Italian Long Rolls

Yields 4 rolls.

Ingredients

  • 1⅔ teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 1½ teaspoons honey
  • 3-3½ cups (390-455g) all-purpose flour, OR use half all-purpose and half Italian-style flour for a lighter loaf
  • 1¼ teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil optional

Instructions

  1. Dissolve honey in hot water, and mix with yeast in a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer.
  2. Mix flour with dry milk, if using and slowly add to the yeast mixture until you have a stiff dough (usually the 390 grams is plenty for me). Allow dough to rest for 10-20 minutes.
  3. Mix in the salt and the tablespoon of olive oil, if using. Knead for 6-8 minutes in a stand mixer.
  4. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm, draft free place for about 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
  5. Punch down the dough. Divide into four pieces of approximately 162g. Form into logs and flatten slightly.
  6. Place onto baguette pan (no parchment or greasing of the pan is necessary) and let rise in a warm place for 45-50 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  7. Brush tops with water and bake for 14-15 minutes.

Notes

4/19/2022: I made a full batch of the dough for Italian Bread in Clay Baker. Made at 6:30pm, put immediately into refrigerator. Took out at 3:00am and let rise on counter until 8:00am. Dough mass was 650g. Formed into 4 7-inch long rolls of 162g each. Placed on baguette pan. Tried with parchment underneath, and one without. (Found that parchment is not necessary.) Let rise in the oven with the light on (about 73°F) for 30 minutes, then removed to counter while preheating the oven to 425°F, let rise for 20 minutes on counter. Baked on rack 3 for 14-15 minutes.

4/22/2022: I made the dough around noon yesterday. This time I used 205g of the Italian flour and 185g all-purpose, and no vital wheat gluten. Refrigerated immediately, took out at 3:00am and let rise on counter. Formed rolls (163g) at 8:00am, flattened before putting into baguette pan. Let rise in oven with light on (73°F) for 30 minutes, removed to counter to rise for another 20 minutes while the oven heated to 425°F. Baked on rack 3 for 14 minutes.