I thought I should post a roll recipe since it is Canada Day today and 4th of July is fast approaching. This recipe makes soft buns but they are far from the fluffy flavourless grocery store ones. You can taste the olive oil and the fleur de sel topping gives them a special touch. You could make the dough the day before you are planning to serve it, knead, let it rise at room temperature, fold and store in the fridge, then let it come to room temperature and continue as described below. I brushed the buns with olive oil but you could use a simple egg wash, milk or water.
- 3 ¼ cup sifted spelt flour
- 1 cup unbleached bread flour
- 1 ½ tsp instant yeast
- 1 ¼ tsp sea salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- ½ cup milk, lukewarm
- ½ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Fleur de sel (optional)
Place the flours and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer or in a large bowl, mix to distribute the yeast in the flours. Add salt and mix again. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, milk, buttermilk and olive oil and pour in to the flour mixture. Mix until a dough forms. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic, you may need to add more flour at this point, if you do, add about a tablespoon at a time and try to avoid adding too much flour.
Place the dough in a bowl greased with olive oil and let it rise until doubled in volume. Remove from the bowl and divide into 10-12 pieces and let them rest for 20 minutes. Shape each piece into a roll and place on a baking sheet. Let the rolls proof at room temperature until almost doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 375F. Brush each roll with olive oil and sprinkle with fleur de sel, or your topping of choice and bake until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
