Instructions: Add yeast to water and proof. Add shortening, sugar, salt & 3 cups of the flour. Beat with dough whisk or heavy spoon for 2 minutes.

Fold egg whites into yeast mixture. Gradually add flour 1/4 cup at a time, until dough forms a mass & begins to pull away from bowl. Turn onto a floured surface. Knead, adding more flour as necessary, for 8-10 minutes, until smooth & elastic w/ bubbles.

Place in oiled bowl, turn to coat, and cover with damp towel. Let rise until double, about 1 hour.

Punch down, cover & let rise again until double (about 45 minutes.)

Punch down & turn out onto lightly oiled surface.

For Kaiser or Weck: Divide dough into 18 equal pieces. Use rolling pin to flatten each piece into a 7 inch circle. Fold left side to center to form a flap. Halfway down flap fold again to center to form another flap. Repeat all the way around to make over- lapping flaps. Lift the first flap to ease the last flap underneath. Press center to seal the dough. This design takes practice, but is easy once you get the hang of it. Place rolls upside down on a well-greased baking sheet, 3 inches apart. This helps them keep their shape. Let rise 30 minutes, turn right side up, let rise 15 more minutes.

For Brotchen: Divide dough into 24 pieces. Shape each into an oval about 3 1/2 inches long. Place on well greased baking sheet. If your oven will not fit all at once, prepare half at a time, keeping rest covered for 15 minutes. Flatten tops slightly. Cover & let rise 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425. Put a shallow pan on the bottom shelf of oven.

Lightly brush the rolls with egg wash. Sprinkle with seeds or coarse salt ,if desired. Place 1 cup of ice cubes in the heated pan in oven. Immediately put the rolls in and bake 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown (internal temp will read 190). Remove & cool on racks.

NOTE: I made 16, rather than 18 rolls...that allowed me to easily space 4 per cookie sheet. I left half the dough covered while I formed the first 8. After 15 minutes I started on the second half - this worked out well. Shaping them wasnt as easy as it sounds (Im visualizationly challenged!), but the rolls puffed up a lot as they rose and even though they looked like a convention of amoebas to begin with, expanded a lot and when baked were fine. Crisp crust, airy interior, best Kaiser recipe Ive found!

NOTES : I understand how Thomas Denny ONeal feels about being far away from great Kaiser rolls...Im an transplanted New Yorker in eastern North Carolina and biscuits just dont cut it for me. I have tried many Kaiser roll recipes and heres the best one Ive found.

"Kaiser & Brotchen are made from the same dough, but shaped differently. Kaiser has the 5 sided pinwheel design, Brotchen are smaller & oval shaped. In Buffalo, NY Kaiser rolls are glazed & sprinkled with seeds, called Weck Rolls."

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.