Hoagie & Cheesesteak RollsIngredients :• 5 1/3 cups unbleached bread flour
• 2 teaspoons salt, or 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 tablesppon sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons barley malt syrup or ¾ teaspoon diastatic malt powder (optional)
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm milk (any kind)
• 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
Directions :In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, salt and sugar together. In a separate bowl, whisk the malt syrup, egg and oil together. Separately, combine the water and milk then whisk in the instant yeast until dissolved.
Add the oil mixture and the water mixture to the dry ingredients. If using a mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on the lowest speed, or continue mixing by hand, for 4 minutes to form a coarse ball of dough. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Mix for 2 minutes more on medium low speed or by hand with a spoon, adjusting with flour or water as needed. Form the dough into a ball. Transfer the dough to a clean lightly oiled bowl large enough to hold the dough when it doubles in size. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap then immediately put it in the fridge for overnight cold proofing or for up to 4 days.
On baking day remove the dough from the fridge about 2 hours before you plan to bake and transfer it to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the cold dough into 4 ounce (113g) pieces for 7 inch rolls or 8 ounce (227g) pieces for foot longs. Flatten each piece of dough with your hand then form it into a 4 inch torpedo shape, or a 7 inch torpedo shape for foot longs. Let each piece of dough rest as you move on to the other pieces. When you return to the first torpedo, gently roll it back and forth to extend it out to about 7 inches, or 13 inches for foot longs. The roll should have a very slight taper at the ends. Place the rolls on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat with about 2 inches between the rolls (it will take 2 pans if you bake the entire batch). The rolls may shrink back about 1 inch as you pan them. Mist the tops of the rolls with spray oil, cover loosely with plastic wrap then let dough rise at room temperature for about 1 hour.
Remove the plastic wrap from the rolls. Continue to proof the dough for another 15 minutes, uncovered. The dough will rise only slightly – not more than 1 ½ times its original size. Use a sharp knife or razor blade to cut a slit down the center of each roll, about ¼ inch deep and about 3 1/2 inches long (or 8 inches for foot long rolls). Let the dough proof 15 more minutes after you make the cuts. Place a steam pan in the oven on bottom rack below where you'll bake the bread (cast iron, sheet tray, etc) and preheat the oven to 425°.
Transfer the rolls to the oven, pour 1 cup of hot water into the steam pan then lower the oven temperature to 400°. Bake for 10 minutes then rotate the bread pan 180° and bake for another 10-20 minutes until the rolls are a light golden brown and their internal temperature is 190° in the center. Cool on wire rack at least one hour before slicing or serving.
Feel free to substitute whole wheat flour or other whole grain flours for some of the bread flour. If you do so, increase the water by about 1 tablespoon for every 7 tablespoons of whole grain flour you substitute,
**NOTES**
I use a kitchen aid mixer and I just throw everybody into the pool and mix with the dough hook. I also don’t use the malt syrup, I do however use the malt powder. I also use a baguette pan to bake them on, it works MUCH better than cooking on parchment. The bottom doesn’t get overdone or brown. Stays nice and rounded and soft like it should. This IS the way to make them, bar none. Get yourself a pan! I also don't wait one hour before eating the bread. I put it in front of a fan to cool it down quickly, about 10-15 minutes and you're good to go!
Enjoy this recipe, it's a lot of work but worth it!
Rolls can be seen in action
HEREYou can buy the awesome baguette pan I use
HEREThe first pan (in the pictures) I bought back in January of 2015 for $40.99 incl. shipping. I just went back to Amazon and found the same pan for $12.14 with free Prime shipping so.....I bought another!
