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–+ servings
Pile of round bread rolls shaped like spiky hedgehogs with several split open to show cheese and jalapeños inside.

Jalapeño Hedgehog Rolls

Hedgehog rolls are excellent as burger buns! They are also great with soup, salads, chili, or anywhere else you want adorable fancy rolls with a bit of spice.
NOTE pickled jalapeños need to sit for several hours or overnight.
Need one stick of ROOM TEMP BUTTER
Prepare the cheese at the same time as the jalapeños so it is ready at dough time and you can get straight to the bread making.
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Course Bread
Makes 18 rolls

Special Equipment

  • Stand mixer with dough hook (see note)
  • Kitchen scale (both grams and ounces are used)
  • Two large cookie sheets
  • Spritz bottle full of water
  • Clean dish towel
  • Clean kitchen scissors
  • Cooling rack for bread

Ingredients
  

Pickled Jalapeños (see note)

  • 1 Tbsp table salt
  • ⅔ cup water
  • ⅔ cup white vinegar
  • 4 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 ¼ cup fresh jalapeño peppers (between 5 and 6 oz) sliced 1/4" thick
  • 1 tsp coarsely chopped garlic

For Dough:

  • 5 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
  • 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 ½ tsp table salt
  • 2 ¼ tsp yeast
  • 1 ¾ cups lukewarm water
  • 7 Tbsp butter ROOM TEMP
  • 2 oz cheddar cheese (57g) GRATED
  • 2 oz cheddar cheese (57g) CUBED 1/2”
  • ¾ cup pickled jalapeños from above, drained, coarsely chopped

Topping:

  • ¼ cup yellow cornmeal

Instructions
 

Pickled Jalapeños:

  • In a small saucepan, combine the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil.
  • Combine the jalapeños and garlic in a nonreactive bowl, jar, or plastic container.
  • Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the jalapeños and garlic. Let the mixture steep at room temperature for a couple of hours, or in the fridge overnight.
  • Get a stick of butter out of the fridge so it’s ready.

Cheese:

  • Grate 2 oz of cheddar and cut 2 oz of cheddar into 1/4” to 1/2” cubes.
  • Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to bake.

Dough:

  • Finely chop 3/4 cup of the pickled jalapeños. (Any extra slices can be used for other purposes)
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and yeast.
  • Add the water and butter, mixing until homogenous. Use the dough hook with the mixer at medium-low speed.
  • Knead until the dough is smooth — about 9 minutes at medium speed. ** DO NOT leave the mixer unattended! It will walk off the counter! I recommend putting the mixer on a folded towel on the floor. **
  • Mix in the jalapeños and cheese (both grated and cubed). Knead for another 3 minutes at medium speed.

First Rise:

  • Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 60 minutes.
  • Do a bowl fold: Use your wet hand to grab a section of dough from one side, lift it up, then press it down firmly into the middle. Repeat this eight to 12 times.

Second Rise:

  • Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 60 minutes, or until roughly doubled in size.
  • Prepare the topping: Sprinkle 1/4 cup cornmeal on a large plate. Set aside.
  • Wet a clean dish towel, then wring it gently to remove excess water, leaving it well moistened. Set towel aside.

Shape the rolls:

  • Lightly flour your work surface. Divide the dough into 18 equal pieces (about 76g each).
  • Working with one piece at a time, fold the edges of the dough into the center. Pinch to seal and set aside. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Cover the pieces and let them rest for 15 minutes.
  • To coat the rolls: Roll the top of each roll across the wet towel to moisten, then place onto the cornmeal top side down, rocking to fully coat. Add additional cornmeal if necessary to fully coat the tops of all the rolls.
  • Place the rolls on two large baking sheets, half of them on each sheet, leaving at least 2” between them. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap.

Final Rise:

  • Let rolls rest at room temperature for about 60 minutes. The rolls will become noticeably puffy.
  • While the rolls are resting, preheat the oven to 425°F.
  • Just before baking, use clean kitchen scissors to snip small v-shapes all over the tops and sides of each roll, at a slight angle, with all snips at the same angle. *Only do one tray at a time!*
  • This will take TWO baking trays - unless you can put the trays side-by-side in your oven, bake each tray separately. One on top and one on bottom makes them both not great. One tray is just going to get extra rising time.

Bake:

  • Add steam to the hot oven by spritzing water into it really quickly just before putting the rolls in. Spritz a little more very quickly just before closing the oven.
  • Bake the rolls for 16 to 18 minutes; they should be a lovely golden brown.
  • Remove the rolls from the oven. Transfer the rolls to a cooling rack right away to finish cooling.
  • Bake the second tray of rolls, adding more steam to the oven at the beginning just like the first tray.

Notes

This is written for making in a stand mixer. It can be done by hand too; each kneading stage will just take a bit longer to reach the right texture.
Jalapeños: This makes about 1/2 cup extra pickled jalapeños. Those can be used in other things like burgers, tacos, or ramen.  They last in the fridge for probably a week or so.
Storage information: Wrap the bread and rolls loosely and store at room temperature for up to several days; freeze for longer storage.
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