These rolls, whether delicately spiced with cumin or speckled with poppy seeds, always go down well:
“Bread making?” friends say, “That’s not for me – doesn’t it take hours? I don’t know how to knead dough, anyway.”
It takes, in fact, a mere fifteen minutes to make up the dough (and you don’t have to watch it while it rises!), and after a batch or two the kneading will become second nature. Fifteen minutes gives you fifteen rolls – not a bad turnover!
The rolls are perfect for lunchboxes, as they are, wholesome, and very good with cheese. They keep for at least five days in a tin (longer in the fridge), and freeze well – although I doubt that you will need to keep them for so long! They are especially good heated up in the oven before eating.
Try mixing different combinations of flours: my favourite is wholemeal and barleycorn flour, but the latter is quite difficult to get hold of if you do not have access to a whole-food or specialist shop. If you prefer a lighter bread, then try wholemeal or granary mixed with plain. Experiment! This recipe is only a guideline – it’s for you to make it your own!
Ingredients:
- 500g flour
- 1tsp salt
- 1 tsp easy-bake yeast
- ½ cup poppy seeds or 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp milk powder
- 10 fl oz lukewarm water
- 2 tbsp oil
Method
1) Sift flour and salt into a large bowl.
2) Stir in yeast, poppy or cumin seeds, sugar and milk powder.
3) Make a well in the flour, and pour in the oil and water, and stir in with a fork.
4) When the flour is more or less mixed in, bring together with your hands and knead inside the bowl for a few minutes. If the dough is too wet or too dry, then add flour or water as appropriate until the dough is easy to knead.
5) Knead on a lightly-floured board for five minutes, adding more flour as necessary, until the dough is smooth and elastic*.
6) Oil the mixing bowl and put the dough inside this, then cover with cling-film and leave in a warm place for at least an hour, until the dough has doubled in size. This could take longer in lower temperatures, and it is even possible to let the dough rise in the fridge overnight (but make sure you let it come to room temperature before moving on to stage seven).
7) When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and knead again for about five minutes on a floured board.
8) Divide the dough into approximately 15 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. Place the balls on two oiled baking trays. They should not be too close together, as they will rise again.
9) Cover with cling-film and leave in a warm place for another hour, until doubled in size.
10) Bake in a pre-heated oven (gas 7, 220C, 425F) for 15 minutes. Eat immediately, with lots of butter!
Tip: For soft-crust rolls, daub with a little oil before the second rising. For hard-crust rolls, brush them with milk after the second rising.
*Kneading tip : Push the dough down with the heel of one hand, while pushing it away from you with the other. Change the position of the dough and repeat. The idea each time is to change the shape of the dough, gradually working the yeast granules through the flour.
