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