Easy Overnight Bread Rolls

by Jay Wadams

I love fresh bread in the morning, but I love it even more when it is as easy to make as these overnight bread rolls. No kneading, an overnight rise in the fridge, then a quick shape and they're into the oven in time for breakfast. Easy and delicious with a wonderfully crunchy crust, this recipe is ideal for bread-making beginners.

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Rising Time 8

Total Time 8 25

Serves Rolls

Ingredients

▢ 500 g all-purpose flour bread flour or white spelt flour
▢ 10 g white sugar
▢ 10 g sea salt or kosher salt
▢ 10 g fresh yeast or 5g instant yeast
▢ 350 ml cold water
▢ 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
▢ fine semolina or extra flour for dusting

Scan the QR Code to view the online recipe with detailed instructions, photos, hints, tips and more at daysofjay.com

Instructions

MIX DOUGH: Whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Stir the yeast into the water until dissolved, then pour into the flour mixture and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Scrape out onto the work surface, oil the bowl well, then return the dough to the bowl. Cover with clingfilm or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8-10 hours.
PREPARE: The next morning, heat the oven with a baking tray in the bottom third to 250°C / 475° F / Gas 9. Place a rack in the bottom of the oven with a small metal baking dish or bowl for the steam. Place a sheet of baking parchment paper near the oven.
RELEASE DOUGH: Remove the cold dough from the fridge, generously flour or scatter semolina over the work surface and the top of the dough, then invert the bowl onto the floured surface and allow the dough to fall gently out. It will take a minute or two, but you want to keep as much air in the dough as possible, so be gentle if it needs any help releasing from the side of the bowl.
CUT AND SHAPE DOUGH: Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 roughly equal portions. Lightly oil your fingers, then working one at a time, shape the rolls by picking up two diagonally opposite corners and crossing them over the dough, Repeat with the other two corners, then transfer the roll to the prepared baking paper. Repeat with each remaining piece of dough.
BAKE: When the oven is hot, prepare 50ml of warm water in a small glass. Wearing thick oven gloves, remove the baking tray, slide the baking paper with the rolls quickly and carefully onto the hot tray then return it to the oven. Pour the water into the heated metal dish or bowl to create a gush of steam, then quickly close the oven door. Bake rolls for 20 minutes until risen and golden brown then cool on a wire rack.

Notes

This dough based on the famous method by Jim Lahey has extremely high hydration, meaning it is a very wet, very soft dough. Trust the process! While all flour is slightly different, these rolls are fairly fail-safe. If they are so sticky you can't manage them even with oiled hands, dust them with a little extra flour. I like to scatter a little fine semolina over the top of each roll before baking to give them a rustic texture.
Adding water to the hot oven creates steam, which helps these rolls rise and gives them their deliciously crunchy crust. Adding the water to a hot metal container will protect the bottom of your oven.
If you have a pizza stone / baking stone and peel, use that instead of a hot baking tray, but do use baking parchment paper, the wet dough is very sticky.
If you don't want to use sugar, simply leave it out. I recommend that you use it though for the best results. Even if it wasn't consumed by the yeast, it would still only work out to a tiny 1.25g per roll or 1/40th of the RDI for sugar. To put that in perspective ONE Grande Pumpkin Spice latte has 50g of sugar in it!
YEAST: Fresh yeast is commonly available in Germany/ Europe and (IMHO) gives a much superior result when baking.
In Australia, it is available at Harris Farm Markets (yay) and some Asian/other ethnic food stores.
In the United States, Eataly stocks fresh yeast, or Red Star Brand yeast is sold in some stores. If you have a bakery near you they are often very happy to sell you a small portion to take away.
In New Zealand, it is easily available to order online.

Nutrition