Cheese Rolls

This one recipe in particular isn’t really a recipe LOL , and only for those of you who are comfortable enough with baking bread without measuring . Because this one doesn’t have any exact measurement . You won’t end up with too dry of bread if you already understand about ” smooth and elastic ” , or ” tacky ” dough .

I’m going to share it with you guys anyway . I made this by accident few weeks ago , my son was asking for snacks , it was past dinner time , and i just fed my sourdough starter that afternoon . Heck i was already making enough mess in the kitchen from cooking and all , so who cares , let’s just experiment .

So i used part of the starter , whether it’s active , mature starter or a discard , it doesn’t matter , i threw it in the bowl just so it has a little sourdough flavor . Not so much about leavening agent .( this will work without sourdough starter too ! ) You still going to add commercial yeast in here . There is nothing to be ashamed for using it . I am not sourdough purist anyway .. LOL . There is nothing wrong mixing starter and yeast .. And then i added warm water and all purpose flour and kosher salt . Can’t forget the salt ! That’s it

In other words this is considered a lean dough since there is only salt , water , flour and yeast . There is no butter , no egg , no sugar required . I actually put all the ingredients together in the mixing bowl and let the mixer kneaded it for few minutes . After few minutes you will see how your dough looks like . You might end up needing more flour , or might end up needing more water .. it depends on the hydration of your starter and of course how much water that went in there too . The water also needed to be warm water .

After kneading probably 5-7 minutes , the dough should be smooth and elastic and i took it out and let it do its first proof for about an hour in warm area . Took it out , shaped it into mini balls and filled it with fresh mozzarella cheese , you can also add some chopped pepperoni , i think that would be yummy too .

Ingredients :

• About 100-150 grams sourdough discard , or even if you have an active one would be okay too
• About 250-350 grams all purpose flour , always start at the lower end , you can always add more if you need to
• About 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp yeast
• fresh mozzarella cheese
• butter and garlic to make garlic butter glaze , this is optional

Direction :

• In a mixing bowl , add all ingredients , except the cheese and butter / garlic .
• Let the mixer do the job , knead for 5-7 minutes , add water or flour if you need to . The dough should be elastic , not too dry , not too sticky . Tacky is like sticky but it doesn’t pull when you touch it .
• Take it out and shape into a ball , place in a greased bowl , seam side down , cover with plastic wrap . Place in a warm place to do the bulk fermentation ( first proof ) About an hour or so
• Take the dough out from the bowl , at this point you can weigh it . I did mine , and i had about 530 grams total , so i divide the dough to make small balls .
• I ended up with about 35 grams each ball , and i used about 5-6 grams fresh mozzarella cheese . I didn’t want to put too much because i don’t want the cheese oozes out .
• Wrap the cheese inside the ball , roll it out until smooth . Place it in baking sheet lined with parchment paper . Let it proof for about 45 to 60 minutes .
• Preheat oven 425 F , ( mine is convection ) , brush with garlic butter ( might want to add salt ) , bake about 10 to 15 minutes .