Living in San Diego for school, I gained a love for the little rolls brought from the local panaderia down the street. Like little mini batards, pulled from the oven and placed in bins alongside racks of pan dulces. Alas, here in the oakland hills the closest panaderia is a 15-20 minute drive away, and the bolillos just aren't quite like the ones I used to get in San Diego.
Most of the recipies I've seen are straight-dough, and being that I can't leave well enough alone, I have developed the following recipe, based off of the Poolish Baguettes in Hamelman's Bread. The percentages of fat and sugar are from a bakery near mexico city (I don't remember quite where).
Poolish:
166g Flour
166g Water
Pinch of yeast (less than 1/8 tsp)
Let poolish sit overnight or at least 8 hours, untill poolish begins to pucker in the middle.
Final Dough:
All of the Poolish
334g Flour
164g Water
15g Fat (Lard or shortning)
10g Salt
10g Sugar (unrefined cane or honey)
2g instant yeast
Mix everything but the salt together into a shaggy mass. Let autolysis for at least 20 mins. Add salt and kneed dough untill it passes a windowpane test. Let rise until doubled. Divide into 6-8 pieces, preshape into rounds and let bench rest for 10 mins. Shape into ovals and place into a floured couche like you would for baguettes. Preheat oven to 500F at least 45 minutes before baking. Slash bolillos once lengthwise and place into oven. Bake for 5 mins with steam at 500F then turn down oven to 450F for 10 mins (or untill a dark hazlenut color is achieved). Remove breads and let cool (if you can). Enjoy with some avocado, pickled jalapenos, ham, and farmers cheese, or just with some butter.
Bread behind is some oakland sourdough, made with Central Milling's type 70 high extraction flour.
