Bread Rolls recipe with step by step photos
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Bread Rolls dough-
To make the dough for bread rolls, in a small bowl, take yeast. We are using dry yeast for the French bread rolls. Instant dry yeast can be added straight to dry ingredients and doesn’t require any proofing. Active dry yeast has a slightly bigger size of granule and needs to be dissolved in a liquid before adding to a recipe.
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Add the sugar. Sugar has multiple roles in bread making. One is it acts as a food for yeast and helps in creating carbon dioxide and alcohol. It also enhances the flavor of the bread, retains the moisture content, tenderizes the dough and gives a crumbly texture & golden crust to the dinner rolls.
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Add 2 tbsp of warm water in the bowl. Before pouring the water, dip your finger in water to check if it’s lukewarm or no. Water that's too hot can damage or kill the yeast.
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Mix well. Cover it with a lid and keep aside for 10 minutes. The rising time will vary as per the climatic conditions.
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After 10 minutes, open the lid and you can see a frothy layer on top which indicates our yeast has been activated and is ready to use. If you don’t see a creamy frothy layer then discard the yeast and start over again.
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For preparing the dough for Homemade bread rolls, in a deep bowl take plain flour. Take a big bowl as the dough will rise on resting and you would want to prevent it from overflowing.
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Add butter. Butter promises a flavorful and soft dinner roll.
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Add salt and yeast-sugar mixture.
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Mix well and gradually add ½ cup of warm water. Instead of water, you can make use of milk to make softer bread rolls.
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The dough will be sticky but, don’t worry just knead into a soft and pliable dough. Don’t be tempted to add excess flour otherwise, the rolls will come out tough and dense.
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Shape the dough into a proper round using both your hands while tucking the edges at the bottom. Cover it with a damp muslin cloth and keep aside in a warm place for 20 minutes or till the dough increases in volume.
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After 20 minutes, you will notice the dough has risen and looks like this.
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To make the dough for bread rolls, in a small bowl, take instant dry yeast.
How to make bread rolls-
To prepare bread rolls, grease a baking tray with oil and keep aside.
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Lightly punch down the dough and divide the French bread roll dough into 8 equal portions. The best way to ensure that your bread rolls are equal in size is to weigh them. Weigh the entire batch of dough using a kitchen scale and divide that weight by 8. This will give you your target weight for each bread roll.
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Take a portion of dough and stretch the top of the dough while pinching and sealing the bottom.
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Roll each portion into a ball between your palm and kitchen countertop till smooth. You can shape this dough in many different ways including knotted rolls, twisted rolls or even hot dog buns.
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Cover the bread rolls with a damp muslin cloth fully but ensure it does not press them down and keep in a warm place for 45 minutes or till they rise well.
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After 45 minutes, the bread rolls will have risen.
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Brush little milk evenly over each roll.
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Bake the homemade dinner rolls in a pre-heated oven at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Do check once in between at 12-15 minutes, if they are starting to darken beyond what you prefer, place a piece of foil over the top and continue baking. Remove them from the oven.
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Immediately brush little butter/ oil and serve warm.
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You can enjoy these soft bread rolls with pasta or soup to make a complete meal.
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Frequently Asked Questions-
Q. The outer skin of the bread turned hard after it was baked. The inside of the bread was soft?
Make sure to brush the bread rolls with butter immediately after they come out of the oven. The skin will be soft once the bread rolls absorb the butter.
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Q. My Bread Rolls did not rise. They were flat even after i kept them in a warm place for considerable amount of time?
Make sure the yeast you use is fresh. Stale yeast can loose its strength over time. Also, to bloom the yeast use warm water, use of hot water or cold water wont let the yeast rise.