Ingredients
- 310g lukewarm filtered water
- 6g dry yeast
- 6g sugar
- 6g salt
- 6g bread improver
- 500g bakers' flour
- 20g canola oil
Method
- Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the sugar and yeast over the surface. Whisk with a fork, then leave for 15 minutes for the yeast to activate. The surface should become covered in bubbles.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and either hand mix then knead on a lightly floured bench for 8–10 minutes, or machine mix with a dough hook for 1 minute on slow then 7–9 minutes on high. Develop the gluten until the dough passes the 'window test' (you can pinch it, pull it thin, and see through it without it tearing).
- Form the dough into a ball, using your fingertips to force the dough inside itself around the base, creating tension. Turn upside down and pinch together the edges to form a sealed seam.
- Place the ball seam-side down into an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel.
- Leave in a warm place and allow to double in size — depending on temperature, this can take 1.5–4 hours.
- Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured bench and deflate by gently pressing down. Cut into the desired number of equal sized pieces: 8 for larger hamburger rolls, 16 for sliders or dinner rolls. Pieces should be within 10g of each other.
- Form the pieces into individual rolls using either: (a) thumbs to force dough inside itself creating a ball, then pinching the base to seal; or (b) your hand like a claw cage, rolling the dough piece on the bench until the ball forms inside your fingers.
- Place rolls seam-side down onto a baking paper-lined tray lightly dusted with flour. Space them so they will just touch as they proof (for tear-apart rolls) or further apart (for individual rolls). Dust tops with flour, cover with a damp tea towel, and leave in a warm place until doubled in size and a gentle finger press leaves a permanent indentation. This takes 1–4 hours.
- Preheat oven to 220°C with a stainless steel pan on a lower shelf as a water bath.
- Boil a kettle and pour approximately 1/2 cup of boiling water into the water bath pan. Use a glove to avoid flash steam burn!
- Lightly dust the tops of the rolls with flour and slash 2mm deep with a sharp knife or razor blade if desired.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the water pan and rotate the tray. Bake for a further 5–10 minutes until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.
Variations
Replace 1/5 of the bakers' flour with wholemeal flour for 'golden rolls'. Add spelt or rye flour for other variations. This recipe can also be baked as a bread loaf — give the dough an additional 3–5 minute knead before shaping, and increase total bake time to 25–30 minutes.
