Kaiser Rolls (Kajzerki)

“‘Mom, is it done yet?’, ‘Mom, when will they be ready?’, ‘Mom, it's finished, let's take them out!’ – that's how impatient my daughters were this evening, waiting for the rolls for dinner. Excited, they ran back and forth from the kitchen to the living room and peeked into the oven to see if the rolls were ready. When I took them out, a cheer rang through the kitchen, and a wonderful smell took over the house. A moment later, the house went quiet. Everyone was busy eating, and in the end only crumbs were left.” – That's an excerpt from my comment under Bajaderka's recipe.

Kaiser rolls

Most of us are used to store-bought bread. Even though I don't eat much of it (or maybe precisely because of that), I used to buy rolls and bread too, sometimes even the kind you only have to heat up. Since I started making rolls and bread myself, store-bought bread just doesn't taste good to me anymore. Slowly my daughters are coming around to homemade bread and getting used to it too, because it has none of the flavor enhancers and other unknown, not always noticeable additives. Bread you make with your own hands is one of a kind. It smells and tastes like real bread.

The Kaiser rolls (kajzerki) I'm sharing today simply can't be compared with the store-bought ones. These rolls are crispy on the outside, light and fragrant, and hide a soft crumb inside. They taste great with cold cuts as well as with honey or jam. You can forget about those puffed-up, hollow store-bought Kaiser rolls. I recommend them, and once again I'm so happy that Bajaderka shared such a tasty recipe.

Kaiser rolls

I'm quoting the author:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp butter

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and knead until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. From that moment, knead for 5 minutes, then set aside to rest for about 10 minutes, then knead for a little while longer, about 5 minutes. The dough should be elastic – with the look, consistency and stickiness of modeling clay. Transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl and leave to rise for an hour.
Divide the risen dough into 8 pieces, shape each one into a round roll, flatten slightly, place on a baking sheet, cover and leave to rise for 45 minutes, no longer, because they will puff up too much and lose the texture of Kaiser rolls.
Bake in an oven preheated to 225°C (435°F) for 15-17 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!