand, as they have to rest for another 30 minutes; they will double in size.
It does not matter if they do not look perfect when you roll them; they will automatically develop into nice, round, smooth buns once they have risen the second time.

Milk bread roll Panini al latte piled up on a tray

Other recipes you can make with this dough

The dough is so versatile that I use it to make several other party food, and guests wouldn't know I spent very little time making all the goodies.

There are so many things I can do using the same milk bread dough recipe:

Sausage rolls are usually made with puff pastry, while these rolls are sweet and soft with a spicy bite from the mustard. They are easy to make and perfect for picnics, buffets,s or children's parties.

Other recipes you may like

More bread recipes in my bread category:

hand holding a piece of Italian cheese bread

FAQ

What kind of bread is used for a panini?

In Italy, Panini is the name for sandwiches; they are not necessarily grilled. They are made with whatever bread roll is typical in the region: Ciabatta, Rosetta, Michetta, Ciriola. Most of the Italian bread rolls have a crunchy crust, so if they are fresh they do not need to be grilled. If you want to make a grilled panino, you need to use a soft type of bread roll like ciabatta, or a sliced bread loaf. In Italy we grill a panino made with a bread roll from the previous day as their crust gets too soft the next day.

Is panini a bread or a sandwich?

Panini is the Italian name for bread roll use for sandwiches. They are usually filled with meat (ham, prosciutto, salami) and/or cheese. In Italy they are not necessarily grilled.

What is the difference between a panini and a grilled sandwich?

Panini is the Italian name for sandwiches, they are not necessarily grilled. Often eaten on the go, they are made with fresh bread in the morning and packed for lunch. When on the road, you cannot grill a Panino that is why Panini in Italy are rarely grilled. You can get a grilled Panino at a street cafe in Italy called Bar. When a Panino is grilled in Italy we often refer it as Toast.

Are Paninis and Panini the same?

Italian Panini bread are very different from the grilled sandwiches everyone knows as Paninis. Panini (plural) is the Italian word for sandwiches, and they are not necessarily toasted or grilled.
Panini is commonly referred to as a grilled sandwich in English, but in Italian Panino (panini for plural) is just a bread roll filled with cheese and some type of meat - ham, salami, prosciutto, mortadella.
Whether grilled or not is irrelevant from an Italian perspective; it is always a Panino.
They are made with whatever bread roll is typical from the Italian region: Ciabatta, Rosetta, Michetta, Ciriola.
Most Italian Panini already have a nice crunchy crust and a soft inside. Therefore if the bread is fresh, it doesn't need to be toasted.

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More bread recipes

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