Perfect Rolls with Garlic and Rosemary – How to make?

These Perfect Rolls with Garlic and Rosemary are Vegan Friendly

This recipe for potato-garlic-rosemary bread is ideal for making dinner rolls for your holiday or Sunday dinner table. It pairs well with turkey, ham, goose, chicken, duck, or any vegetarian or vegan dish you decide to serve for your centerpiece. Read on Bread Bakers if you want to make perfect rolls with rosemary and garlic!

This recipe is inspired by The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, a James Beard Award Winning cookbook. It is one of my favorite bread cookbooks and I highly recommend it for learning advanced bread baking. Check out these other recommended cookbooks.

As an Amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

What Makes these Perfect Rolls So Special?

FLAVOR! This bread is a delight with the addition of olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. Say “Farewell” to store bought, pasty, white rolls that glue your mouth together and say “Hello!” to pure, homemade, deliciousness.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a staple for any bread baker.

I love Elephant Garlic, look at the size!

Fresh or Dried Rosemary works in this recipe.

Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). EVOO is a pantry staple in any cook or bakers kitchen. It’s commonly used in salad dressing, for Italian cooking, bread dipping, etc. I find that I use it just as much in sweet recipes as I do in savory recipes. I love the nuttiness of the first pressed EVOO and the flavor it imparts. If you prefer a milder flavor or just do not have EVOO, any regular olive oil will work.

Elephant Garlic. I have just discovered Elephant Garlic. The Elep Benefits of Elephant Garlic are it’s size, relative ease to peel, and like regular garlic, it has intense flavor. One piece of the full bulb from Elephant Garlic is roughly equivalent to 4-5 pieces of regular garlic. So, one large piece to peel, chop, and you’re on your way to gorgeous garlic flavor in any dish.

Rosemary. Fresh or dried, rosemary works well in this recipe. Rosemary is a savory herb that pairs well with meat. Rosemary is a a woody, branch-like herb and is easy to grow on your kitchen window sill. If you happen to have fresh rosemary, you can absolutely use it in this recipe. Just pull the rosemary tines from the sprigs, chop roughly and use away. If you only have dry rosemary, no worries. It still imparts wonderful flavor if it is fresh. No need to chop the dried version, use it just as it is from the shaker bottle.

Using Biga in this Potato Rolls Recipe

Finally, a Biga. A biga is a small portion of dough that has been made 12-72 hours ahead of the final mix. In this recipe, I use a 24 hour biga. It is prepared with a small amount of yeast, water and flour. Kneaded, left to rise, then punched down, and placed in the refrigerator to ferment for 24 hours. This method allows the biga to develop a deeper flavor than bread just mixed and baked on the same day. Remember, when bread baking, dough that spends time rising in a cool/cold environment = flavor.

Don’t Want Rolls? Make a Boule

Eight Rolls or One Bread Boule. This recipe makes eight rolls as pictured in the first photo at the top of the blog or one small bread boule (a round loaf). If you like the individual, pull apart rolls, you will make those by dividing your bulk fermented dough into eighths (about 65 grams for each piece), roll them tightly on a flat surface and place them in a greased 8″ cake plate. Place one in the center and use seven to make the outside ring. When they double in size and are touching all around, they are ready to bake.

One Boule. If you prefer one bread boule (a round loaf), you can make that up after bulk fermentation. Dump your fermented dough onto a flat surface. Pull several edges of your dough to the center and squeeze them together. Turn the bread over so the pinched seams are on the bottom. Pull the dough towards you, give it a quarter turn and repeat until you have a tight round. Place that round on a prepared flat pan lined with parchment paper prepared with oil spray and sprinkled with corn meal.

A Personal Vignette – Thanksgiving in Germany

This bread is perfect for serving at the holidays and is always on my table for Thanksgiving. I lived in Germany when I was in the U.S. Army. My husband and I had a cozy townhouse in beautiful Würzburg, Bavaria. One year, we decided Thanksgiving was the perfect holiday to share with our German friends. They took the day off from work to spend it with us (it is not a holiday in Germany and falls on Thursday). We had a great turnout of nearly 20 people in our small townhouse. We set up an extended table that consumed the entire living room. What a fun Thanksgiving we had!

I love these 8″ round pans with plastic lids. Perfect for proofing rolls, remove cover and bake.

Precut parchment paper makes for super easy lining of sheet pans.

Sheet pans are essential for baking bread boules, cookies, etc.

Cooking potato rolls in Germany and so much more…

I bought a turkey from the U.S. commissary (thankfully it fit in my tiny German oven). I cooked for two days and served roasted potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, corn bread, these perfect rolls with rosemary and garlic, stuffing, gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, etc. Then, added pecan pie and New York style cheesecake for dessert. I served a sparkling German rosé wine I picked up at a local winemaker to accompany the dinner (although Germany is world-renowned for beer, they are quite accomplished winemakers, too). All in all, we ate a feast!

More important than the food are the lasting memories. The best memory I have is of how this event built camaraderie across the cultural and linguistic divide. We bonded through that one meal while creating lifetime memories for us and our friends. I like to think we experienced a little of what the Pilgrims and the Native Americans felt during the first Thanksgiving dinner at Plymouth Colony in November, 1621. Now, inevitably when we return to Germany to visit our friends, they bring up our remarkable Thanksgiving dinner. Pure love.

Give Thanks and Share

This year find time to give thanks and to share a meal with someone close to you, even if you do that virtually due to the pandemic. Maybe deliver some of these perfect rolls with rosemary and garlic to your neighbor so they can can share in some abundance. Whatever you do, just connect, safely but frequently. Isolation is the opposite of what the Pilgrims and Indians were trying to accomplish on the first Thanksgiving.

Sharing is Caring. If you make Perfect Rolls with Rosemary and Garlic post a picture of them or your dinner table on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and tag me @christinasbreadbakes. I love to see your creations. Then, share with love by gifting some of these rolls with family, a neighbor, friend or coworker. Happy baking, Bread Bakers!

Garlic-Rosemary Potato Rolls

Christina

This is a flavorful bread for a holiday or Sunday dinner table that makes lovely rolls. It pairs well with any meat, vegetarian or vegan dish. Vegan Friendly rolls.

5 from 10 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Resting Time 1 day d 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 day d 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course bread, Side Dish, vegan

Cuisine American, vegan, vegetarian

Servings 8 people

Calories 151 kcal

Equipment

• Small pot
• Potato peeler
• Small Baking Dish
• Electric Mixer with Dough Hook and Whisk
• Baking Pan (8" / 20 cm round pan for rolls or flat pan for a round boule)
• 4 L food container with lid or bowl with plastic wrap

Ingredients

  

Biga (prepare 24-72 hours in advance)

• 70 grams Bread Flour
• 50 grams Warm Water
• ¼ tsp Yeast

Mashed Potato (leftover works fine)

• 1 Medium Baking Potato (russet) (about 100 grams)
• Water to boil

Bread Dough

• 85 grams Boiled Potato
• ½ T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 120 grams Potato Water (or warm water if using leftover potato) (cooled to 110F / 43C degrees)
• 1 tsp Yeast (rounded teaspoon)
• 120 grams Biga (+/- a few grams is okay)
• 200 grams Bread Flour
• 7 grams Salt
• 1 T Fresh or Dried Rosemary
• 2 T Coarsely Chopped Roasted Garlic

Roasted Garlic (optional)

• 1 head Garlic
• 1 T Olive Oil
• Semolina or Cornmeal to dust pan
• Olive Oil to Brush top of bread

Instructions

 

Biga

• Mix flour, yeast and water all together until a shaggy dough form.
• Set aside for 30 minutes.
• Dump onto a work surface and knead for 30 seconds until a loose ball forms. Place back in to a greased bowl. Cover.
• Allow to rise in a warm place for 2 hours, or until doubled.
• Dump onto a work surface and deflate. Lightly knead the dough and form a tight ball and place back in to a greased bowl. Cover.
• Rest in refrigerator for 24-72 hours.
• When ready to make the bread, remove biga from the refrigerator to take the chill off. Leave at room temperature 1-2 hours before you start the bread dough.

Mashed Potato

• Peel the raw potato and rinse it off under cool water.
• Chop the potato into large chunks.
• Place in a pan and cover with water.
  
• Boil 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft enough to mash but are not falling apart.
• Drain potatoes reserving the cooking liquid.

Bread Dough

• Scaling: Measure all ingredients using a digital scale.
  
• Mixing:
• Measure 85 grams of potatoes and place in mixing bowl.
  
• Add olive oil to the potatoes.
• Measure 120 grams of the potato cooking liquid or warm water (110 F /43 C degrees).
• Whisk the potatoes and olive oil together, adding just enough of the potato water to form a smooth consistency.

  Hint: Do not whip them so much that they become gummy, it will make your bread tough.
  
• Add yeast to remaining potato water or warm water. Set aside for 5-10 minutes until bubbly.
• Switch to dough hook. Add water/yeast mixture, biga, flour, and salt to the mashed potatoes in the mixer bowl.
  
• Mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes until there is not dry flour left.
• Mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes until dough is smooth, sticks to the bottom but pulls from the sides of the bowl.

  Hint: Add 1 T of flour at a time if dough is too wet until you achieve the right consistency.
  
• Add rosemary and mix just until incorporated (about 1 minute more).
• Dump dough on to a flat work surface. Form into a smooth dough ball.
• Place ball in to a greased container. Cover.
  
• Bulk Fermentation (first rise):
• Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, approximately 1-1½ hours.

  Hint: The rising time is dependent on your room temperature. If your room is very cold, you can set the bowl in the oven with the oven with a bowl of hot water. Close door. Check regularly so dough does not over proof.

Roasted Garlic (optional)

• Preheat oven to 400 F / 200 C degrees.
• Cut the tops off a bulb of garlic.
• Place garlic bulb cut side up in a small baking pan with sides or wrap in foil.

  Hint: I find that a glass or a ceramic baking pan with a lid to work best for roasting garlic and for easiest clean up.
• Drizzle top with 1 T of olive oil.
• Cover the baking pan with lid or aluminum foil.
• Place in oven, cook for 15-20 minutes until bulb just begins to brown and cloves are soft. Remove from oven.

  Hint: Be careful not to burn garlic. Burnt garlic is bitter. Test garlic cloves with a fork, when soft, remove from oven.
• Take top off the pan and set garlic aside to cool.
• When cool enough to handle, pull cloves off and squeeze the softened garlic out. Chop and measure 2 T and set aside.
  
• Punching/Folding the Dough:
• When dough has doubled, dump it on to a flat work surface. Gently press to expel some of the air.
  
• If using garlic, spread garlic on lightly flattened dough. Sprinkle with a very light coat of flour.
  
• Roll dough up by making a cylinder.
  
• Bench Proofing or Resting:
• Cover cylinder with a cotton towel and prepare baking sheet (one bread boule) or cake pan (rolls).
• After dough has rested for 10 minutes, continue to next step.

Bread Boule Instructions (skip to below if making rolls)

• Pre-shaping or Rounding one Round Boule:
• If forming a bread boule, roll sides of cylinder to center and pinch together. Flip dough over so pinched side is facing down.
  
• Pull the dough towards you to form and tighten into a ball. Turn it ¼ turn and pull again using friction to tighten the dough ball. Repeat until a tight dough ball is formed.
  
• Makeup and Panning:
• Place dough ball on to prepared baking sheet.
  

Instructions for Rolls [skip ahead to Proofing (second rise) if making one round boule]

• Dividing:
• Cut eight equal pieces (approximately 65 grams each).
• Pre-shaping or Rounding Rolls:
• Form eight mini dough balls.
• Makeup and Panning:
• Place one mini dough ball in the center and seven around the outside.
  
• Proofing (second rise):
• Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes.
• Bake:
• Preheat oven to 400 F degrees for one round bread boule (or 375 F degrees for rolls).
• Remove plastic wrap and spray or brush dough lightly with more olive oil.
• If desired, cut a cross pattern on top of the bread boule (not rolls).
• Bake 20 minutes, rotate pan half way, bake another 15-20 minutes until bread is brown.
  
• Cool:
• Remove from pan and cool on rack for 20 minutes before serving.
  
• Store:
• This bread is best eaten the day it is made. Store leftovers in a plastic bag. The leftovers make very tasty croutons the following day.

Notes

Keyword bread, garlic, potato bread, rolls, rosemary, vegan