Khorasan dinner rolls

  • medium
  • 14
  • 1 hour 10 minutes
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This khorasan bread roll recipe is the perfect thing to bake if you're wondering why the ancient wheat variety is becoming so popular. The buttery texture of the khorasan flour is bolstered with an actual garlic butter, while the shape is created by stuffing balls of dough into a tin so they fuse together whilst in the oven. If you're after a vegan version of this dish, simply omit the garlic butter.

First published in 2019
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Fermenting a portion of your flour in advance (known as a pre-ferment) adds flavour to your dough, as well as creating a softer texture (in a similar vein as adding fats to your dough) and extending its shelf life.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Preferment

  • 300g of strong bread flour
  • 300g of water, cold
  • 3g of quick yeast

Dough

  • 300g of water, luke warm
  • 450g of khorasan flour
  • 10g of quick yeast
  • 15g of salt

Garlic butter

Equipment

  • Food mixer fitted with a dough hook

Method

1
Make your pre-ferment the day before you want to make your rolls. Mix the strong bread flour with the water and quick yeast. Place in the fridge and leave to ferment for anywhere between 12 and 24 hours. The pre-ferment is ready when it has doubled in size, is full of bubbles and smells like ripe fruit. Refrigeration slows down the fermentation process so you have a longer window to catch the pre-ferment at the right time.
2
When ready to mix your dough, remove your pre-ferment from the fridge and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the water, Khorasan flour, quick yeast and salt to the bowl, and mix for 5 minutes on a low speed until the dough is smooth and springy. You can also mix by hand, although this will take a few minutes longer
3
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball. Place the ball into an oiled bowl and cover. Leave to rise for 1 hour
4
In the meantime, oil and line 2 x 24cm cake tins (or similar) with vegetable oil and parchment
5
After an hour the dough should have grown by 50–75% in volume, and when pulled away from the edge you should see a network of bubbles below the surface. Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 14 pieces, roughly 95g each, using a small amount of flour to stop them sticking to the surface
6
To shape into a ball, take one piece of dough and fold all the edges into the middle. Flip it around so that seam is now on the bottom. Using the outer edge of your palm (imagine there is a line that runs from the top of your little finger down around the edge of your palm and up to the top of your thumb) move your hand in a circular motion, until the dough forms a ball. Do not use the palm itself as that will squash the dough down, instead you want to create tension and height using the outer edges of your palm
7
Place one ball in the middle of the tin and surround with 6 more. Repeat with the other tin until you have used all 14 balls. Leave to rise for 1.5 hours at room temperature. After one hour, preheat the oven to 200°C (fan)/gas mark 6
8
Make a garlic butter by mixing the softened butter with the oil, garlic, salt and oregano. Brush half over the buns before baking, and the other half once baked. If you want to keep the rolls vegan, dust the tops with a little flour
9
Bake your rolls for 15-18 minutes, or until golden

Brought to you by Doves Farm

Miranda is a baker at The Dusty Knuckle in East London.

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