How to make sandwich thins

JoeV

Dough Boy
Site Supporter
Excellent job Joe. Copied to the Tutorial forum for easier reference by all. -doc


Hey, JoeV, what are those? Sandwich thins? They look very good. Is the recipe available?

Thanks,
Yep, those are sandwich thins. Here's what I post on other websites for folks who want to make them. It might be helpful if one of the mods wants to make this info into a sticky for the bread forum. It's all about sharing.

How to make sandwich thins
By Joe Valencic

I've made thins from almost every one of my bread recipes, so feel free to use your favorite recipe. It is critical to use butter, not margarine(margarine is not food), and bread flour, not pastry or all-purpose flour. Bread flour has the protein required for gluten development that equates to good structure for sandwich thins. If you grind your own flour, use hard winter wheat, as it has 11-14% protein. Most bread recipes will make two loaves of bread or 12 sandwich thins and one loaf of bread.

After the first rise of your dough, divide it in half so it's easier to work with. Divide the dough into 2.2 oz. portions, shape or roll them into a ball, then allow to rest under a tea towel for 5-10 minutes. A simple digital scale from Harbor Freight Tools is fine for this process.

After the rest, begin shaping the balls into a disc, about 5" in diameter. I use a small, 8" rolling pin that is used for making roti bread and tortillas. Take your time rolling in two directions so you don't destroy the gluten structure. They will shape out to rounds, and let them rest for about 5 minutes.


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I roll out all the rounds on my granite island, and while they are resting I prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper, and dust it with corn meal. The next step is to dock the rounds before placing them on the sheet pan. Docking can be done with a docker or with a fork. If the rounds are not docked to allow steam to escape through the holes, the dough will expand under the skin and you will get large air bubbles under the skin. Pizza shops do this to prevent air bubbles under the pizza crust. Here are some dockers to consider, and you don't need to spend a lot of money. This one is plenty good, but I own this one because I could buy it at a local restaurant and I like to buy pro grade equipment with as much bread as I bake (100-150 leaves annually). Here's what they look like docked and then placed on the sheet pan. Roll the docker from the middle out, then in reverse. Don't worry about too many holes, it's tough to do.


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Once docked and on the pan, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise for 25 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400F at this point.


After the 25 minute rise brush the rounds with egg wash and sprinkle with oatmeal flakes for whole wheat thins, sesame seeds for Italian and fennel seeds for rye thins (optional).


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Pop them in the oven for 13 minutes, or until the tops turn golden brown. Immediately remove from the sheet pan and put on cooling racks to cool. If left in the pan they will overbake and dry out. Get them out ASAP.


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Once cooled, you can slice the thins, bag them and put them in the freezer. They will keep just fine in the freezer for 2 weeks, then just 15-17 seconds in the microwave will give you a fresh sandwich thin.

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Sorry if I overwhelmed you with detail, but if you follow the plan you will have great, flavorful sandwich thins. They don't really take a lot of time to make, but it takes awhile to explain it. I really need to make a YouTube video of this process, because I get a lot of requests just like yours. Maybe this is the kick in the pants I need to do it. LOL

ENJOY!!
 
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