No Knead Pumpernickel Rolls

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 My husband's favorite bread is pumpernickel bread.  Unfortunately, most store bought pumpernickel is, according to him, flavorless and lacking all pumpernickel goodness.  The flavor that he wants in a pumpernickel bread is reminiscent of Einstein's pumpernickel bagels, his favorite!  But unfortunately we are about 90 miles away from the closest Einsteins.  I have been on a mission for years to make a good pumpernickel bread for him.  After more searching, I found a recipe from Artisan Bread in Five for Pumpernickel bread.  Since I love their method so much, I thought I would give it a try.  I made a few changes to it to punch of the flavor even more, and used cocoa instead of caramel color to get the pumpernickel color.  He was thrilled with the results, judging from the fact that three rolls where missing within seconds of me telling him I had made some and they were ready for trying.  They were delightfully crusty, and light and fluffy on the inside, with a wonderful flavor, but not overwhelming.

If you don't want to turn on the oven, use the baking method from my crock pot no knead herb roll recipe here, with this dough.

No Knead Pumpernickel Rolls
(Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five's Pumpernickel recipe here)

Ingredients:

•  2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

• 2 3/4 cups whole grain rye flour (most supermarket rye is whole grain)

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (increase or decrease to taste)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast (or 2 packets)

• 2 tablespoons dutch process cocoa

• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 tablespoon caraway seeds

• 2 tablespoons molasses

• 1/2 tsp onion powder

• 4 cups lukewarm water

•  Caraway seeds for sprinkling

• Corn meal for baking

Directions:

After 2 hours of rising on the counter, slightly bubbly.

After rising for 40 minutes, before slashing

1.  In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients and  mix well.
2. Pour in water and molasses and stir until well combined.  The dough will be fairly wet.
3. Let it sit covered loosely on the counter for a minimum of 2 hours.  Do not punch down dough, or deflate.  It will start to deflate on its own.  After two hours it will look like this:
4. After two hours it can be placed in the refrigerator for up to seven days.
5. If it will be being used right away after the two hours, sprinkle the top of the risen dough with a bit of flour for easier removal.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with corn meal.
6. This is a sticky dough, so just flour your hands and the dough balls well to prevent sticking while working with it.  Tear off two ounce pieces and roll them into smooth balls.  Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet**.  Repeat for desired number of rolls.  Any remaining dough just goes back in the fridge to be used another day.
7. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F about 20 minutes before rising is done.  Let the rolls rise for about 40 minutes, or until almost doubled in size and puffy. If the dough has been refrigerated, then let the rolls rise for 90 minutes instead.
8. When rolls are finished rising, use a serrated knife and make a 1/4 inch deep slash on the top of each roll.  Using a clean spray bottle or a basting brush, cover each roll with cold water and sprinkle the tops with caraway seeds.
9. Place rolls in the oven.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until they make a hollow sound when tapped.
10. Let cool for a bit before enjoying.

 

**If you have a pizza stone and like crustier rolls, place the rolls on parchment covered with corn meal and allow to rise.  Preheat oven with pizza stone in the middle of the oven.  When ready to bake, slide the parchment paper onto the baking stone.  For even crustier rolls, place a baking dish in the bottom rack of the oven and when the rolls are put in, quickly pour a cup of water into the pan to generate steam.  A clean water filled spray bottle can be used to squirt water into the oven to generate steam as well.

For more tips on making whole grain breads with this no knead method, check out Artisan Bread in Five's Whole Grain Master Recipe for more information.