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There’s nothing better than homemade bread – even when it comes to sandwiches – and if you agree, then I think you’ll love these Potato Rosemary Kaiser Rolls!
I’ve mentioned before that my husband Jack is the bread maker in the family. And when the mood strikes to bake some fresh bread, he always reaches for an awesome cookbook called, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread.
This time around, Jack and I couldn’t agree on which recipe he should make – I wanted him to make some Kaiser rolls for sandwiches, while Jack had his eye on some potato rolls.
So as a compromise, Jack decided he would combine two recipes together, change and add a few ingredients and these Potato Rosemary Kaiser Rolls were born! They have the classic shape of a Kaiser roll – but leftover mashed potatoes were added along with fresh rosemary, lemon zest and garlic powder.
The result is a wonderfully textured roll with fantastic flavor – perfect for any sandwich! (Or just for munching!)
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Potato Rosemary Kaiser Rolls
A few notes: The recipe makes 18 rolls that are about 3 ½ inches round. However you could easily divide the dough into 24 to make smaller slider rolls. Leave yourself enough time with these. A starter dough called biga is made the day before. It is totally worth the extra effort to start with this. Finally, this recipe calls for bread flour and is better with it – but in a pinch, all purpose flour can be used.
Ingredients
- To Make the Biga
- 1 cup bread flour
- 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1/2 warm water
- To Make the Kaiser Roll Dough
- Biga recipe from above
- 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons bread flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- Zest from one lemon
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
- 1 cup mashed potatoes (leftover or instant OK)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
- Sesame seeds, poppy seeds or both for roll tops
- Melted butter and kosher salt for tops after baked
Instructions
- The day before, make the Biga by sifting flour into the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add yeast and on low speed add water to form a sticky dough. Add more water or flour to get proper consistency. Err on the side of sticky. Knead for five minutes then transfer to a bowl that is coated with a little olive oil. Cover with plastic and a dish towel and let sit in a warm place until double in size, two hours or so. Punch down to degas and transfer bowl to the refrigerator covered and store overnight.
- The next day and about six hours before serving, pull the biga from the refrigerator and cut into a bunch of small pieces. Lay on counter covered with plastic and a dish towel and let sit for one hour.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, sift flour and add yeast, salt, pepper, garlic powder, zest and rosemary. Mix to combine. Add biga pieces and mix to coat.
- Add mashed potatoes, olive oil and water with mixer on low until a sticky dough forms. Add more water or flour to get proper consistency. Err on the side of sticky. Knead for six minutes then transfer to a bowl that is coated with a little olive oil. Cover with plastic and a dish towel and let sit in a warm place for two hours or until double in size.
- Pour the dough onto a floured surface and roll into a round log. If making 18, cut in half then each half in thirds. Then cut each third in third again to yield 18 pieces. If cutting into 24, cut log in half then each half in half. Then each quarter in half and finally each piece in thirds to yield 24 pieces.
- Roll out each dough piece into a ball.
- Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and divide the dough balls between the two pans leaving room for them to expand. With a two or three inch cookie cutter, press indentations around the outer edge towards the center five times as you go around the circle of the ball. This will give it a Kaiser roll look.
- Spray the tops with pan spray, cover with plastic and a dish towel and let sit in a warm place for one to two hours or until double in size.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Mist the tops of the rolls with water and then sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds on top. Keep the water mister for next step.
- Bake one pan at a time by spraying the inside of the hot oven quickly with the water mister.
- Bake for ten minutes, rotate pan, reduce to 400 degrees and bake for 10-15 more minutes (smaller rolls will take less time to bake than the larger ones). Remove when they sound hollow when tapped and are golden brown.
- As soon as they come out of the oven, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Cool on wire rack or serve warm.
- When baking the second pan, don’t forget to put the oven back to 425 degrees.
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Deborah says
Hi , want to make these as I too love bread! Don’t quite understand the part with the cookie cutter.
Could you please explain it to me. Thanks
Jack says
Deborah, this is Jack,
Basically all you need to do is make several little half moon cuts into the top of the roll to try and duplicate the finished look of a Kaiser roll. You can really do whatever you want and even skip this step as it won’t affect the final roll. It is just to produce a finished look.
Angie | Big Bear's Wife says
I love the ones with the poppy seeds on them!
stephanie says
These look to die for! Well-done, Jack!
Martha says
Thanks Stephanie!
Kate @ Diethood says
Fresh, homemade bread… be still my heart. GO JACK! And I love that you combined the two. They are perfect!!
Brenda@Sugar-Free Mom says
I think you’ve won the prize for the prettiest looking rolls ever!
Martha says
Awww…thank you Brenda! 🙂
Heather | girlichef says
Looks like an awesome compromise! Potato rolls/bread are pretty much the unanimous favorite around here, so these are bookmarked!
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
Oooh! Congratulations on having a bread baking husband! That’s awesome. 🙂 And these rolls look so good! I love that you combined the two.
Martha says
Thanks Erin – yes…I am super lucky I have a husband who loves to cook!
Jerry says
I’ve been looking for a good kaiser roll recipe and now I’ve found it! This is on the agenda for tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Martha says
I hope you enjoy the recipe Jerry!
Stephanie @ Back for Seconds says
These look seriously perfect! And you have so many other awesome looking bread recipes as well. I need to get back into making bread again!