Spelt rosemary rolls

It seems that life has been getting in the way of blogging recently. There are lots of things I want to share with you, but I haven't had the chance just yet. I will though, I will! So to start, some simple rolls to enjoy for breakfast each day. Inspired by having spelt flour to use up I decided to make rolls. These are pretty robust little rolls, ideal for a bumpy journey to work each day, they won't get squashed in my bag and arrive in tact to be enjoyed before I start the day. The rosemary was a spur of the moment inclusion (I'd ventured to the top of a little explored cupboard and found a jar of dried rosemary which looked rather forlorn and wanted to use some of it up - a bit of a gamble given that I knew these were for my breakfast, but one I feel paid off).

A simple recipe, and using Dan Lepard's method of kneading the dough - it initially seemed time consuming, but the more I use it, the more I like it. There's no 10 minute knead, rather time develops the gluten in the flour with a little help from you along the way.

Spelt rosemary rolls

Ingredients

125g wholemeal spelt flour

125g strong white bread flour

scant tsp dried rosemary

175ml warm water

scant tsp each dried yeast (fast acting), sugar and salt

Method

- Place flours, yeast, sugar and salt in a roomy mixing bowl. Mix well to combine. Add the warm water and mix to form a dough, making sure no dry bits are missed. Leave for 10 minutes or so.

- Lightly oil your worksurface and hands (I use sunflower oil for this) and tip the rough dough out onto the surface. Knead briefly, perhaps 15 seconds, or 10-12 folds.

- Return to the bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Repeat this kneading and leaving process 3 times.

- During the third knead, add in the rosemary and knead well to combine, then leave for 30 minutes.

- Shape the dough into rolls. I made eight this time, but they were pretty small.

- Leave until they have risen some more. I would say doubled in size, but I find it hard to tell. I probably leave them about an hour or so.

- Preheat the oven to Gas 6/200C. Bake the rolls for around 20-30 minutes until light golden brown. They will sound slightly hollow when tapped on their bases. I often turn them upside down for the last ten minutes of cooking to get them coloured all over.

- Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Butter and enjoy!

The rosemary flavour was subtle, but definitely added something to the rolls. I'd perhaps add a little more next time if I wanted the flavour to be more pronounced, but these were good. Because the spelt flour doesn't contain as much gluten as normal bread flour, these aren't light and fluffy, they've got a good crust and are slightly chewy - good to know that you've eaten something rather than just breathed in!