Daring Bakers: Dutch Crunch Rolls!

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

Yummy!

I know what you're probably thinking. Dutch what? Until this month I'd never even heard of this crunchy bread, which is, according to Wiki at least, actually of Dutch origin. In the states, it's supposedly very common in San Francisco, which is funny, as I spent tons of time out here as a kid and live here now and don't remember ever encountering it. Whatever the circumstances, this is a fun and super easy bread to bake, and it comes out looking wonderfully crispy and appealing. The secret is all in the topping, and the secret to the topping is rice flour. 
So, go ahead! Make some bread! Or rolls, as I liked.

As Dutch Crunch bread is typically used for sandwiches, we were encouraged to come up with a filling or two. I think that I'd really enjoy a black bean burger with some sharp cheddar and pico de gallo. The bread itself is pretty plain, so dressing it up with some spicy fillings would be nice. If I still ate meat, I'd honestly probably go for something like turkey.

So, without further adieu, I give you recipes for both the soft white roll I used as my base, and the topping that I spread atop it. I halved both recipes, both because I thought I'd rather start with three rolls in case something went terribly wrong, and because I've been baking a lot of sourdough lately and didn't need the extra bread.

Soft White Roll

Servings: Six sandwich rolls

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (1 packet) active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water (No need to use a thermometer – it should feel between lukewarm and hot to the touch).
1 cup warm milk (105-110º F)
1½ tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (plus additional olive or vegetable oil for greasing bowl during rising)
1½ teaspoons salt
Up to 4 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer or large mixing bowl, combine yeast, water, milk and sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit for about 5 minutes (The mixture should start to bubble or foam a bit and smell yeasty).

2. Add in vegetable oil, salt and 2 cups of flour. Using the dough hook attachment or a wooden spoon, mix at medium speed until the dough comes together. 

Rising dough

3. Add remaining flour a quarter cup at time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, as shown in the photo below (For us, this usually required an additional 1½ to 2 cups of flour).

4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 4 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

5. Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled (or more) in size 

6. Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 6 equal portions (if you’d like to make rolls) or 2 equal portions (if you’d like to make a loaf) (using a sharp knife or a dough scraper works well). Shape each into a ball or loaf and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (try not to handle the dough too much at this point).

Resting, formed dough

7. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 15 minutes while you prepare the topping.

8. Coat the top of each roll or loaf with the topping as described above. While the original recipe recommends letting them stand for 20 minutes after applying the topping, I got better results by putting them directly into the oven.

These look like biscuits and gravy to me....

9. Once you’ve applied the topping, bake in a preheated moderately hot 380ºF/190°C/gas mark 5 for 25-30 minutes, until well browned. Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating.

Dutch Crunch Topping (yields enough for 6 rolls)

Do not make this topping ahead of time, but just as you need it - about 15 minutes before you put the bread in the oven.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (1 packet) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105-115º F)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup rice flour (white or brown; NOT sweet or glutinous rice flour) (increase to 1 cup or more for home-made rice flour)

Dutch Crunch topping!

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk; beat hard to combine. The consistency should be like stiff royal icing – spreadable, but not too runny. If you pull some up with your whisk, as shown below, it should drip off slowly. Add more water or rice flour as necessary. Let stand 15 minutes.

2. Coat the top of each loaf or roll with a thick layer of topping. The best way is to just use your fingers (or a spoon) to glob it on. You should err on the side of applying too much topping – a thin layer will not crack properly.

3. Let stand, uncovered, for any additional time your recipe recommends. With the Soft White Roll, you can place the rolls directly into the oven after applying the topping.

4. When baking, place pans on a rack in the center of the oven and bake your bread as you ordinarily would. The Dutch Cruch topping should crack and turn a nice golden-brown color.