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ianb_co

Off topic, by request: raisin walnut rolls

ianb_co
14 years ago

At the request of a couple of members, here's my raisin walnut roll recipe. They're dense and chewy but not tough, and just perfect for a winter snack.

Rustic raisin-walnut rolls

This recipe takes some patience - you begin it the night before, and it takes about 7 to 8 hours to rise and bake the next day. Also, it is a very ‘slack’ dough - there is a lot of water in it, so you don’t use regular kneading techniques, but instead fold the dough. It’s easy, and I’ll walk through it below.

I usually mix up the starter one evening, then start the final dough late the next morning (rolls will be ready for dinner) or around 3pm (rolls ready for a snack before bedtime).

For the bread flour, I’m currently using (horrors) ConAgra Harvest bread flour, which is what I can get at Costco in 25 lb bags. I’m currently looking for an alternative that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I’ve also used Gold Bond and King Arthur all-purpose flours, both work equally well.

Makes around 30 rolls

Starter:

¼ teaspoon active dry yeast

1 ½ cups cool water

1 cup dark rye flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

1 cup bread flour

Dissolve the yeast in water. Mix flours together in large (i.e., 5 qt) mixing bowl. Cover bowl with a plate, towel or saran wrap and put in a cool (around 60 degrees) place for 12 to 18 hours. I toss it in the basement.

Dough:

1 2/3 cups warm water (less in a more humid climate - prob. around 1 1/3 cup)

2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt (if using table salt, use perhaps 1 ¼ teaspoons)

3 ½ cups bread flour

1 cup raisins

1 cup golden raisins

1 ½ cups walnuts, chopped to ¼ to ½”

Add the water to the starter in the bowl. Use your hand to mix the water in thoroughly with the starter; a spoon won’t do it, and a whisk will get all stringy, so use your hand and squish away. Sprinkle on the two teaspoons salt, and stir in 2 cups of the flour. Stir in the other 1 ½ cups flour. Let sit 20-30 minutes.

Using a flexible spatula, pour the dough on a lightly floured countertop, giving yourself lots of space, or it will find its way over the edge of the counter and on to your floor. Leave the dough on the counter, and wash and dry the bowl. I find that a paper towel works very well in lieu of a sponge in scrubbing the dough off the bowl, and you don’t have to worry about the dough stinking up your sponge or gunking up a scrubber.

Turn back to the dough. It will be an unsighly, oozing mess on your counter, looking more like oatmeal than dough. Don’t worry, this is how it should be.

Pour the raisins and walnuts on top of the dough, spread them around, and press them gently down into the dough (you don’t have to be thorough, just pat them down a bit).

So how to deal with this mess? You fold it, rather than knead it. I’ve seen people fold dough by hand, but I use a 6” spackle knife. (I have ancient formica counters; if you want to be more gentle, I’d use a plastic spackle knife or some other tool actually intended for working with bread.) Here’s the technique. Slide the spackle knife under a corner of the dough, lift up and pull to stretch the dough out, and fold the dough over on itself. Repeat every 90 degrees around the dough, for a total of 4 folds. If you can’t feel the dough starting to firm up, do a couple more folds. After the folds, lift up the dough as best you can with your chosen tool and plop it back in the (clean!) bowl.

Now, this first fold after you add the raisins and walnuts will be a bit of a mess. Make that a total mess. The walnuts will tear through the dough and raisins will be spilling all over. Don’t worry, it will be much better next time.

Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place until roughly doubled, about two hours, depending on the air and water temperatures. Using the spatula, turn the dough out again onto the lightly floured counter, and wash the bowl. Fold the dough again - it should be a little more like what you’d hope now, in terms of texture - and return it to the bowl.

Let rise again until it reaches that same “doubled” size - it will take perhaps an hour - and fold one last time, for a total of three folds. Return to the clean bowl, let it rise again, about an hour.

Very heavily flour the counter this time, like 1/8” deep, and make a pile of extra flour off to the side. Turn the dough out onto the counter, and sprinkle a bunch more flour on top. Take your spackle knife and cut the dough into quarters. Separate the quarters and work some flour onto the cut edges to keep the quarters from sticking back together.

Grab a quarter, and cut off a good-sized chunk. Then cut off a roll-sized piece - around a third to a half cup. Drop it in the flour to seal the raw edges, and form it into a roll. My method for doing this is to push on what will be the bottom of the roll with my thumbs and stretch out the top with my fingers, then seal the bottom by “strangling” the bottom with the thumb and index finger of one hand.

Put the rolls on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (my preference) or corn meal. The raisins will stick to an uncovered cookie sheet. Leave ½” - ¾” between rolls. When done forming the rolls, cover them and let them rise in a warm place for about an hour until they’ve risen noticeably. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

At this point, I recycle the unused flour by running it through a fine-meshed strainer and back into the flour container.

When the rolls are done rising, slash the tops with a razor or serrated knife and toss them in the oven for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through. The tops should be notably browned when done, but do not scorch the loose flour on the tops of the rolls.

I put a cast-iron skillet on the bottom rack when I pre-heat the oven, and pour a third of a cup of boiling water in after putting the rolls in the oven. This definitely helps the rise when I bake bread, but is probably optional for these rolls, where there isn’t much ‘spring’ in the oven. But I do it anyway, just in case.

Let the rolls cool on a rack. You can eat them while still warm. I freeze most of them after they’ve cooled, and toss them in the microwave for 20-25 seconds.

Some of the variations I’ve tried and rejected: more rye flour: doesn’t change the flavor much, and makes the dough stickier and harder to work with. Less water: makes the rolls too dense. Higher oven temperature: scorches the rolls. Letting the starter ferment longer: the rye gets funky after 24 hours. Some recipes say to add the salt later in the process; I find it makes no difference, and I'm more likely to forget to add it if I wait. I’ve also tried mixing the dough in a Kitchen Aid with the dough hook, but have not gotten results I like. That said, I hardly ever use the dough hook (I like to knead!), so someone with more experience may have better results. If you do, let me know!

Successful variations: substituting chopped apricots for the golden raisins. I've also scaled the recipe up by 50%, but for some reason you need to add more water - perhaps 1/4 cup extra.

Variations I’ll try someday but haven’t yet: black olives and rosemary; substituting sunflower seeds for the walnuts.

This recipe actually started as a Pain de Campagne, that I believe I based on Joe Ortiz’ recipe, or maybe Hamelman’s. To make the pain de campagne, substitute 1 cup sifted whole wheat flour for the rye flour, let the starter ferment 36-48 hours (!), omit the raisins and walnuts, and preheat the oven to 500 degrees, turning it down to 400 when you put the bread in. Bake for 1 hour, turning a few times, until the bread sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom. Leave in oven with door open and heat off for 5 to 10 minutes, then put on a rack to cool. Do not cut until completely cooled.

I form the bread into one large batard loaf (football shaped, or, in my case, kinda rectangular, so I can get more slices out of it), and bake the loaf on a pizza stone, using a piece of parchment paper to transfer the loaf to the oven and removing the paper after 15 minutes. Definitely use the steam method (put in a cast iron pan or other durable pan during the pre-heat, put in ½ cup or so hot water when you put in the loaf), as the loaf springs considerably in the oven. I freeze most of the bread and it microwaves nicely. Great for toast.

Bon appetit!

Ian

Comments (14)

  • ianb_co
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What's the problem with apostrophes in the post? In any case, if you want a MS word version of the recipe, e-mail me at:

    ian at broad hyphen arrow dot com

  • windwhipped
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ian, they look good! Thanks for taking the time to give us the recipe. I often have an unsightly, oozing mess on my counters, but this is the first time it will be on purpose.

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LOL! I love your comments about "unsightly, oozing messes" and the "dough stinking up your sponge!" But, thank you for all the greatand very realistically wordedÂtips and hints. ThatÂs all the kind of stuff where I would have thought I was doing something wrong! And thank you for taking the time to post it. They sound absolutely delicious!

    I have rye flour, but itÂs not dark rye, so I guess IÂll have to wait till I can get out and pick some up. Probably going to a friendÂs for dinner this weekend or the next, and maybe IÂll make them and take some along. She loves to cook, and I bet sheÂll want the recipe too!

    I wanted to save the recipe before I forgot about it, so I copied it onto Word and "reconstituted" it, so IÂm gonna repost it here and see if my version comes out better than yours. I donÂt know why the apostrophes and other symbols get messed up like that, but it happens sometimes! It doesnÂt usually happen to me when I copy things, so, fingerÂs crossed!

    Thanks again for taking the time to post thisÂand, IMO, itÂs not at all off topic!

    Happy cooking,
    Skybird

    P.S. Can't wait to try it with the black olives--LOTS of black olives--but without the rosemary--which I hate!

    Rustic Raisin\-Walnut Rolls (From IanB on RMG!) This recipe takes some patience \- you begin it the night before, and it takes about 7 to 8 hours to rise and bake the next day. Also, it is a very "slack" dough \- there is a lot of water in it, so you donÂt use regular kneading techniques, but instead fold the dough. ItÂs easy, and IÂll walk through it below. I usually mix up the starter one evening, then start the final dough late the next morning (rolls will be ready for dinner) or around 3pm (rolls ready for a snack before bedtime). For the bread flour, IÂm currently using (horrors) ConAgra Harvest bread flour, which is what I can get at Costco in 25 lb bags. IÂm currently looking for an alternative that doesnÂt cost an arm and a leg. IÂve also used Gold Bond and King Arthur all\-purpose flours, both work equally well. Makes around 30 rolls Starter: ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast 1½ cups cool water 1 cup dark rye flour (I use BobÂs Red Mill) 1 cup bread flour Dissolve the yeast in water. Mix flours together in large (i.e., 5 qt) mixing bowl. Cover bowl with a plate, towel or saran wrap and put in a cool (around 60 degrees) place for 12 to 18 hours. I toss it in the basement. Dough: 1 2/3 cups warm water (less in a more humid climate \- prob. around 1 1/3 cup) 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt (if using table salt, use perhaps 1¼ teaspoons) 3½ cups bread flour 1 cup raisins 1 cup golden raisins 1½ cups walnuts, chopped to ¼ to ½" Add the water to the starter in the bowl. Use your hand to mix the water in thoroughly with the starter; a spoon wonÂt do it, and a whisk will get all stringy, so use your hand and squish away. Sprinkle on the two teaspoons salt, and stir in 2 cups of the flour. Stir in the other 1½ cups flour. Let sit 20\-30 minutes. Using a flexible spatula, pour the dough on a lightly floured countertop, giving yourself lots of space, or it will find its way over the edge of the counter and on to your floor. Leave the dough on the counter, and wash and dry the bowl. I find that a paper towel works very well in lieu of a sponge in scrubbing the dough off the bowl, and you donÂt have to worry about the dough stinking up your sponge or gunking up a scrubber. Turn back to the dough. It will be an unsightly, oozing mess on your counter, looking more like oatmeal than dough. DonÂt worry, this is how it should be. Pour the raisins and walnuts on top of the dough, spread them around, and press them gently down into the dough (you donÂt have to be thorough, just pat them down a bit). So how to deal with this mess? You fold it, rather than knead it. IÂve seen people fold dough by hand, but I use a 6" spackle knife. (I have ancient formica counters; if you want to be more gentle, IÂd use a plastic spackle knife or some other tool actually intended for working with bread.) HereÂs the technique. Slide the spackle knife under a corner of the dough, lift up and pull to stretch the dough out, and fold the dough over on itself. Repeat every 90 degrees around the dough, for a total of 4 folds. If you canÂt feel the dough starting to firm up, do a couple more folds. After the folds, lift up the dough as best you can with your chosen tool and plop it back in the (clean!) bowl. Now, this first fold after you add the raisins and walnuts will be a bit of a mess. Make that a total mess. The walnuts will tear through the dough and raisins will be spilling all over. DonÂt worry, it will be much better next time. Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place until roughly doubled, about two hours, depending on the air and water temperatures. Using the spatula, turn the dough out again onto the lightly floured counter, and wash the bowl. Fold the dough again \- it should be a little more like what youÂd hope now, in terms of texture \- and return it to the bowl. Let rise again until it reaches that same "doubled" size \- it will take perhaps an hour \- and fold one last time, for a total of three folds. Return to the clean bowl, let it rise again, about an hour. Very heavily flour the counter this time, like 1/8" deep, and make a pile of extra flour off to the side. Turn the dough out onto the counter, and sprinkle a bunch more flour on top. Take your spackle knife and cut the dough into quarters. Separate the quarters and work some flour onto the cut edges to keep the quarters from sticking back together. Grab a quarter, and cut off a good\-sized chunk. Then cut off a roll\-sized piece \- around a third to a half cup. Drop it in the flour to seal the raw edges, and form it into a roll. My method for doing this is to push on what will be the bottom of the roll with my thumbs and stretch out the top with my fingers, then seal the bottom by "strangling" the bottom with the thumb and index finger of one hand. Put the rolls on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (my preference) or corn meal. The raisins will stick to an uncovered cookie sheet. Leave ½ \- ¾" between rolls. When done forming the rolls, cover them and let them rise in a warm place for about an hour until theyÂve risen noticeably. Pre\-heat the oven to 400 degrees. At this point, I recycle the unused flour by running it through a fine\-meshed strainer and back into the flour container. When the rolls are done rising, slash the tops with a razor or serrated knife and toss them in the oven for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through. The tops should be notably browned when done, but do not scorch the loose flour on the tops of the rolls. I put a cast\-iron skillet on the bottom rack when I pre\-heat the oven, and pour a third of a cup of boiling water in after putting the rolls in the oven. This definitely helps the rise when I bake bread, but is probably optional for these rolls, where there isnÂt much "spring" in the oven. But I do it anyway, just in case. Let the rolls cool on a rack. You can eat them while still warm. I freeze most of them after theyÂve cooled, and toss them in the microwave for 20\-25 seconds. Some of the variations IÂve tried and rejected: more rye flour: doesnÂt change the flavor much, and makes the dough stickier and harder to work with. Less water: makes the rolls too dense. Higher oven temperature: scorches the rolls. Letting the starter ferment longer: the rye gets funky after 24 hours. Some recipes say to add the salt later in the process; I find it makes no difference, and I'm more likely to forget to add it if I wait. IÂve also tried mixing the dough in a Kitchen Aid with the dough hook, but have not gotten results I like. That said, I hardly ever use the dough hook (I like to knead!), so someone with more experience may have better results. If you do, let me know! Successful variations: substituting chopped apricots for the golden raisins. I've also scaled the recipe up by 50%, but for some reason you need to add more water \- perhaps 1/4 cup extra. Variations IÂll try someday but havenÂt yet: black olives and rosemary; substituting sunflower seeds for the walnuts.
  • ianb_co
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Give it a shot with the light rye! I've not tried light rye flour, my local Sunflower market only carries the dark rye and I'm happy with that. No reason not to continue the experiments!

    Ian

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hmmm! I was wondering if there was any difference in the gluten in light and dark rye, so I just checked and it looks like the primary difference is just the amount of bran left in the flour, so Ill go ahead and try it with the light. I think Ill be going up to my friends this coming Saturday, so Ill have to make them on Friday. Any suggestions for the best way to reheat them? In tin foil in the oven nuke them in a sealed plastic bag nuke them out in the open ??? Im guessing in tin foil in the oven will be best. Do you have an opinion from your experience?

    Another question! With just one cup of rye flour, do they actually have much rye flavor?

    Ill let you know how they turn out,
    Skybird

  • ianb_co
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I generally just nuke 'em uncovered or covered by a paper towel, but under foil in the oven would probably be best.

    As for the rye flavor, rye flour is almost impossible to work with straight, and most "rye" breads have less than 30% rye flour. (Rye has little gluten, and is incredibly sticky. I've heard of 100% rye sourdough breads that are s-l-o-w-l-y coaxed to rise, but I've not actually seen one). Also, a lot of what I thought was "rye" flavor was actually the caraway seeds and cocoa added to dark rye bread. In any case, the rye flour is enough to add an earthy flavor that is distinctly different from, say, a part-whole-wheat flour.

    Ian

    btw, I noticed that I never actually said that you have to add the water and yeast to the flour and mix before letting it sit overnight. I hope that no one will set out a glass of dirty water and a bowl of dry flour overnight and hope to have a starter in the morning! ;)

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    ROFL! I hope not too! I also hope you didnt mean to literally toss it in the basement! Id have a very, very dirty carpet if I did that! :-)

    Skybird

  • jclepine
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Why does all this make me crack up? I dunno but it was all a fun read. luckily, I don't have a basement so there will be no mess down there.

    Thank you for posting this, Ian! I cannot wait to make them.

    Do you, or Skybird, think I'd need to make any changes for 8250 feet? I know to keep the walnuts chopped more finely to prevent any interruption in rising but not sure if anything else would be needed.

    Now, I'm hungry all over again...

    J.

  • ianb_co
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm afraid I really don't know what adjustments you'd need to make. My primary concern would be to make sure you have enough water in the dough - it really needs to be almost runny before the first fold. If it acts like a dough, it's too dry. If you do need to add more water, just make some dimples in the dough and sprinkle in some water during the folding.

    Ian

  • jclepine
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, Ian! Maybe I'll give them a try this weekend.

    J

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I didnt get back here last nite!

    Question first! Ian, is the 1/4 tsp. of yeast really correct, or is that a typo? That sure doesnt seem like much yeast for that much flour, or is that because its used in a starter? Ive never used a starter before! And do you know if it makes any difference to use regular or rapid rise yeast? I happen to have both around here right now.

    Jennifer, I really cant help with the high altitude question either! When I bake, which really isnt all that often, sometimes I "adjust" the recipe for high altitude and sometimes I dontand Ive really never been able to tell much difference, so mostly I dont anymore! Ive also noticed that when you use a mix, they usually call for a little bit more water and a little bit more flour, and that just doesnt make ANY sense at all to me. A little more of one or the other maybe, but BOTH! Whats up with that! I did find the site below with some good basic high altitude cooking info that might help you since youre so much higher than us "low landers!" Since Ians rolls are made with such a "wet" dough, I think Id try it just the way it is, making sure, as Ian says, that it seems wet enough. Youre 3000' higher, but Im gonna try it just like it is the first time.

    Happy baking,
    Skybird

  • ianb_co
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I double-checked the quantities in your copy of the recipe, and they're all correct. With the overnight starter, 1/4 tsp of yeast is plenty; by the next day, it should look like the surface of the moon, various shades of gray with lots of little craters.

    I thought more about how to describe how wet the dough should be. When you first turn the dough out onto the counter and you're done washing out the bowl, the dough should have formed a disc about 14-15" in diameter and just 1 1/2 or 2" tall. It will be elastic, but have no real firmness to it.

    Ian

  • ianb_co
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oops, as to your other question: I use regular Fleischmann's or Red Star active dry yeast (usually Red Star, by the bottle). I expect any yeast would be fine, but there's no particular reason to use rapid-rise yeast. Another experiment would be a sourdough starter!

    Ian

  • jnfr
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks so much, Ian. Wonderful recipe.