French Bread Rolls

Bread is my favorite treat, besides dessert of course. I love almost all types. It's warm and soft and delicious. It can be quick to make bread or a labor of love that takes weeks if you're making a proper sourdough starter. I should make a sourdough starter, it's my husbands favorite bread. I also have a recipe for sourdough pizza crust I've been wanting to try. This recipe is very basic. You could always get crazy in two directions, either adding herbs to the bread or making a flavored butter to go with them. Most herbs would work, I bet rosemary would be delicious. Flavored butter is usually just a matter of softening a stick of butter to room temperature then using a mixer blend in some strawberry jam, orange marmalade, or cinnamon and honey, for a few suggestions. Then you pack it into a small serving bowl or other container and refrigerate. You also could get really wild and scoop it into a piping bag with a star tip and pipe little rosettes onto parchment or a Silpat then refrigerate and peel off to serve to guests on a platter. So many options with bread...that's another reason I love it. Don't forget there's a printable recipe link at the bottom of every recipe post. Happy Baking!

French Bread Rolls
Yield: 16 rolls

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

- 2 tablespoons white sugar

- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 4 cups bread flour

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
3. Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.



Printable Recipe


Recipe from allrecipes.com