White Bread Sandwich Rolls

I have to admit, I thought these were going to be a disaster. I do not have much experience with making bread, even less in shaping the dough, and I know nothing about how the ingredients/ kneading/ rising really affect the final product. It's all just a big mystery to me!

So I hunted and scoured and surfed the 'Net looking for a stupid simple, soft submarine sandwich roll recipe. Doesn't that sound easy? Well it's not, but I can tell you there are plenty of crusty, dill, oat nut recipes to be had in its place! I finally found one that I could work with.

The dough seemed to dry even after I made it with all the liquids and less flour than called for. I added more water and kneaded in the mixer. Then it was too sticky. I added some flour and kneaded more in the mixer. This poor dough spent probably 7 minutes circling round while I looked quizzically into the bowl. I figured I killed it with all that kneading! It rose, the house smelled like yeast, and I took it out to shape it. Poor misshapen balls of dough, I had no clue what I was doing! After slapping together what I thought might be some good rolls, I let it rise again. As the oven preheated, I messed with one roll; I mangled it. After baking, the crust seemed hard- that's it, I had screwed it up for sure!

Lo and behold though- they were perfect. I mean, just like at the sub shop. Soft, chewy, inoffensive but delicious white bread rolls! Now, the shapes weren't fantastic, but I couldn't have gotten the taste better had I gotten a clue ahead of time! Next time I'll double the recipe since they came out so good.


Soft White Submarine Sandwich Rolls
Loosely based from AllRecipes.com Soft Onion Rolls

• 3/4 C. Warm Milk
  
• 1 .25 oz Packet of Active Yeast
  
• 1/4 C. Warm Water
  
• 3 C. Flour (I used all purpose.)
  
• 1/4 C. Potato Flakes/ Instant Potatoes
  
• 2 Tbsp. White Sugar
  
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
• 3 Tbsp. Butter, softened

1. Warm the milk until it is warm, but not hot, to the touch. Stir in yeast to dissolve it.
   
2. In a stand mixer, add in warm water (same temp as milk) and swirl around to warm bowl. (Adding the yeast mixture into a cold environment can kill it, thwarting your bread!)
   
3. On a low speed, using a dough hook, add in the rest of the ingredients, reserving about 1/2 Cup of flour. Mix until the dough starts to come together into a ball. If too sticky, add in the 1/2 C. of flour a bit at a time until the dough is slightly sticky, but does not come off on your finger when touched. If too dry, add in very small amounts of water at a time.
   
4. On speed 2 (Kitchen Aid speed), knead the dough in the bowl for about 3 minutes. While kneading, grease a large bowl. Remove the dough and put it in the bowl, rotating it so the top gets greased. Cover and let it rise in a warm place for about a hour. It should at least double.
   
5. After dough has risen, punch it down and divide it into equal pieces for your rolls. For the large sub rolls I wanted, this batch would yield 4 or 5 good sized rolls. Shape the rolls and place onto a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal. I have no advise as to how to shape them properly; I fudged it and just made rolled up vague log shapes and pinched shut any seams.
   
6. Cover the rolls and let rise again for another hour.
   
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown and have a dense, hollow sound when you knock on them. The crust will seem to be hard when they come out of the oven.
   
8. Allow to cool. The crust will soften and the interior will be hot for at least 15 minutes after they come out of the oven. Slice and enjoy with all the toppings!

These would make excellent meatball sub rolls, and they were fantastic for our Real Maine Italians with all the cold cuts and meat and cheese you could want!