Makes 24 small rolls. A good recipe to divide into two and freeze half of the dough. Delicious served soon after baking.

600g plain flour

1x 7g teaspoons easy blend yeast

½ tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon caster sugar

375 ml milk

25g butter

 

To finish: 1 tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon poppy seeds, optional

 

Method

Mix the flour with the easy blend yeast, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Warm the milk and butter gently together in a jug until the butter begins to melt – use the microwave. Make sure it’s warm but not hot.

Pour the liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a fork to make a rough dough, adding more flour if the dough is too wet.

Knead the dough until smooth and silky. Put the dough in a greased bowl and cover. Leave in a warm place to double in size – or the fridge overnight.

Turn the risen dough onto a surface and gently form into a long sausage shape and divide into 24 pieces. At this point it is easy to freeze half of the dough for another time.

Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball and place on a greased baking sheet. Put them about 3 or 4 cm apart so they will expand and touch each other.

Cover the rolls with a tea-towel and leave to rise again in a warm place for about half an hour, preheating the oven to Gas Mark 7/220°C/Fan 200°C

When the rolls have risen, brush them carefully with milk and sprinkle with poppy seeds – or just sprinkle over some flour.

Bake the rolls for 15 minutes until golden, and then lift onto a cooling rack. Eat whilst fresh.

 

Based on a Nigella recipe.