Arizmendi Cheese Rolls!

The cheese rolls at Arizmendi have been a family favorite for years. They are chewy, crusty and impossibly savory. A little part of what makes them special is that we only get to partake when we're out on a day trip to SF either going to Cal Academy or Golden Gate Park. A bag of assorted Arizmendi goodies keeps us happily snacking all day. Finally I found their recipe and some copycat recipes too. Turns out they got their recipes from the Cheese Board in Berkeley and Cheese Board has a recipe book.

It's a sourdough that gets a long slow rise. This was the first time I kneaded a sourdough this much by hand. There were instructions for a stand mixer but mine was struggling a bit. It was a stiffer dough than I am used to. So I kneaded for over 20 minutes. Since this book predates the Tartine sourdough wave by about a decade, I missed info like starter hydration, metric weight measurements for all ingredients - particularly salt when their recipe uses kosher salt! With about a pound of cheese for 12 rolls, I erred on the side of caution with estimating salt weight.

I didn't use the full amount of cheese (used only 11 oz) and I'm glad I held back. These were cheesy enough. I will bake a shade less next time and use closer to the prescribed volume (eye roll) of salt. The chew was spot on!