You have to travel far to find delicious rye bread in certain parts of metro Phoenix. I make my own and just came up with this even easier version of rye rolls. This recipe is easy but it requires a stand mixer and takes a little over five hours. It makes eight nice sized rolls.

Ingredients for 8 servings

2 cups + 2 Tablespoons bread flour (plus more for dough to rest and to knead)

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons dark rye flour

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 1/8 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

2 Tablespoons caraway seeds (plus a few pinches for sprinkling the tops of rolls)

1 1/2 cup water

1/4 cup oil

2 Tablespoons semolina flour – to rest unbaked rolls on (can substitute corn meal)

1 egg white – beaten

small pinch French salt flakes for finishing

Set oven to 425 degrees F

In your stand mixer bowl add the flours, sugar, salt, yeast, caraway seeds, water and oil. Before you start up your mixer you need to mix this up with a fork so when the mixer mixes it your flour doesn’t fly all over the place. Once you have the batter reasonably mixed then attach your dough hook. Set it on Medium High and let it go for ten minutes. The dough should pull away from the bowl and wrap it’s self around the hook.

Get a large bowl and add some bread flour for your dough to rest on. Take the dough off the hook and knead it and roll it into a ball. Let it rest in the bowl for FOUR HOURS covered with plastic wrap.

You need either one large baking sheet or two smaller baking sheets to be covered with parchment and the parchment needs a light coating of semolina flour.

After 4 hours punch it down and divide it in quarters and divide each quarter in a half so you have eight even pieces.

Kenad each piece in a ball. Slap it around a bit. Roll it in a log and then knead it into a ball and place on semolina lined parchment. Repeat till all 8 rolls are done spewing them apart some.

Brush with egg whites twice. Be careful and don’t get too close to the parchment or you will glue the roll to the paper. Sprinkle each roll with some caraway seeds and a very light pinch of flaked salt.

These go in a preheated 425 degree F oven. When they turn brown (13-15 minutes) turn down to 350 degrees F. They only need maybe 5 more minutes in the oven. In my oven the rolls took a total of 20 minutes. The timing may differ some.

ENJOY

My husband kept raving about these rolls. I thought they were pretty darn good.