24 seconds out my front door and a recipe.

Here is my 24 seconds. Actually 29. But there you are – an extra few seconds to see the crunchy frost on the deck.

27F/2C. Sunny. Sunday.

It is So Long since I posted a recipe. And I have been working on these rolls for ages. Determined to create easy, fast brioche rolls with stoneground flour. These held up perfectly last night when made into hamburger rolls.

As usual with a recipe that has only a few ingredients ( my favorite kind of recipe) use the very best of everything. Good high fat butter. Whole milk. A fresh farm raised egg – I used a duck egg, and of course really good flour. Stonemilled and untreated if possible. I used Janie’s Mill High Protein Bread Flour. In New Zealand get some good bread flour from Shelley Bay Bakery. Or a good unbleached bread flour from your supermarket.

Simple Fast Tasty Fluffy Brioche Rolls

(No one is ever going to ask me to write a cook book because I cannot keep put my recipes into the accepted format).

So. Soften 3 tablespoons of butter. Not melted – just soft. Set aside.

Heat 1/4 cup of milk and 1 cup of water in a pot and warm to just above tepid. Add 2 teaspoons of yeast. Beat in one large egg.

In a mixing bowl whisk 3 1/2 cups High Protein Bread Flour and a teaspoon of salt.

Make a well in the flour – add wet ingredients. With a bowl scraper and dough hook (alternate) mix the wet and dry ingredients together.

Then with the mixer running on low; drop tiny cubes of softened butter into the dough, bit by bit.

Mix further for up to 8 minutes until all the butter is incorporated. Every now and then stop the mixer and scrape the dough off the hook and back down into the bowl. Mix gently until silky and shiny.

Initially the dough will feel too wet but resist the urge to add more flour. This is a brioche thing – it takes time for the fat from the butter and milk to blend in.

Turn out onto scantily floured counter and knead for a minute until you have formed a flat ball.

Cut into 8 pieces. Turn the edges under and pinch together to make 8 balls.

Turn on the oven to 400f – place each roll 1/2 an inch apart on a sheet pan covered with baking paper. Allow the rolls to puff up in a warm place for 15 – 20 mins.

Just before you bake the rolls; brush the rolls ALL OVER – even down the sides – with egg wash. The whole roll needs to be glazed to help hold the steam inside the roll. (The best egg wash is one egg and one tablespoon of whole milk whisked together).

Bake at 375 for 20 – 22 minutes or until done.

All together this takes about two hours from beginning to baking depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

And my kitchen was very warm because I was baking these too!

Have a lovely day.

Cecilia