Basic Sandwich Rolls

I almost did it.  I stood in the bread aisle at my local grocery store with a bag of store-bought buns in my hands, since I had plans to make these amazing veggie burgers for dinner that night (I will post them eventually…).  Deep down, I had told myself that I wanted a full-on challenge: I would make an entire meal from scratch, without help.  Now, I have nothing personal against store-bought hamburger/sandwich buns.  Well, ok.  I kind of do.   I don’t like that powdery stuff on the bottoms of the buns (I think it’s probably flour, but you never know….).  And, while I like them, the all-white ones are not very flavorful in my opinion.  And, I like to put a lot of condiments on my sandwiches sometimes….which means that they usually get kind of soggy.

Ok, ok.  My mini rant about generic store-brand hamburger buns is over.  They are also great when you are low on time, easy on your budget, and they make great croutons later on.  However, I figured since I had the time to actually try making some of these on my own, I would try to use some more natural ingredients and see where that took me.

I’m so glad I tried this recipe.  Now, I know not everyone has three hours of their day to devote to making hamburger or sandwich rolls, but, if you do, you can freeze the ones you don’t eat up and save for later.  Which is, in fact, good for when you are low on time, on a budget, and in need for some hearty croutons.  And these have amazing flavor, too.  Oh, and if you want a vegan version, I’ve included some of the recommended substitutions as well.

Basic Sandwich Rolls

Servings: 10 rolls

Ingredients

For the rolls:

1 cup warm milk or rice milk

1/2 cup warm water

2 and 1/4 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for the dough bowl

1 tablespoon honey or 2 teaspoons agave nectar

2 and 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 and 1/2 to 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oat flour

For the egg wash:

1 beaten egg plus 1 tablespoon whole milk

-or-

2 tablespoons soy milk plus 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

For garnish:

Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, wheat bran, flax seeds, or any combination

Instructions

1.  In a small bowl, stir together the warm milk and water.

2. Whisk in the yeast and let stand for about 5 minutes, until the yeast begins to foam.

3. Whisk in the oil and honey.

4. In a large bowl (just use your removable bowl from your stand mixer for this), whisk together 1 cup of the all-purpose flour, the whole wheat flour, oat flour, and salt, and add the yeast mixture.

5. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir the dough until combined, about 2 minutes.

6. Switch to the dough hook and knead until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes, cautiously adding more flour as needed.  Loosely shape the dough into a round.

7.  Pour 1 teaspoon or so of olive oil into the mixing bowl and coat the dough with it.

8.  Cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap or towel and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

9. Turn the dough onto a work surface and shape into 10 rolls.

10.  Space the rolls 3 to 4 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

11.  Cover again with plastic wrap or a towel.  Let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

12.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Meanwhile, prepare your egg wash in a separate bowl by mixing the egg and milk together.

13. Brush the rolls with the egg wash and sprinkle with your seed garnish, being sure to cover the rolls as much as possible.

14. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, turning the pan halfway through.

15.  The rolls are done when the base is browned.  Cool completely.

Source: Veggie Burgers Every Which Way by Lukas Volger

January 14, 2011 - 7:03 am

Blog is the New Black - Looks excellent. I haven’t come far enough to make my own sandwich rolls, but I can only imagine how much better they taste!

January 14, 2011 - 7:51 am

Tiffany @ Conor & Bella - I love making homemade buns! So much better than store-bought. Thanks for the recipe!

January 14, 2011 - 8:18 am

notyet100 - wow,i feel like pickingone,..

January 14, 2011 - 11:02 am

Patty - These look and sound sooo much better than store-bouught. Love how you can alter the recipe for special diets too!

January 15, 2011 - 12:25 pm

Aku - These look and sound great Shanon. I am a major homemade bread convert–it is so worth the time it takes and the results are always totally incomparable in relation to shop-bought. Now if only I didn’t have to work so I had time to do it more often!

January 18, 2011 - 9:19 am

Rich - Ha – I’ve convinced myself a hundred times that I’m going to make my own sandwich rolls, and I never do – nice job on following through! These look fantastic, and I’m sure they tasted great, too …

January 25, 2011 - 12:26 pm

Mary Beth - I’m going to try these this afternoon. Unfortunately my store was out of oat flour, but I’ve been told you can make your own by putting rolled oats in the food processor. Do you think it will work?

January 25, 2011 - 12:59 pm

srlacy - Mary Beth-

All I can say is try it and see what happens. I know when I have needed almond flour in the past, I have ground them up in the food processor with no problems.

Let me know how they turn out!

Shanon

January 25, 2011 - 6:50 pm

Mary Beth - It worked! I ground it as finely as I could in my food processor, but it wasn’t as powdery as regular flour. I ended up adding the full 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, not sure if the texture of my ‘oat flour’ had anything to do with that. The end result was delicious! Served it with pulled pork and sauteed peppers and pepper jack cheese melted on top. Can we ever go back to store bought buns? 🙂

January 25, 2011 - 7:12 pm

srlacy - Yay! I’m so glad. I will take note of that for next time! Thanks for sharing!

March 6, 2011 - 5:07 am

The Curvy Carrot » Black Bean Burgers - […] recipe.  I was sold.  I have now made at  least four recipes out of this book, including the Basic Sandwich Rolls, and I have not been disappointed yet.  (And, no, I do not have any connection whatsoever with the […]

May 18, 2011 - 2:25 pm

Winnie - Love this rolls!
Great post

August 15, 2011 - 5:02 am

The Curvy Carrot » Summer Squash Veggie Sloppy Joes - […] hamburger buns or focaccia rolls, […]

October 17, 2011 - 9:30 am

Kneading is Necessary | Falling for Food - […] found this recipe on The Curvy Carrot. I liked that the rolls used whole wheat flour and they looked delicious. And, […]

October 27, 2012 - 4:29 am

Rolls with seeds « Julienne - […] adapted from The Curvy Carrot Share this:FacebookPinterestVind ik leuk:LikeWees de eerste die dit leuk […]

November 9, 2012 - 6:28 am

Rolls with seeds | Julienne - […] Source: adapted from The Curvy Carrot […]