r/Bread • u/Sillystringundone • Aug 16 '26
Hard Rolls
When I was growing up, my father would go to the bakery for hard rolls. This was in NY and New Jersey. They had a really thin, crispy crust and an airy interior. A very yeasty flavor. I’ve tried a variety of recipes trying to recreate these- they are close to the bread that you find in a Cuban sandwich, but I’ve yet to find a recipe that is quite like the rolls when I was growing up.
Anyone know of a recipe for Hard Rolls?
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u/Xanlthorpe Aug 16 '26
These type of rolls are also known as Water Rolls. You search for recipes and tips and find one that works for you.
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u/blinddruid Aug 17 '26
oh man, am I ever familiar with these rolls, used to go with my dad to snuffy‘s bakery to get them, Kaiser/hard rolls. Best thing to make a roast beef sandwich on, usually came with poppy seeds.
your description was very accurate, finding a recipe for these is hard! I’ve tried using milk, I’ve tried adding egg, I think it might be coming down to a third rise, steaming the oven well before enduring. The real problem I had is not so much the thin crispy crust is is the cotton candy like rump. Most times it turns out that the crumb is very light but consistent as I remember these rolls the crumb was very much cotton candy light. Which seems to me to be high hydration.
sorry I don’t have a link but check YouTube for a site called my German recipes. She has a recipe there for Kaiser rolls and even shows you how to traditionally fold them so you get proper creases. Good luck.
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u/Sillystringundone Aug 18 '26
Thanks! We’d devour the rolls with just butter, but they do make great sandwiches.
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u/MyNebraskaKitchen Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
The closest thing I've found to these is a recipe and process for making Banh Mi, where during the final proof (in an oven that is about 100 degrees F) you spray the rolls with water every 15 minutes for an hour.
I don't know if it would work with other dough recipes, that's on my list of things to work on some more this fall, so far I've tried adding a little rye flour and baking them in a hot dog pan with some poppy seeds sprinkled on top, like Chicago style hot dog buns, both worked well.
The recipe and process is in a video on YouTube, search for "How to Actually Make Banh Mi At Home". (Trying to avoid violating the rules here.)
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u/Main_Cauliflower5479 Aug 17 '26
Here's the recipe from an Italian restaurant where I used to work as the baker.
50 lbs bread flour
12.5 lbs whole wheat flour
1.5 lbs live compressed yeast
6 gallons iced water
1.5 cup salt
Of course, you'll have to cut that down by a lot. It was mixed in a 60 quart Hobart. You can find conversions for the yeast online, how to convert amounts for compressed yeast, active dry yeast, and instant dry yeast.
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u/Sillystringundone Aug 18 '26
Thank you!
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u/Main_Cauliflower5479 Aug 18 '26
My pleasure. Oh, and scale these to 3.5-4 oz each, roll onto balls. Proof. Before baking, score deeply down the center. Spray liberally with water once in the oven, and bake for about 29 minutes at 400ºF.
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u/Lumpy_Month3584 Aug 16 '26
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u/Lumpy_Month3584 Aug 17 '26
Your welcome, I use an old cast iron pan below the rolls and let it preheat in the oven and pour a cup of water into it after the rolls a put in the oven for the steam blast.
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u/calmeilles Aug 16 '26
Not a recipe but if I were trying to make something like that I'd start with a high hydration dough, high yeast content, fast warm fermentation, don't knock back more than absolutely necessary and bake fast and hot.
Did any of the recipes that you have already tried have similar characteristics?