Crock Pot No Knead Herb Rolls

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It is so hot!  Just the thought of turning on my oven makes me and my air conditioning cringe...Unfortunately, I love bread.  A LOT.  And I would turn my oven on for some great homemade rolls (and cookies, I would turn it on for cookies).  Then I saw a brilliant post by Artisan Bread in Five on making rolls in a crock pot.  Since I have three crock pots, I figured I could spare one to try this. 

I was doubtful about cooking bread in a crock pot, I won't lie.  I saw an idea for herb rolls, and thought "Ohhhhh that sounds good, I need those, and I need them like right now."  Sadly, they posted the method, but not the recipe for the bread, since it was published in a book they want you to get, so I understand not giving away all the recipes.  I would buy the book if I had the money, believe me.  I told my husband my dilemma, and he responds "then make your own recipe!"  So that's what I did.  I used the five minute no knead bread from The Italian Dish that I blogged about a while ago here as a base, and made the changes below.  I didn't even let it sit in the fridge, I only let it sit out two hours on the counter (which it can be used any time after the two hour period), and got right to making them.  It was hard to wait that two hours even.  I made the rest the next day, yum! 

These rolls come out lighter than air.  Seriously, they are so light and fluffy I wasn't sure they were cooked because when touched the top, they didn't spring back.  It was really just because they rise so much in the crock pot they turn in to a soft, pillow-y roll of herby goodness.

Crock Pot No Knead Herb Rolls

Makes 8 rolls per crock pot batch, or approximately 28 rolls for the entire recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups luke warm water
• 1 1/2 Tbs. instant yeast
• 1 1/4 Tbs. salt
• 1 tsp. diastatic malt powder (optional)
• 28 oz. all purpose flour
• 3 oz. whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed or chopped into smaller pieces
• 1/2 tsp. dried sage
• olive oil
• garlic salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix water, yeast, salt, diastatic malt powder (optional), basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and sage.
2. Add the all purpose flour and the whole wheat flour and mix well, until it forms into a ball and all the flour is moistened, about a minute. (Add more water if it is too dry, add more flour if it is way to wet, it is a very sticky dough though.)  Refer to this post here for more information on what it should look like.
3. Let sit on the counter, loosely covered for 2 hours, it will rise a bunch, don't worry about it.  
4. Once it has sat for two hours, it is ready to be used, or you can loosely cover it and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, and use it as needed for fresh bread any day.
5. In a large (5-6 qt.) crock pot, line with parchment paper, and then sprinkle the parchment with corn meal.  
6. Pull of 2 oz. piece of dough and roll into smooth balls.  Place up to 8 in the crock pot.  The remainder or the dough can be refrigerated for up to two weeks.
7. Cover the crock pot and turn on high for an hour.  This is where the magic happens.  As the crock pot heats up, it will also proof the rolls, they should get quite puffy and fill the bottom.
8. After an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes, check on rolls.  They will be very soft on the top, but not tacky or uncooked feeling.  
9. Remove the rolls along with the parchment (don't take them off the paper) from crock pot.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt.
10. To brown the tops: Turn the oven to 450 degrees (I know, it will heat the house up a little bit, but not as long as cooking them the whole time in there), and place rolls and parchment in for 5-10 minutes until the top is firm and browned nicely.
11. Remove from oven and enjoy!