Bread making is an art, an activity that gives me peace, calmness and takes away all my stress. Kneading, putting your fingers through the soft and gooey dough, pressing and pulling stimulates your nerves and relaxes you. I think. At least for me, this is so. It is about patience and care. Since I bought some books about bread-making, I stopped going to the bakery. I am making a different type of fresh bread every week now. Plus, I always thought I needed special equipment, oven, a big multipurpose kitchen. However, you can make almost all types of bread at home. These bread rolls are perfect to start your meal, with a tiny bit of butter and jam; or they can make a great snack for whenever you feel like during the day. They are easy to make, and pretty quick. This is a practical but cool recipe to impress your friends.
Ingredients:
150 ml milk
60 gr butter (3 tablespoons give or take)
2 table spoons of sugar
3 teaspoons of dry yeast
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons of salt
550 gr flour
Poppy seeds to decorate
How to:
1. Heat the milk in a sauce pan. Once it starts boiling, turn off the heat and add butter and sugar. Mix well and wait for it to reach a warm temperature.
2. In a small bowl, melt the dry yeast inside 3 or 4 table spoons of milk. The milk has to be warm, not cold and the yeast should melt completely. Just stir once and let it sit for a short while.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs. Add the milk and sugar mixture and the yeast mixture. Add the flour and bring everything together to form a soft dough.
4. When everything is combined and you have a dough, knead for 5-7 minutes. When I say knead, do it like the bakers do. Pull the dough outwards and then bring into itself, like folding and making a ball and do it again. That is the basic tip for kneading bread.
5. Make a ball of dough and put in a bowl, cover with cling film, then wait for 1 or 1 and a half hour to rest. In this time, the dough will rise to double.
6. After the dough has risen, take on a clean counter dusted with flour. Then cut into two pieces.
7. Take one of the pieces, make into a cylinder shape and cut into 8 equal pieces. Do the same with the other big piece. Before you start shaping the dough, turn the oven on for 220 degrees Celsius.
8. From this step on, it is up to you to decide the shape. You can make long strips and roll them like a snail shell. Or by holding each end and rolling them towards the middle, you can create another shape. You can make an 8 shape also. You can bake some of them like small balls if you can't be bothered to shape each and every piece.
9. You can take your bread rolls onto the baking sheet or tray. Leave 3 centimeter distance between one and another as the rolls tend to rise in the oven. Brush them with egg yolk and generously sprinkle with poppy seeds. That's it! You will have nice, sweetish bread rolls to start your meal and impress your friends. Eat and enjoy!
