Best 5 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.

MY HARD ROLLS FOR BRATWURST

Steps:

• Mix all dry ingredients except salt well and add water until all of the flour is wetted and there are no lumps.
• Let the dough sit covered for 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle the salt over the dough, tip onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 3 minutes until the dough is uniform and somewhat smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
• Stretch and fold the dough letter-style (top to bottom and side to side) and let sit for 30 more min covered.
• Stretch and fold and place dough in fridge overnight covered.
• Next morning, If the dough didn't double in volume, let it sit out until it does.
• Divide into 10 pieces weighing 85 to 88 g each and shape as desired.
• Preheat oven to 450 F with a pan for steaming at the bottom of the oven.
• Cover dough with oiled plastic and let proof until it's 1.5 to twice it's volume.
• Brush on egg wash if desired and score once down the middle.
• Add 1 cup of hot water to the steam pan (careful not to splash it) and bake for 7 minutes. Turn the pan and bake for 7 more minutes or until 200F internally.

SEPTIEME HARD ROLLS

Steps:

• Stir together yeast, sugar, and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.
• In a large bowl, whisk together both flours and salt. With the mixer on low, add half of the flour mixture; mix until well combined. Slowly add enough of the remaining flour mixture to form a sticky dough. Continue kneading with the dough hook, adding remaining flour as necessary, until dough is smooth and completely pulls away from the sides of the bowl (you may have up to 1/2 cup flour left over), about 15 minutes. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and continue to knead with your hands to make a smooth ball, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Transfer dough to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm place until it begins to rise, about 1 hour. Transfer bowl to refrigerator; refrigerate overnight.
• Lightly flour 2 baking sheets; set aside. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, and divide evenly between prepared baking sheets, leaving space between each ball of dough. Let stand at room temperature until doubled in size, about 5 hours. If a skin begins to form on the dough, cover with a clean towel.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly dust dough with flour and transfer to top rack of oven. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes, rotating and switching baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack and let rolls cool on baking sheet. Reheat in a 400-degree oven just before serving to crisp and warm through.

PARMESAN CHEESE HARD ROLLS

Steps:

• Preheat broiler to high.
• Split each roll in half sandwich-style. Brush with equal amounts of melted butter. Sprinkle each roll half with 2 teaspoons grated cheese.
• Arrange roll halves on a baking sheet, cut side up. Place under broiler several inches from the source of heat and broil until golden brown on top, 2 minutes or longer.

HARD ROLLS

Steps:

• 1. I use grams because it's a more accurate measurement. For example, 500 grams is 17.637 oz. Also, I measure by weight because volume can be inconsistent and product results can vary. Beat the two egg whites to stiff peaks, set aside to be folded into the dough later.
• 2. Salt can inhibit the yeast if it comes into direct contact with it. I always add the salt on the opposite side of the bowl from where I'm adding the yeast. This makes sure the yeast will mix with the flour before coming into contact with the salt.
• 3. Start by putting the flour, yeast, salt, malt (optional), and shortening into a mixing bowl.
• 4. Mix adding water a little at a time until all ingredients are incorporated.
• 5. Fold in beaten egg whites. If the dough is too wet, add a little flour. Same with too dry, add a little water. Small increments work best. Knead dough until it is smooth and glossy. This takes about 8 to 10 minutes in a stand mixer. If kneading by hand, this will take significantly longer. If using a stand mixer, after 5 minutes, keep checking the dough every few minutes to test the gluten's strength. The dough should be stretchy and soft with some pullback. If it's not smooth and silky, keep kneading. Over kneading, however, will make the rolls tough and hard to chew.
• 6. If you are kneading by hand, I find that buttered hands and counter facilitate a better dough than a floured surface. This will prevent too much flour from being worked into the dough. If this happens, the dough will be dense and heavy.
• 7. (Note: Before adding your dough to your oiled bowl, place it on a scale and zero it. Then place the dough in it. This will give you the weight of the dough. Just divide by how many rolls you want to make. You should be able to get 12 rolls from this recipe.) Once the dough is ready, place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap (coat with a non-stick spray or oil before covering the bowl), it's better to leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight to develop flavor.
• 8. If you don't have time to wait for the dough, let it sit at room temperature for about 40 minutes or until it has doubled in size. Overproofing will result in flat rolls. If your kitchen is too warm, the dough will overproof and will not rise in the oven while baking.
• 9. Gently remove the dough from the bowl onto an oiled surface. I don't bother to punch it down. Cut the dough in quarters, once the dough is in manageable pieces then you can cut off about 85g or 3oz chunks. I use a scale to make sure I don't end up with a tiny roll when I'm finished with the rest.
• 10. Take each piece of dough and hold in both hands, fingers pointing away from you. Curl your fingers into the dough and fold it into itself. Do this over and over again until a smooth skin appears on the outside, it won't take much effort to get the desired texture. You will feel the dough firming up from being manipulated and the gluten strands stretched. It won't be completely smooth because it will have air bubbles in it. Fold the dough into a vague football shape and place on parchment paper or non-stick pan. Cover and leave at room temperature to proof a second time for about half an hour.
• 11. This last part is super important if you want the crunchy hard roll consistency. If this part isn't done right, then all you have are just bread rolls.
• 12. Place a pan filled with about 6 cups of water in the bottom of the oven. I use a disposable aluminum pan for this. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F for a minimum of 15 minutes. The water will start to boil and build up steam in the oven. Keep an eye on the water level!
• 13. While the oven is preheating, take a very sharp knife or a razor and gently make a slit in the top of each roll. This breaks the surface tension and allows the roll to expand.
• 14. Take the remaining egg white and whisk it with about a tablespoon of water or milk and a pinch or two of salt. I never measure this part so, whatever looks good. I add salt because I like the skin to be just a little salty. Using a pastry brush, brush each roll with the egg wash. Make sure you get the whole surface area.
• 15. Reduce heat to 425 degrees and place the tray of rolls into the oven being careful not to allow too much steam to escape. I generally cook one pan of rolls at a time to allow plenty of air movement in the oven.
• 16. If you have a cast-iron skillet or pan that can take the heat without being ruined, then place that on the bottom of the oven instead. Then after placing the rolls in throw a handful of large ice cubes into the pan. (I don't do this because, sadly, my icemaker is no longer amongst the living.)
• 17. Between batches of rolls, make sure to bring the temperature back up to 475 degrees and build up the steam again. The high temperature and the steam are what creates the crust on the hard rolls. Don't forget to lower the temperature again or you'll have hockey pucks instead of rolls!
• 18. Bake the rolls between 15 to 18 minutes depending upon your oven and what type of pan you are using. Dark pans cook faster than light ones. I can't tell you how many times I burned something because the recipe was written for use with a light-colored pan. I don't like using the dark pans anymore so this recipe is definitely written for the light-colored ones.
• 19. Surprisingly enough, this dough makes very good donuts too. I found out by accident when I had just a little dough leftover. I had a pan full of oil leftover from something else so I heated it up and made little donut holes. Rolled them in sugar and Bingo! My kids really liked them and they are some very tough critics!