New Jersey Hard Rolls Recipes

HARD ROLLS (USING A STAND MIXER)

Steps:

• In a large bowl (or your KitchenAid), dissolve yeast with 3/4 cup of the water and sugar. Mix in remaining water, flour, and salt. Mix until dough starts to form. If too sticky, add a bit more flour. Knead for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Put dough into an oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with a clean towel, and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in size (about 2 hours).
• Preheat oven to 400°F If you have a baking stone, dust lightly with cornmeal and put into preheated oven. If not, use a cookie sheet. Place a shallow baking pan filled with boiling hot water on bottom of your oven for extra crusty rolls.
• ROLLS: Remove dough to a floured surface. Punch down dough and shape into 4 rolls. Place rolls on a peel (large wooden spatula), also lightly dusted with cornmeal, or on a cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise again for 20 minutes. Slit each roll once and brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle lightly with poppy seeds. If on a peel, slide loaves onto stone or tile; otherwise put cookie sheet in oven. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden and baked through.
• NOTE: To check for doneness, thump the bottom; if they sound hollow, they're done.

HEAVENLY HARD ROLLS

Steps:

• 1. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Stir in water with a spoon until a ragged mass forms and all lose flour is incorporated but don't worry too much about lumps -- similar to mixing biscuit dough. Cover with a damp tea towel and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
• 2. On a lightly oiled surface, do one stretch-and-fold, working in or discarding any remaining dry lumps of flour, return to bowl, cover and let sit 45 minutes.
• 3. STRETCH-AND-FOLD INSTRUCTIONS: lightly oil a flat surface about 12" x 18" in area. Flop the dough out of the bowl and onto the oiled surface. Use your hands to stretch or gently press the dough into a rectangle. Fold the rectangle of dough in thirds as you would a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" paper to put in a business envelope. Then fold in thirds again the other way. Flop the resulting roll of dough back into the bowl. With each successive stretch-and-fold, the dough with develop more gluten and be harder to stretch.
• 4. Do a second stretch-and-fold, return to bowl, cover and let sit 45 minutes.
• 5. Do a third stretch-and-fold, oil the bowl and return the dough to it, cover and let sit 45 minutes.
• 6. Divide into 12 equal pieces. (The scale can again be useful here.) Gently shape into balls and place on parchment paper lined baking sheets for eventual baking. Let rest another 20 minutes.
• 7. Preheat the oven to 375F and make the egg wash by whisking the egg and 1 teaspoon of water together.
• 8. Paint the rolls with an egg wash and optionally, sprinkle with poppy seeds, sesame seeds or other garnish. Wait 2 minutes and repeat egg wash and poppy seeds. Optionally, score a cross in the top with a very sharp knife for decoration.
• 9. Bake for 35 minutes or until they are golden and the interior temperature is 200F. Flip upside down or place on a rack to cool thoroughly before eating.

CRUSTY HARD ROLLS

Steps:

• The Starter:
• Mix the starter ingredients together until smooth, cover, and let rest at room temperature overnight.
• Combine all of the dough ingredients and mix and knead them together -- by hand, mixer or bread machine, until you've made a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface should still be a bit rough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 3 hours, gently deflating it and turning it over after 1 hour, and again after 2 hours.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased or floured work surface. Divide it into 12 pieces, shape the pieces into balls, and firm them up by rolling them under your lightly cupped fingers on an unfloured work surface. Place the rolls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover them, and let them rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until they've doubled in size. Refrigerate them for several hours, or overnight.
• Remove the rolls from the refrigerator, and brush them with a wash made of 1/2 cup water mixed with 1 tablespoon egg white (you won't use up all the wash). Slash a 1/4-inch deep cut across the top of each roll, and bake them in a preheated 425°F (220°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're a deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a wire rack. For an extra-crisp crust, allow them to cool in the turned-off, door-propped-open oven.
• Yield: 12 rolls.