Whole Grain Sourdough Date Rolls Food

WHOLE GRAIN SOURDOUGH DATE ROLLS

Steps:

• Date Paste Filling
• Chop the dates and combine them in a saucepan with the water, butter, and salt. Bring the mixture to a low simmer, stirring occasionally. When the dates have softened, mash them with a potato masher or use an immersion blender.
• Set aside to cool.
• Starter Build
• Mix the ingredients for the sweet stiff starter, cover and let it build for 6-12 hours at room temperature. It will expand and get webby inside.
• Mixing the Dough
• Scald the milk by bringing it to 180F (I use the microwave) and then cool it by adding the cold butter to the milk. This will soften the butter for you.
• Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer, including the stiff starter (tear it into about 5 pieces so it incorporates easier).
• Mix with a dough hook attachment for 10-15 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• If you don't have a stand mixer, mix the dough by hand/dough whisk until all of the ingredients are incorporated, and then transfer the dough to your counter and knead it for about 10 minutes. See this video for the churning technique I use. Make sure to scrape up your dough and rotate it periodically.
• By machine or hand, this whole grain dough will not feel the same as a refined flour dough, but it will start to stay together and make a weak windowpane.
• Bulk Fermentation
• When the dough is smooth and elastic, place it in an oiled bowl. Cover and let it rise until it has almost doubled. This can be as little as 6 hours in warm temps and 12 hours in cool temps, or even longer if you refrigerate the dough.
• Shaping Rolls
• Grease a 9"x13" pan. I tend to use glass but metal is good too.
• Flour your countertop and scrape the dough out onto the floured surface.
• Pat the dough into a rectangle, flour the top of the dough and with a rolling pin, roll it into a rectangle about 24" wide and 12" deep. No need to be precise; but try to pull the corners into outward into a right angle and keep the dough thickness somewhat uniform.
• Ensure that you can lift your sheet of dough off the counter before moving to the filling step. If you can't, then dust and rub the sheet of dough with flour and carefully pry it off the counter with your bench knife and flip it over. Do some touch-ups with your rolling pin if needed to regain that rectangle shape. Now you will have dough that can roll up easily.
• Spread the date paste onto the surface of the dough, leaving a long 1/2" stripe at the top that is free of filling.
• Paint a smear of water down that stripe. This will help your rolls seal up (if that's what you want).
• Starting from the long end closest to you, roll the dough upward until you have a tube, seamside down.
• Using your bench knife (some people prefer serrated knives or chef knives), cut the tube in half, then quarters. Then cut each quarter in three pieces for a total of 12 rolls.
• Transfer the rolls to the greased pan (3 rows of 4 rolls).
• Loosely cover and let proof for 3-5 hours.
• Bake
• Preheat your oven to 350F for about 15 minutes.
• Place the pan of rolls uncovered on the middle shelf and bake 25-30 minutes. A metal pan may take a little less time. Look for golden edges on the dough, bubbling filling, and an internal temp of a dough portion of a center roll of at least 190F.
• Optional Cream Cheese Frosting
• In the bowl of a stand mixer. combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
• Using the paddle attachment, and a bowl hood if you have one, mix for a couple of minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and continue mixing until the frosting is creamy and smooth.

SOURDOUGH DINNER ROLLS

Steps:

• Lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch pan or line with parchment paper.
• In a large mixing bowl combine starter, water, yeast (if using), salt, sugar and oil.
• Stir in flour, adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough is manageable. This can also be done using a stand mixer and break hook.
• Turn out onto a floured surface and knead well.
• Place dough in a bowl and cover, set in a warm place to double in size or cover bowl and leave out for 8 hours to proof.
• When double or fully proofed, punch dough down and with lightly floured hands, form into rolls.
• Place on prepared pan and let rise until doubled then bake approximately 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven.
• Last 5 minutes of baking, brush with melted butter and return to oven.

SOURDOUGH FRUIT AND NUT ROLLS

Steps:

• Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl until incorporated. Cover and let rest 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough 3-4 times during the next 2-3 hours at 30-60 minute intervals.
• Let the dough continue to rise for several hours more, keeping an eye on puffiness and growth. Because of the heavy dried fruit and nuts, you will not see big bubbles on the dough surface or major aeration through the underside of your bowl, but the dough will roughly double in size. You can also refrigerate the dough for part of the bulk fermentation. When you bring the dough out of the cold, flip it once in the bowl so the top of the dough gets moist again.
• Flour your counter and scrape the dough out onto it. If you have a scale, place your bowl on it and tare it. Then divide the dough into six pieces, each weighing approximately 180-190g (a little less than the original dough weight divided by six, to account for some bowl mess).
• Shape the six pieces of dough into balls, and place them on two pieces of parchment paper on a cookie sheet or baking pan with sides (this helps the plastic cover not touch the rolls). If you are baking in an oval baker, use a rectangular piece of parchment paper. If you are baking in a round baker, use a square piece of parchment paper.
• You can easily fit three rolls into round bakers that are 5 qt and larger. Three rolls also fit in the Breadtopia oval clay baker (see photo gallery), but they will likely need to be pulled apart after baking. To avoid the rolls adhering to each other, you can bake three batches of two rolls.
• Put the entire pan/sheet into a plastic bag and let the rolls proof for 0.5-1.5 hours depending on room temperature.
• Preheat your oven with your baking vessel(s) inside for 30 minutes at 475F.
• When the oven is preheated and the rolls proofed, uncover your rolls, lightly dust them with flour and score the tops. With all the bumpy nuts and berries, a simple ) or + works best.
• Take out the baking vessels, lift the parchment into the vessels, cover and return them to the oven.
• Bake at 475F
• 10 minutes lid on
• 10-12 minutes lid off
• If you are baking multiple batches, leave the lid in the oven after you take it off at the ten-minute mark. That way your entire baking vessel is hot and ready to go for round two. Also, if you have space, put your second batch of rolls in the refrigerator while batch one is baking.