Sonnenblumenkern-Brötchen: German Sunflower Seed Rolls
Brötchen... the most essential breakfast item to a German Breakfast. It's what I crave the most when I go home to Germany. Recreate the German bakery experience by making these simple rolls at home.
Servings: 8 rolls
Calories: 291kcal
Ingredients
Dough
- 235 g all-purpose wheat flour
- 100 g semolina flour
- 55 g whole-grain rye flour
- 150 g milk at about 40° C/104° F
- 8 g active-dry yeast
- 150 g water at about 5° C/41° F
- 8 g sea salt
- 8 g sunflower seed oil
- 75 g sunflower seeds dry-roasted in skillet
Toppings
- 50 g sunflower seeds raw
- some whole-grain rye flour for shaping the rolls
Instructions
- Combine yeast and warm milk and allow to sit and activate for 5 minutes. If it doesn't start to bubble up after 5 minutes, start over.
- Combine all ingredients for the dough, except for the sunflower seeds and knead for 10 minutes on the lowest setting, then increase to a medium setting and knead 5 more minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic and pulling away from the sides.
- Add in the roasted sunflower seeds and knead for one minute or until combined.
- Put the dough in a bowl and cover it in plastic wrap, so it's air-tight (laying the plastic right on top of the dough). Move to the fridge and allow to proof for 12 hours (easiest to do this overnight). It should have doubled in size.
- Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide it into 8 equal pieces of dough; do not knead them.
- Working with one dough piece at a time, pull the dough, so it's elongated. Take one of the short ends and fold it over itself and towards your body, pressing down with all fingertips, and repeat folding the roll in itself.
- Repeat this shaping process until you end up with a tight cylinder shape. Be careful not to allow too many of the natural gases to leak out of the dough while you're shaping the rolls. This allows for the crumb to have bigger pores.
- Pour the sunflower seeds for the toppings onto a surface and press the rolls into the seeds, so that they stick to the dough, then transfer the rolls, seam down, onto a baking sheet prepped with parchement paper. Cover loosely with a baker's couche or a clean linen towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes in a warm spot in your house.
- In the meantime while the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 230° C/445° F in the meantime, and put a large pan filled with water on the bottom rack of your oven, allowing it to heat up as well and to create steam.
- Turn the rolls over (seam up), spray them with a little bit of water, and bake for 10 minutes (total baking time will be 20 minutes), leaving the pan filled with water in the oven. After 10 minutes, widely open the oven door for a few seconds to allow the steam to escape, then close the oven door, and bake for another 5 minutes. For the last 5 minutes of baking, leave the oven door open at a gap. This will ensure a browned, crisp surface.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and leave uncovered until cooled completely.
Nutrition
Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 399mg | Potassium: 215mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 3mg