Saturday, November 14, 2009

Sourdough Dinner Rolls or Bread

Making bread can be time consuming and a little work but it is oh, so satisfying! From the time when you smell that wonderful aroma of bread baking in the oven to when you bite into that warm roll slathered with butter. Nothing quite like it in my book!

Last week we made a Sourdough Starter. This Starter is what I use as the basis for any rolls, bread loaves or even sweet rolls that I make. The Starter serves as the activator to make the bread rise.

To use the Starter, remove it from the refrig. Place in a bowl, cover with a cloth, and let it work in a warm area for at least 8 hrs. (I let mine sit overnight.)


Your Starter will need to be 'fed' the day before it is used. Add 2 cps lukewarm water and 2 cps flour to the Starter. Leave it to 'work' for 24 hrs. The day after the Starter has been fed, remove 3/4 cps, place back in the crock and return to the refrig. The remainder will be used in a recipe. The portion of the Starter which is used in a recipe is called the Sponge.



DOUGH ~
3 cps Sponge
1 1/2 cps warm milk
2 tspn salt
2 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter (I use bacon fat), melted
6 - 6 1/2 cps all purpose flour

Stir warm milk into Sponge. Add sugar, salt, and butter. Stir. Add flour. Stir well after each addition. The final 1-2 cps flour will have to be kneaded into the dough. Knead until the dough is elastic but not too stiff. Place in a floured bowl and cover with a cloth. Place in a warm area and let rise until double.


At this time, the dough can be divided between two loaf pans or made into small balls for dinner rolls (makes 32 dinner rolls). Divide the dough as desired and knead in a small amount of flour until the dough is again elastic but not stiff. Place the dough into greased pans and place in warm area to rise - approx. 1 1/2 hr. Preheat oven to 350deg. Bake the bread for approx. 45 min. or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and smear butter on top of the bread. Remove the bread from the pans once the butter has soaked into the top (this prevents the bottom from becoming soggy). Enjoy!

11 comments:

Suzie said...

Ooooh, they look SO good! I have a question. .have you tried freezing them after they have baked? I'd love to try making some, but there is no way that my hubs and I could eat all of them. .or I should say that we shouldn't eat all of them, before they would spoil. It would be great to have some stashed in the freezer, to take out a couple to thaw and heat to have with our meal!

Jeanne said...

Baked rolls or bread freeze quite well. I do that all the time with excess. Since it is just me & Hubby, I will freeze a pan and then leave a pan out for meals.

Grace said...

WOW! Yummy.

Can you share the recipe for the starter??

Kelly said...

Oh these look so good...I think i just had a 'Homer Simpson" moment... mmmmmm, sourdough rolls...

Jeanne said...

The recipe for the Starter is listed in last Saturday's post (11-07-09) entitled, 'Baking Bread'.

Hope said...

Ok, when I come to Arkansas next summer, I am so stopping by your house to have some of these rolls!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

OMG they look delish!

Brenda LaBell said...

What time is dinner, I'll be right over. Ohhh how yummy looking!! Thanks for sharing this Jeanne.

Brenda

Suzie said...

Thanks Jeanne! I freeze bread and rolls too, only know from experience that some freeze better than others. It is SO nice to know that these are do-able! Thanks again for sharing the recipes!!

Rue said...

Yum! I try to stay away from bread - but I can't resist freshly made buns!

Bridgett said...

You know, I'm sure I'd manage to screw this up somehow if I gave it a try. LOL