The smell of fresh bread baking has to be one of my favourite smells ever and I love working with dough, I know that many people think its hard work or to time consuming, but I love the science behind it and rather than finding it time consuming, yes it does take hours to prove, I just get on with other things whilst it is proving. I make bread so often that I don’t notice the time it takes anymore, I seem to of fallen into the routine of starting it at the same time every afternoon and it is then ready to be popped into the oven in time to enjoy with our evening meal.
These simple white bread rolls are just perfect for this time of year, every Autumn I start to feel the urge to make soup and one of these lovely little rolls, warm and fresh from the oven, dripping in butter are just perfect to serve with any flavour of soup you have rustled up.
They are also perfect to pop in the Kids lunch boxes and I love them with a really good quality ham and English mustard or even a really strong English cheddar and some tangy pickle.
How ever you enjoy them, the pleasure from baking your own bread I hope will be as rewarding for you as it is for me.
Buon appetito
500g Bread flour (white or wholemeal)
7g (One sachet) Fast-action yeast
1 1/2 tsp Caster Sugar
2 tsp Salt
300ml Luke warm water
3 tbsp Olive oil
Plus extra flour for dusting
You can do the first rising over night in the fridge in a well oiled bowl, but I like to do mine on the day, but it is completely up to you and how it fits into your day.
Combine the flour, yeast, salt and caster sugar in a large bowl. Mix the mixture gently yo combine.
Once combined make a well in the center of the flour in preparation for the wet ingredients.
Measure 300ml of luke warm water and add 3 tbsp of olive oil.
Pour the water and oil into the well of flour and gradually mix the flour in until it forms a dough.
Transfer the dough to the work top and start to knead. Do not be intimidated if your dough is quite wet. Don’t be tempted to add to much flour as this will result in a denser bread.
Persist in kneading for ten minutes until smooth and elastic, or cheat like I did and use a dough hook on your food mixer!
Place your smooth dough into a lightly oiled, covered bowl and leave to prove for an hour.I pop mine in the airing cupboard and have been known to pop it under the duvet with the electric blanket on full, trust me, it may be a little unconventional, but trust me, it works 🙂
If you have made your dough in the evening then you can leave in the fridge overnight.
Once your hour prove has finished knock back the dough for a good 10 minutes, then roll into a long sausage shape and divide into 8 sections. I am a little sad and weigh mine to get them all the same size, think maybe I should get out more !!!
Form these sections into small rounds and place on covered baking trays for another hour.
Whilst proving preheat the oven to 220C/fan. (This step also applies for the fridge proving option).
Now cook your rolls in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Once out of the oven transfer to a cooling rack, tapping the bottom of the rolls to check that they sound hollow. Cover with a clean tea towel when cooling. This will absorb the moisture from the heat coming of the rolls.
Serve warm with lashings of real butter.
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