i ended last year hung up on three things.
the first: a boy (isn’t it always?). quarantine fact: break ups are much, much harder during a global pandemic when there is not much else to do except sit on a rollercoaster ride of uncomfortable feelings and thought patterns.
the second: brooklyn. seeking proximity to family and an escape from the impending winter, i left new york. quarantine fact: there’s nothing like cinematic nostalgia to leave you on the ground curled up in a blanket burrito, sobbing. watching dash & lily destroyed me.
last, but certainly not least: my beloved arizmendi cheese rolls. back in august, i had scoured the internet for the recipe. i had racked my brain for the taste profile of the cheese. quarantine fact: i had tasted cheesy, bready greatness and i could not go back.
luckily, when i moved last month i discovered cheeseboard, arizmendi’s sister bakery. needless to say, i have since consumed many a cheese roll. luckily, this also had the happy side effect of mitigating the first two aforementioned hang ups. a small sacrifice in the name of research.
after much neighborly taste testing, i’m confident this formula produces a remarkable likeness to the original cheese roll, with improvements. i feel i’m doing a similar type of analysis and reconstruction for the other parts of my life. basking in the sunny, warm winter days. reconnecting with old friends over focaccia. trekking through miles of redwood forest.
i’m not saying these cheese rolls have magically cured my afflictions, though i notice progress everyday.
all i’m saying is this. if even one person is spared from the sadness that is a life without cheese rolls, then my work here will have been worth it.
notes
as always, please adjust the formula based on the hydration of your starter, and adjust the timing of the bulk rise based on the temperature of your kitchen. please treat all times listed below as a sample schedule. this recipe was developed during the winter, in a 60 degree kitchen at 50% humidity.
you might be tempted to use a different type of cheese. i strongly recommend you resist this urge. asiago cheese just hits different. i repeat. these rolls will not have the intended flavor without asiago.
as per my other experiences baking with cheese, parchment paper is a must! melty cheese can easily crust over.
this recipe preserves all of the loveability of these iconic rolls while also providing a softer bite, lighter texture, and smaller size. i’m especially excited about this recipe, and i hope you all will be too.
baker’s percentage & sample timetable
the percentages for water and flour only account for the final dough build, and do not include the levain formula build.
| ingredient | baker’s percentage |
| all purpose flour | 50% |
| bread flour | 30% |
| whole wheat flour | 20% |
| water | 75% |
| salt | 2.5% |
| levain | 24% |
| asiago cheese | 35% |
| step | time |
| levain build | 9 hours |
| bulk rise | 12 hours |
| folds | 3 folds |
| proof | 2 hours |
| bake | 20-25 min |
sourdough cheese rolls
formula
- 10 g unfed levain
- 10 g king arthur whole wheat flour
- 40 g king arthur all purpose flour
- 40 g water @ 85°F
- 150 g king arthur all purpose flour
- 90 g king arthur bread flour
- 60 g king arthur whole wheat flour
- 225 g water @ 95°F
- 7 g sea salt
- 75 g ripe levain
- 90 g asiago cheese (shredded)
method
- refresh your starter using levain build formula, and stiff starter method. in wintertime in a cold 60°F kitchen, it takes ~10 hrs for my starter to ripen. in a summertime kitchen, it might take closer to 6 hrs.
- in a large bowl, mix all flours together. slowly add the water, mixing with a rubber spatula, making sure to incorporate the water into the flour well, stopping when all the flour is hydrated. let sit, covered, for 30-60 minutes.
- sprinkle salt evenly over autolysed dough. incorporate gently by folding dough over a 2-3 times. then, measure out ripe starter, and add to bowl.
- mix using the pincer and stretch & fold method for about 6-7 minutes.
- let dough rise overnight at room temp until it doubles and appears gaseous, ~12 hours in the wintertime (cold kitchen ~60°F), ~9 hrs in the shoulder seasons (kitchen ~67°F), and probably closer to ~7 hours in the summertime (hot kitchen ~75°F)
- this dough needs 3-4 sets of stretch and folds, spaced 30-45 min apart, starting at the beginning.
- gently handle gaseous dough onto a lightly floured surface. stretch gently into a square, about 8×8 inches, such that one side is floured, and the other is slightly tacky.
- generously and evenly sprinkle ~2/3 (or more) of the shredded cheese onto the square, so the dough square is covered in cheese.
- similar to rolling cinnamon rolls, roll the square into a cylinder. starting with the edge facing you, slowly roll up the square into a tight spiral.
- with a bench knife or a string, cut the cylinder into six even pieces.
- arrange the rolls of dough on parchment paper in your baking vessel of choice.
- cover and rest for 2 hours.
- if you're using a cast-iron skillet, you will have to pre-heat the skillet with the oven. to do so, lift parchment paper and rolls off of cast-iron skillet, and set aside. cover again.
- pre-heat oven to 475°F. place cast-iron skillet inside oven to heat.
- if using a cast iron skillet, remove now piping hot cast iron from oven and place the parchment paper with rolls back into cast iron.
- generously top buns with additional cheese.
- place buns on your middle rack.
- bake for 20-25 minutes, or until buns are golden brown, checking once at 18 minutes.
These look delicious. Are the stretch and folds at the beginning of the 8PM mix?
I am just so so happy to have found this recipe!! I adore Arizmendi cheese rolls but don’t live close to any of their locations. Going to start mixing levain now. Have you tried using rye in place of the whole wheat flour? Based on the color and taste of their rolls I suspect there is some rye in there.
Hi Niv, yay, as a fellow cheese roll adorer, I’m also glad you found this 😍. You’ll have to let me know what you think! Ooooo I haven’t re: rye, but if you do, please let me know how it turns out! My guess is you’ll have to decrease the hydration a bit to compensate as well.
Exactly the recipe I was looking for! Thanks!
Why did you salt the autolyse, did you want to inhibit the rise? Is that why you used more than 20% levain?
Pretty close approximation! I used to work for Arizmendi, and of course we used the Cheeseboard’s recipe. While you’re not far off, and I’m sure these are great, I thought I’d pass on a few notes.
First, the cheese we used was actually a combination of Swiss and asiago, in equal parts. The Cheese Board cookbook says Gruyere in lieu of Swiss, but we always used Swiss at Arizmendi. I see the Cheese Board website currently mentions only asiago, so I’m not sure if that has changed, or was an error of omission. You can obviously use whatever cheese you like, but I would guess that due to the cost of Gruyere that’s why Arizmendi switched to Swiss, and I can’t speak to what the Cheese Board currently uses.
Second, your dough might actually better (in my opinion) than the original recipe. But if you are curious, it is simply the suburban dough. This is made from starter (all white, bread flour), ABC bread flour, whole wheat, and wheat bran (all from Central Milling). No AP in the OG formula, but I put it in my own at home as I appreciate the added tenderness. I always thought the addition of wheat bran was an interesting one, as it lends a bit more whole wheat quality, while allowing you to use more bread flour and less whole wheat. I was told once by someone who I trust did the math (I did not) that the amount of bran added to the recipe actually makes this dough more fiber rich than if the dough was made with 100% whole wheat.
Here’s the recipe from the Cheeseboard book if you are interested for the dough (yep, they still do everything by volume and imperial measurements, no grams!):
Suburban Dough
MAKES 2 LOAVES
Preparation time including rising and baking: 12 hours (unless rising overnight); active time: 1 hour
4½ cups (22.5 ounces) bread flour
⅔ cup (3¼ ounces) whole-wheat flour
1½ tablespoons wheat bran
2 cups cool water
1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (5 ounces) Sourdough Starter
Cheers and I hope you’re still baking!
Reading this comment brings me so much joy — thanks so much for the notes 🥹😍! I’m such an Arizmendi fangirl.