Dinner Rolls

The Baking Partners challenge no.4 came into my mail..........and it happened to be Shaped Dinner Rolls...I was very hesitant to do this because I have had two failed experiences behind me. Still the fun part of learning and the bakers rush pushed to me try and here is what I got...

The choice of recipe  was amazing - very simple and ideal for learners..........
Ingredients:

●     2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

●     2/3 cup nonfat dry milk (instant)

●     2 Tb. dry yeast

●     1/4 cup sugar

●     2 tsp. salt

●     1/3 cup shortening (butter or margarine)

●     1 egg

●     5-5 1/2 cups flour, all purpose (bread flour can be used if you have it on hand)

Method:

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the water and the milk powder and stir so the milk dissolves. Add the yeast to this mixture then the sugar, salt, shortening, egg and 2 cups of the flour. 

Mix on low speed of mixer until ingredients are wet, then turn to medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add 2 more cups of flour then mix on low speed until the ingredients are wet, then turn mixer on medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. 

The dough will be getting stiff and you may need to remove the bowl from the mixer and mix in the remaining flour by hand. Add approximately 1/2 cup of flour and mix again. (This can be done by hand or mixer). The dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour). 

Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and pour approximately on tablespoon of vegetable oil all around the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough over in the bowl so it is covered with the oil. (This helps prevent the dough from drying out.) 

Cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm place until double in size. Sprinkle a cutting board or counter with flour and put the dough on the flour. It is now ready to roll out and cut into desired shape and size of rolls. 

Place on greased (or parchment lined) baking pans. Let rise in a warm place until the rolls are double in size (approx. 1-1 1/2 hours). Bake in a 375-degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are browned to your satisfaction. Brush with melted butter while hot. Yields 2 to 2 1/2 dozen rolls.

The challenge was to make at least 3 shaped rolls of out of the 7 options given...

1.Clover leaf  2. Rose Shape 3. Small braid 4.Knot,5.Crescent shape,6.Rosette or Kaiser,7.Lion  house rolls

and the liberty to experiment on our own as well. 

You tube always comes as the  handy tool ......there are various videos to watch and learn........This is the part I really enjoyed ( since hubby dear helped the dough making process).

Now, though the final effects were good for a learner- I still had this urge to see if there are anything that we should keep in mind while making bread. I checked with Mr.Wilburt Wong - a good friend, a skilled baker whose family business is the Bakerite Bakery Inc., at Manila,Phillipines. I sent my pics with him and here are few valuable tips that he shared with me - which I guess will be of great help when we bake next time......

1. Follow the recipe word to word..Always ensure the ingredients by measures are fairly accurate.
2. Once the dough is mixed , knead gently until its a smooth ball of dough. This is help the dough rise evenly and will not be stretchy.Rough texture of the dough is no no !
3. After the first rise, punch down gently and if possible scale the dough evenly to the shape you wish to make. Reason being -  each piece of dough , no matter what shape it is will rise at the same time and will be ready for the oven at the same time. 
4.  After dividing the rolls in the desirable weight ,just let it rest for 5- 10 minutes - this will help make the rolls better.Egg wash the rolls before popping them into the oven.
5. Smell of yeast as long it is not pungent or offensive is quite normal when breads are baked at home. Bakeries have short cuts and therefore let it be.
6. If the oven does not have enough space to accommodate all the rolls at the same time - reduce the batch size of the recipe.
7.  All purpose flour works just fine but feel the difference by using the Bread flour if available.