Kimmelweck Rolls Recipe

Kimmelweck or Weck rolls look like Kaiser rolls but are topped with caraway seeds and coarse salt with a crispier crust. The flavor and texture is really outstanding. Crusty on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Proofing Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 35 minutes

Servings rolls

Calories 298kcal

Author Marie

Equipment

Standing mixer

Ingredients

2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
1 egg white
1.5 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon honey or barley malt syrup
3 cups bread flour up to 3 ¼ cups

For Topping

1 large egg white mixed lightly with a pinch of salt to make it easier to brush on roll
kosher salt
caraway seeds

For Baking

cornmeal to line baking sheet

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To Make the Dough

Add water and yeast to bowl of standing mixture and mix to activate yeast (if needed, I use instant yeast and this step is not needed but will not hurt)
Add sugar, honey (or malt syrup), oil and half of the flour and mix until combined.
Add salt and the remaining flour.
Mix on low speed until combined and then increase speed slightly and mix for 5 to 8 minutes until you can stretch the dough out into a thin sheet (windowpaning)
Place dough in a oiled bowl, cover and let rise in warm spot for 1 hour. Wet hands to handle dough if it's a bit sticky.
I like to use the oven with light turned on OR I microwave a cup of water and place the bowl with dough in the microwave to rise.
After 1 hour, punch down dough and let rise again for another 30 minutes.
After the second rise, cut the dough into 6 pieces and shape into a ball.
To shape kaiser rolls, use a kaiser stamp on top of round rolls OR if you don't have a stamp, you can roll each piece into a rope and then loosely tie the rope
Place rolls on cornmeal dusted baking sheet and let rise in warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled. If you kitchen is cold, consider placing a pot of simmering water nearby.

To Bake the Rolls

Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper and lightly sprinkling with cornmeal (when I skip the parchment paper, sometimes the rolls stick to the baking sheet)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees (about 20 minutes before end of final proof)
Before putting bread in oven, toss about 2 cups of ice on oven floor OR spray the oven very well with water and then spray the rolls with water just before loading and after 2, and 5 minutes of baking.
Brush top of proofed rolls with egg white, sprinkle then with kosher salt and caraway seeds.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Check rolls at 10 minutes.

Storage

Store rolls in airtight bag - they will lose their crisp but they keep well for an additional day or two. If you are storing longer, place in freezer bag and freeze the rolls. I like to slice them first before freezing.

Nutrition