Well the kids didn't want to wait long, so I defrosted the pork the other day and planned on making sandwiches as usual. There was only one problem: I had no kaiser rolls and I was in no mood to get dressed and drag myself out to the store for just one item, so I went to the King Arthur flour site and looked up kaiser rolls.
Sure enough, they had what looked like a simple but killer recipe. They were such a success that I had to make them again yesterday. I did have to make a change or two to the procedure, and without thinking, when I made them the second time, made a substitution to the list of ingredients, but this recipe really works either way. The kids were very impressed with the rolls and thought that they looked like something you might be able to buy in the store's bakery.
Yes, that is high praise. :)
Kaiser Rolls
Makes 6 rolls
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons yeast
- 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 1-1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup milk or water*
Directions:
Manual method:
- In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients, stirring until the dough forms a rough mass and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then let it rest for 10 minutes, then knead the dough for another 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and silky, but stiff to work. If it is too sticky, knead in a bit more flour until it is nicely smooth.
- Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot in your kitchen for an hour. I usually preheat the oven to 425°F at this point to get it good and hot and help warm up my drafty kitchen.
- Once it has risen for an hour, place the dough on a lightly floured surface, and divide it into six pieces. Roll the pieces into balls, dusting them slightly with the flour and place them on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper. Alternately, you can grease the cookie sheet.
- With a large chef's knife, cut 3 slashes down into the top, making a star pattern. You'll want to press down and in one motion, slice down almost all the way through to the bottom. Don't saw through the bread. You want nice, clean cuts.
- Cover the rolls and set them in a warm part of the kitchen and let rise for 1 more hour, or until they've just about doubled in size.
- Bake the rolls in a preheated 425°F oven for 15 to 17 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove the rolls from the oven, brush the tops with cold butter, and cool on a wire rack until ready to use.
- Place the ingredients into the bowl of your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer, set on the dough cycle and walk away.
- Then follow steps 4 - 8 above.
Notes:
- The original recipe from King Arthur Flour calls for 3/4 cup of water instead of milk, and when I made them the first time the other day, I did indeed follow the recipe exactly as it was written, but when I made these again yesterday, I inadvertently used milk, probably because my favorite multi-grain bread recipe uses milk and I had just made 2 loaves of it this week and had that on the brain. Whatever the reason, I liked the resulting texture of the milk rolls better.
- I also changed the shaping procedure somewhat, since I do not have a kaiser stamp. I had to use my chef's knife to slash the tops.
- The first time I made these, I flipped them over after they were cut to let them rise cut-side down, but I thought that they turned out a little too flat for my taste, so the second time I made them, I let them rise cut-side up.
- Apple-maple-bourbon-chipotle barbecue sauce recipe to come soon.
