LAB NOTES: Homemade Hoagie Rolls

Hello All,
Wayne AKA the Mad Food Scientist here.
Over Labor Day weekend I decided to take a swing at making Seitan sausages.
( SPOILER ALERT: UPCOMING POST!! )
So, to go along with the sausages. I need to make Hoagie rolls so I can take some of these bad boys to work for lunch. I’m in a kitbashing mood. So, I borrowed from three YouTube channels.
I searched YouTube and found a Hoagie roll recipe on the Summer Bakes The World YouTube Channel ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDUaqYy7gT4&t=205s )
BLOG POST LINK: ( https://summerbakestheworld.com/2021/05/03/the-best-tasting-hamburger-hot-dog-and-hoagie-buns/#recipe )
I’m mainly following her recipe, but tweaking it a bit.
I borrowed a few things from Larry over on the Deep South Texas YouTube Channel. 
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj7Sh79krG0&t=277sJ )
I also borrowed from Ethan Chlebowski on his eponymous channel.
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR8oA5ACqPg&t=200s )

ORIGINAL Recipe:
Ingredients
1 cup milk
½ cup water
¼ cup butter 4 tbsp or ½ stick
4- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour determine quantity based on humidity
2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast .25 oz package
2 tbsp white sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
1 egg
Sesame seeds or black cumin seeds optional for topping

METHOD: 
In a small bowl, melt butter in the microwave (20 seconds) and set aside. In a glass measuring cup, heat milk and water in the microwave until the temperature reaches 110˚F / 43˚C. Then, stir the butter into the milk and water mixture and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together 1 ¾ cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Crack the egg in a separate bowl and lightly beat it with a fork. Pour the egg in with the wet ingredients and stir everything together until the ingredients are well combined.
Add in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together and still sticky, but can be manipulated by hand, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic for 8-10 minutes.
Divide dough into 12 equal pieces.
For hamburger buns, shape each piece into smooth balls and flatten out to the width appropriate for hamburgers. Place each on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If desired, top with sesame or black cumin seeds. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 to 60 minutes until puffed.
Preheat oven to 400˚F / 204˚C during the last 15 minutes of rising. Bake buns for 10 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.
For Hot Dog Buns, shape each piece into a 6×4 inch rectangle. Starting with the longer side, roll up tightly and pinch edges and ends to seal. Let rise about 30 to 45 minutes. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown.
For larger hoagie or submarine rolls, combine 1½- 2 hot dog rounds (before forming them into hog dog buns). Knead just slightly to blend the dough together. Shape each piece into a 6×4 inch rectangle (or slightly larger) and roll up like the hot dog bun. Use a knife and score a long slit about ¼ inch deep down the center of each roll. As the dough rises and bakes, the slit will leave a scar which is the typical look of a traditional hoagie roll.

01 September, 2024: Homemade Hoagie Rolls Experiment
INGREDIENTS: Converted to Metric
245g/1 cup Split Pea milk 
120g/½ cup water
57g/¼ cup butter 4 tbsp or ½ stick
300g/2.5 cups –  360g/3 cups all-purpose flour determine quantity based on humidity
120g/1.5 cups Homemade Oat Flour
8g Diastatic Malt Powder 
1 TBSP active dry yeast
2 tbsp Turbinado sugar ( It’s the sugar that I have )
1 ½ tsp salt
1 egg
3 TBSP Oil ( I used Avocado Oil )
Sesame seeds or black cumin seeds optional for topping

METHOD: 
To assemble the dough.
I’ll be using my stand mixer
I used softened butter instead of melting it.
I beat the egg with chopsticks, a trick that my good friend Keir taught me. Additionally, I’m pulling back 180g of AP flour ( about 1.5 cups of AP flour ) and subbing in 120g/1.5 cups of Homemade Oat flour ( About 1.5 cups of Oat Flour ) that I milled in my blender.
I’m going to borrow from Ethan Chlebowski and add in 8g of Diastatic Malt Powder.
After the dough is done being kneaded by the stand mixer.
I’ll use the stretch and fold technique that Larry on the Deep South Texas YouTube channels shares. I’ll do two of them since the stand mixer kneaded the dough for ten minutes.
Then I’ll let the dough rise for an hour.
After the hour is up, I’l punch the dough back down.
Then I’ll turn the dough out onto a floured cutting board.
and divide into eight equal-ish pieces.
Then I’ll pre-shape.
Stretch them out, then tuck each end into the middle.
Next roll it into a roll.
Then roll it like a playdough snake. Make sure they’re sealed really well.
Let them rest for 15 minutes. 
Do the final shape.
Flatten them out a bit, then fold them over into themselves.
Place onto a parchment lined, or silicone mat lined baking tray.
Cover, and let rise for about 45 minutes.
Preheat my airfryer to 400F/200C ( I may have to drop to 380F/194C )
Make a slit down the center of each roll
Brush with egg wash and sprinkle caraway, or fennel seeds.
Bake for: 20 minutes, but check at 15 minutes.

LAB NOTES: 01 September, 2024:
So, I assembled the dough, I added 3 TBSP of avocado oil based on Larry’s recipe, I added 8g of diastatic malt powder from Ethan’s recipe. I began by using 300g of All Purpose flour, the 120g of Homemade Oat Flour, and then added in the 60g from the alternate. 
It still wasn’t coming together. It still didn’t form a ball. So I began adding back the 180g I’d reserved in 60g increments.  It took all 180g of the reserve to get the dough to come together.
I let the stand mixer knead it for ten minutes after the ball came together.
After ten minutes of the stand mixer doing the kneading. I then did two of the stretch and folds that Larry suggested.
I let the dough rise for an hour. 
Then I punched it down and divided it up into nine  pieces.
I preshaped as Larry had shared on his video. Then let the proto-rolls rest/rise for another fifteen minutes.
I did the final shape. Brushed on egg wash and sprinkled Carraway seeds. 
I preheated my airfryer to: 204˚C/400˚F  
I baked at  204˚C for twenty minutes.
Then I let the rolls cool on a wire rack.

OBSERVATIONS: 01 September, 2024
This experiment was a blast to make.
I made nine rolls this time. Next time, I’ll probably increase it to a dozen.
These rolls tasted phenomenal and I’ll be doing this again.
Next time, I’ll try using vegan butter instead of dairy butter. I’ll use aquafaba as a 1:1 substitute for oil. Speaking of aquafaba, I’ll also use aquafaba instead of egg wash.
Just to see how these turn out being completely vegan. 
I’m really embracing my new philosophy for the Domestic Culinary Laboratory:
F@$K Around And Find Out!!