Thursday, January 17, 2013

Angie's German Hard Rolls


There's no denying it's soup weather.  From California to Texas to Winter Storm Iago in the South East, it is time to cozy up to a warm bowl of soup! And with your warming soup, you need to have really good bread. 


When I saw these beautiful rolls on Angie's Recipes, it was love at first sight.  You have to visit her blog to see how gorgeous her rolls are - so much nicer than mine.  She is a superb baker!


To make these rolls you have to start thinking the afternoon or evening before you want to make them because they are made with a preferment called Poolish, which is a tiny amount of yeast mixed with a small amount of water and flour.  It has to rest overnight before you can proceed with the rolls.  

I had a bit of trouble mixing up the poolish because my digital scale wasn't being cooperative and wouldn't read the very small amount of of yeast that the poolish required - .1 gram!  After doing some research online, it would probably be a little less than 1/8 of a teaspoon. 


They were absolutely delicious with our warm soup on a cold night!

What is it about bread that is so appealing?  A) The crust B) The soft inside C} The butter D) All of the above?   What do you think?

German Hard Rolls with Poolish

Adapted from Angie's Recipes which was also adapted from Plotzblog
Printable Recipe

My Notes:  A digital scale with gram conversion is helpful!

Poolish Dough
100 g Water
100 g Bread flour
0.1 g Fresh yeast (or about 1/8 teaspoon)

Dough
150 g Bread flour
55 g Water
5 g Fresh yeast
5 g Salt
10 g Sugar
3 g Butter or Olive oil

Combine together the poolish ingredients in a mixing bowl. Leave it, covered, at room temperature for 16-20 hours.

Mix the starter, bread flour, water and fresh yeast at low speed for 3 minutes, then increase the speed and mix for 5 more minutes. Add in salt, sugar, and olive oil and continue to knead for another 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and form into a round ball. Cover with a clean kitchen towel. Set aside for an hour. Stretch and fold the dough after 30 minutes. Knead the dough thoroughly and divide it into 5 large or 8 small portions. Shape each portion into an oval and place them on the parchment paper lined baking tray. Cover and prove for an hour.

Place a roasting tray at the bottom of the oven. Preheat the oven to 230C/450F. (May brush the rolls with milk, if desired) Score the rolls and place in the hot oven. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the roasting tray. Bake 20-25 minutes until they are nicely

58 comments:

  1. You make me want to try them now..Soon I mean:-)
    Pinning..and thank you:-)

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  2. Oh I've come straight from BJ's and her amazing popovers to looking at these delicious rolls. Why do I love bread so? For all the reasons you mentioned. Definitely.

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  3. what nice and beautiful rolls Susan, look delicious I wanna make sooooon!!!

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  4. The rolls look perfectly beautiful and tasty. I love the rolls served at Bertucci's (don't know if you are familiar) and have been looking for a similar recipe. Rolls are so good, especially with soup.

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  5. If these rolls turn out as crispy as yours look, I am so totally sold. This will be like being in Germany for breakfast...

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  6. You are so modest Susan! Everything you bake turns out beautiful and pro. These rolls look fantastic and make me want to make them as well. Love the photos, always.

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  7. Your rolls are beautiful Susan! I eat a lot of soup and would love rolls like this to go with it-enjoy:@)

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  8. Beautiful rolls Susan! We've had inches of cold rain this week, these would wonderful with a big pot of soup!

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  9. What beautiful rolls to devour with soup :)

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  10. These are beautiful Susan. Angie is one of the best bakers and I always admire her bread and rolls. They are a must with soup!
    Sam

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  11. Beautiful! Susan, these hard rolls look way BETTER than mine! I am serious about what I said. Thank you so much for the shout-out!
    p.s I am blushing, Sam ;-))

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Angie! Thanks a wonderful compliment coming from you.

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  12. All of the above!!! I have the soup and am sorely tempted to get started on these rolls right away.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  13. You know, one of my pet peeves is using a packet of yeast for bread. Seriously, 75¢ to make bread? I buy yeast in a jar now and by having a longer rise, use about an 1/8 of a teaspoon to make bread instead of 2 1/2. And look how well it works. Those are perfect rolls. You could win a contest with those babies.

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    1. I have to start buying yeast in jars too! Thanks so much, Deana :)

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  14. I buy a big bag of Fleishmann's Yeast..1 lb..vacuum packed..
    It is much more reasonable than packets..it lasts..I transfer it to an empty see through Carnation creamer.
    It's a very good yeast.

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  15. Angie is an amazing baker and always an inspiration! I think your rolls look like they were professionally made-perfect to serve them with a comforting bowl of soup;-). I made soup last night but no rolls, I will have to try my hand at roll making- I would love these with a nice piece of Cheddar cheese! Stay warm in all this crazy cold weather;-)

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    1. They would be great with cheese! Now I have to make another batch to try that ;)

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  16. A bowl of soup and homemade bread is my favorite cold weather meal. I can't pass up trying these lovely rolls. Your description makes my mouth water, Susan.

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  17. Your rolls look perfect to me. One of those with a bit of butter would be good with my coffee right now.

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  18. They look wonderful, Susan. I am inspired to make soup and the rolls! Fabulous pictures!

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  19. I can't WAIT to try these, Susan! My DH loves a crispy hard roll & it was impossible to achieve while we lived in FL. I will surprise him with these & luckily I have a digital kitchen scale that will do the metrics for me.

    I think your photos are awesome!

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  20. I think I bookmarked these when Angie posted them...they are definitely perfect for a big bowl of soup! Yours are so pretty!

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  21. We've made a few trips to Germany and one of the things I always enjoyed were the hard rolls for every meal. Yours look perfect.

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  22. Your rolls are gorgeous! Perfectly baked! Love the look of the crust! I could eat this with a thick spread of salted butter!

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  23. Soup and bread is such a wonderful meal. Gorgeous rolls. I always look forward to your photography.

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  24. These look like most amazing rolls I have ever seen.

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  25. Hi, this rolls look awesome, great to go with creamy mushroom soup. Yours look really nice and very well baked. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    Have a great weekend, regards.

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  26. Susan, they look and sound wonderful! I'll take mine warm with a lot of butter.

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  27. I can't wait to try these , look perfect to me ! Thanks for sharing Susan! Have a nice day, a warm hug from Italy...

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  28. It even got cold in AZ so it is definitely soup weather! Those look so tasty.

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  29. Oh I am can just see crisp these are and how fun it would be to break them in half. YUMMMMMMMM!

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  30. I am enjoying making bread this Winter and I really need to give these a try. Your rolls are absolutely beautiful.

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  31. They look beautiful and professional;)-like from very good bakery. I only can imagine how they taste...

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  32. I am imagining them fresh from the oven and slathered with butter:D

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  33. They look good! Me and bread making have never had much success together, but I think I might give these a whirl x

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  34. Love Angie's blog. I visit it often. She can rock her bread and so can you! These rolls look perfect. I would never stop at just one, never (smile).

    Velva

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  35. There is nothing more heavenly than freshly baked bread. These rolls look delicious!

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  36. German kitchens are about design, quality, value and functionality seamlessly blended together.

    Boston German Kitchen

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  37. Angie is a great bread-maker, isn't she? I love her bread recipes.
    Nothing is better than homemade bread....the fragrance in the kitchen is divine and I LOVE cutting into that warm loaf, or in this case, biting into a warm bun!

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  38. Yes, I remember seeing this rolls in Angie's site...yours came out wonderful...so pretty and perfect. We just had soup for dinner and I wish I had one of this fresh rolls.
    Have a great week Susan!

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  39. I love soup this time of year and bread is a definite must with it. These look AmAZing!

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  40. Sweet Susan, Beautiful rolls! I can only imagine how wonderful these must have smelled coming out from the oven :) I love that last picture, lovely composition and light! Hope you are having a lovely week so far!

    BIG HUGS <3

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  41. Hi Susan! I wanted to let you know I sent you an email about where you wanted your gift card sent, in case it ends up in your spam folder! Congratulations & Happy Shopping :)

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  42. Hi Susan, I'm a new visitor--I found you on Mary's blog as the winner of her giveaway. In answer to your question about the rolls, I think you have pinpointed the three elements of the perfect roll--crispy crust, soft, light inside, and butter melting. Yours look delicious and I can almost smell them with your wonderful photography. Linda

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  43. Thank you for featuring these rolls! I've been feeling a bit soup/stewed out lately even though it's freezing and warm rolls would be a perfect match.

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  44. Lovely! your rolls are making me want to make soup and rolls right now. lovely presentation!

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  45. I love her bread recipes...well any recipes but I have made bread so far from her site. I love how the rolls look. I am sure they go well with hot soup :)

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  46. Oh my goodness, those look like they came from a French bakery! I'm imagining them warm with a little honey or jam! Yum! Have a wonderful Sunday!

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  47. Magazine worthy... perfection!

    Patricia @ ButterYum

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  48. Your photos are so vivid that I just want to stretch my hand and grab one of these perfectly made rolls Susan!

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  49. "All of the above" would be my answer- they look absolutely perfect, and would be wonderful either with soup or all by themselves. :)

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  50. Is .1g yeast correct? Or is it 1 gram?

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    1. Good question! I assumed 1 gram when I made it but I copied it as written from the source. It's even difficult to weigh 1 gram :) This is for the Poolish only. There are 5 more grams of yeast when the dough is mixed. Hope they turn out well for you!

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    2. One more reply. I reread my post above and saw that I used 1/8 teaspooon of yeast for the poolish. I'm going to put that in the instructions right now.

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