Mini Rolls

The past couple of weeks I have baked some nice loafs of Bread for our packed lunch sandwiches. This week I fancied a little change and also wanted to stretch myself a little. So I decided to make bread the longer and old fashioned way. This time I didn’t take short cuts so I was up to my elbows in flour as I knuckled down and kneaded before letting it prove and rise. I really liked the process of making them especially the kneading process. It is a little hard work but its well worth it and the Kneading is a really great way to get rid of everyday stresses.

Ingredients for 12 Rolls

500g Wholemeal Flour
275ml Water
1tsp Caster Sugar
2tsp Salt
2tsp Yeast
1tsp Butter

Recipe

Begin by mixing the Water, Yeast and Caster Sugar together. Set aside until a froth forms on the surface. This means that the yeast is fermenting and will help the bread rise more.

Meanwhile in a large bowl sift and mix the dry ingredients. Sift the flour and salt together. There will be a lot of the wholemeal pieces left over in your sieve, add this to the bowl. It wont affect the final texture but does keep it nice and healthy. Rub in the Butter, then make a well in the centre.

Pour in the yeast and mix with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth dough (it will be quite sticky). Pull it out onto a floured work surface and knead. This is where you can get rid of any stress you may have as you will need to work it for about 10 minutes. As you kneed the bread make sure you really stretch it to smooth it out and develop elasticity in the gluten. This also helps to get air into the dough.

Divide the dough into 12 pieces and form into Rolls. Place the rolls onto a baking tray lined with Baking Parchment, cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour to rise.

After an hour the Rolls should have doubled in size. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until they are brown. Check they are baked right through by tapping them on the bottom, if it sounds hollow then its ready.

The Rolls were lovely and light, I think we will have some really nice packed lunches with these.