It’s been a very busy week and these rolls are just what the doctor ordered:  quick & easy food processor dough, less than 10 minutes of kneading, 20 minutes in the oven, and then mouth-wateringly deliciousness.  Seriously, these rolls are good.  These are the rolls to serve to friends & family who “don’t like wheat bread.”  Buttery, soft, nutty, wheaty – they’ll be so busy devouring the whole batch, they’ll never notice the whole wheat.

This is a small batch so could easily be doubled.  These rolls work great as a dinner roll or small sandwich roll; they are a tiny bit small for hamburger buns, so if you want buns or a larger roll, make 6 rolls instead of 8. 

Adapted from Scottish Whole Wheat Rolls with Sesame Seeds, Great Breads, Martha Rose Schulman

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Whole Grain Scottish Rolls

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup lukewarm buttermilk, plus extra for brushing
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 and 3/4 cups (about 8 oz) whole wheat bread flour (hard red spring wheat)
• 3/4 – 1 and 1/4 cups whole grain all-purpose flour (soft white wheat)
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 oz (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• cornmeal for sprinkling
• 2 tbsp sesame and/or flax seeds

METHODS

1. Combine water, buttermilk and honey in a medium bowl. 
2. Combine the whole wheat bread flour, 3/4 cup of the all-purpose (white wheat) flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse a few times to mix.  Add in butter and process for approximately 1 minute, until well combined. (Althernatively, cut the butter in by hand with your fingers, two butter knives, or a pastry blender.)
3. Add flour/butter mixture to the milk/water mixture.  Mix briefly, add yeast, then mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Add additional white wheat flour as necessary to form a soft, but kneadable, dough.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Knead, adding white wheat flour 1 tbsp at a time, and only as necessary, for 5-10 minutes, or until the dough is soft and pliable, yet stretchy and springy (two  holes poked into the dough will fill in quickly).  Form dough into a ball and allow to rest, covered with a clean kitchen towel, for 5 minutes.
5. Knead again for 1 minute to strengthen gluten.  Form into a tight ball by rotating clockwise, with both hands, while pushing dough down and under, into the middle of the ball.
6. Lightly grease a bowl (with melted butter or oil), roll dough ball to coat in grease, and allow to rise in a warm spot, covered, until almost doubled in bulk, about 1 and 1/2 hours.
7. Coat a baking sheet with oil or melted butter, then sprinkle liberally with cornmeal.
8. Turn risen dough out onto a worksurface.  Lightly ‘punch down’ the dough into a rectangle, trying not to deflate all of the air from the dough, but patting the dough down enough to allow yeast to come back into contact with fresh dough.  Cut into 8 equal portions, and roll each portion into a tight ball (cup one hand over a small piece of dough on the work surface, like you are forming a cage on top of the ball of dough; rapidly rotate your hand in a clockwise motion, pushing down on the dough ball like you want to push it through the worksurface, until it forms a tight ball.  The dough needs to stick a little bit to the surface for this to work, so if your surface is floured, mist it with a little water or oil to facilitate).
9. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
10. Transfer each dough ball to the baking sheet.  Brush tops with buttermilk, then top with sesame or flax seeds; lightly push down on the seeds to press into the down.  Mist the top of the dough balls with oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap, and allow to rise in a warm spot for about 40 minutes, or until almost doubled in bulk.
11. Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes, or until rolls are puffed, golden brown, and sound hollow when you tap the bottom.  Remove from the oven and pan and cool on wire racks. 

OPTIONS

1. The original recipe calls for milk instead of buttermilk; I would guess any variety of milk, cream, soy or rice milk would work.
2. You can seed these rolls with any seeds you like; if you want to use larger seeds, like pepitas or sunflower seeds, you might consider a egg white wash (1 egg white + 1 tbsp water, lightly beaten) as it will hold the seeds better than milk.  The rolls can be completely local (iwth a commercial yeast exception) with your homegrown or harvested sunflower or pumpkin seeds; or you can omit seeds altogether.
3. I replaced regular all-purpose white flour for whole grain white wheat in this recipe.  The rolls are so delicious, no one will miss the white flour.

STORE

One to two days at room temperature. Like all breads, these rolls will freeze well.  If you plan to freeze some for later, remove them from the oven a little on the underdone side, then reheat from frozen in a 400 degree F oven for about 5 – 10 minutes to serve.

SEASON

Year-round.