Rozky: Slovak Caraway Salt Rolls

One thing I love about cooking is that you really never stop learning.  You can learn something new every single day. And this is what I learned yesterday.  For as long as I can remember, most restaurants in our area serve a really good roll which is crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside and filled with caraway seeds.  They are topped with a mixture of caraway seeds and salt.  And they are GOOD!  The strange thing is, I never thought about making them. The other day I was reading about breads from all over the world and I came upon an article about Slovakian bread called rozky.  I searched for recipe but all but one was in Slovak. Interestingly, I can read ingredients in most languages.  After perusing numerous recipes, I found one that called for caraway seeds and all of a sudden the light bulb went on. My city has always had a large Slovak community and this is why we have these local salt sticks. I never put it together that I have only seen these rolls in my area and never anywhere else. I went about making them immediately.

 For the dough:

2 C. flour
1 C. milk
4 T. oil
1 T. sugar
2 tsp. rapid rise yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. caraway seeds
Mix this together adding more flour as needed.  Knead until you have a smooth ball of dough, cover and let it rise until double.  This can take up to 2 hours.  After it has risen, dump it out on a flour covered surface.

 Cut it in half.

 Roll each half out into a large circle about 12 inches in diameter.  Cut it into 4 pieces.  The next time I make these I will cut them into 8 pieces because these came out rather large.

 Grab the 'ears' on each piece and stretch them out a bit.

 Fold them in.

 Roll them up like a cigar.

 Place them flap side down on a parchment covered cookie sheet.  Cover them with plastic wrap and put them to rise until plumped. 

 This will take about 40 minutes.

 Just before baking, brush with a beaten egg white, sprinkle with more caraway seeds and course salt.

Bake them at 400 degrees for about 20-22 minutes.  Cool on racks.

 Nice and crunchy on the outside, chewy and tender on the inside.

I doubled the recipe but a single recipe make 8 big rolls.  The ones sold locally are much smaller and next time mine will be too.