Bready or Not: Potato Rolls
These Potato Rolls are perfect for a hearty sandwich with a wet filling like BBQ sauce.
The ‘potato’ here is potato flour, a not-so-secret ingredient to create soft bread with a tender crumb. It handles moisture in a different way than standard wheat flours.
It’s not the kind of thing carried by a standard grocery store, but the internet comes to the rescue! I use the kind sold by King Arthur Flour (an all-around fantastic purveyor of bready goods), but it is also sold by Bob’s Red Mill and (of course) Amazon. Check your local natural goods store, too.
Nonfat dry milk powder IS sold by many grocery stores, but I like the results of King Arthur Flour’s version best.
I’ve made these rolls several times and I find they didn’t double for me during the rise stages, but did they puff, and at the end the crumb showed a good texture inside.
I found that dividing by 8 made for good-sized sandwich rolls, but you can make these as big or small as you want, and any shape, too.
Modified from Food & Wine Magazine June 2020.
Bready or Not: Potato Rolls
Equipment
- parchment paper
- food scale
- basting brush
Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups bread flour
- 1/3 cup potato flour available from King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill
- 1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons white sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 1/4 oz active dry yeast or one store-bought envelope
- 1 cup warm water 100 to 110-degrees
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter divided
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water and 4 Tablespoons of melted butter. Add the bread flour, potato flour, milk powder, sugar, salt and yeast, and mix using the dough hook. Beat until the dough is cohesive, about 3 minutes.
- Increase the mixer’s speed and beat for another 6 minutes to make it smooth and elastic. Dough might be sticky. Grease another large bowl and dump the dough in there. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let it rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Place parchment paper on a large baking sheet. Use the food scale to weigh the dough. To make rolls of a good sandwich size, divide the total by eight; if smaller rolls are desired, go smaller. Pull off pieces of dough and shape into rounds. To smooth the surface, keep a saucer with water in it nearby, and use moistened fingers to smooth the dough. Set rounds spaced out on parchment. Loosely cover rolls with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until they are puffy, about 35 to 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Remove plastic wrap or towel. For sandwich-sized rolls, bake for 15 to 19 minutes, until the outside is nicely browned. Dip the basting brush into the remaining tablespoon of butter, and paint butter atop each roll to make glossy.
- Let rolls cool at least 15 minutes before cutting in. Rolls will keep for at least 2 days in a sealed bag at room temperature. They can also be frozen and thawed for later consumption.
OM NOM NOM!
Listen to my story “Headspace” in The Overcast
Space travel is cool. Cats traveling in space is even cooler, right? My story “Headspace,” originally published years ago in the themed anthology Cats in Space, is now available in podcast form! The narrator, Steve Quinn, did a great job. Please take a listen–you can even download it to listen on the go!
Listen to “Headspace” over at The Overcast.
#SFWAPro
Read MoreBready or Not Original: Apple-Oat Cookies
These Apple-Oat Cookies are like a cross between apple oatmeal and apple pie, in a convenient portable form.
Really, these cookies feel homey. They take like comfort, with the apples and oats a little dense but not too heavy. The glaze on top adds a touch of sweetness that is just right.
As I have a husband who loves apple oatmeal AND apple pie, he enjoyed these cookies greatly. They are a perfect breakfast cookie!
I found that they kept for at least three days at room temperature. Even better–as these were all for my husband to enjoy–I found they froze and thawed without a problem. I actually froze most of the batch straight away. Portion control is a good thing, especially with over thirty cookies offering temptation!
I used a Gala apple, but I say any sweet baking apple would work well.
Bready or Not Original: Apple-Oat Cookies
Equipment
- tablespoon cookie scoop
- parchment paper
- waxed paper
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats also called rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large baking apple peeled and finely chopped; Gala and Fuji are ideal
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar plus more if needed
- 2 Tablespoons milk or half & half, plus more if needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and allspice.
- In a big mixing bowl, combine the soft butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Follow up with the eggs and vanilla. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Fold in the apple pieces.
- Use a tablespoon scoop or spoon to dole out dough spaced an inch apart on the cookie sheet. Bake until set, about 10 to 12 minutes. Let set on rack for 10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack. Continue with the next batch.
- Once all of the cookies are cool, make the glaze. Stir together the confectioners’ sugar and milk to form a thick but oozy consistency. Spoon over the cookies.
- Store in a sealed container at room temperature, with waxed paper between the stacked layers. They will keep for at least three days. Cookies will freeze and thaw without issue.
OM NOM NOM!
New poem in Fantasy Magazine: “How to Find Yourself Again”
I’m thrilled to have achieved a long-time goal to have something published in Fantasy Magazine. For a few years there, it looked like it wouldn’t be possible at all, as the magazine was no more… but now it’s back, I had my second chance, and I’m in with a very appropriate poem!
Read “How to Find Yourself Again” in Fantasy Magazine.
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