Easy Hard Rolls

One of the benefits of quarantine life is all of the cooking.  One of the drawbacks is the weight gain.  I finished last year and started the new year having shed almost twenty pounds.  Most of which has been gained-back.  As the days grow longer and warmer I'm hopeful to reverse that trend.  But I digress - that's not why you are reading this post.  You likely want to learn how easy it is to make your own hard rolls.

I'll begin by admitting I don't rightly recall how I came across this recipe.  Perhaps while surfing the Google looking for bread-baking directions.  In any event, the YouTube video at the end was the inspiration.  Watch it a couple of times and after you have made these rolls four times (like I have) you will likely have committed the recipe to memory.

Ingredients

2½ c of bread or all-purpose flour

¼ t of quick-rising yeast

1 t of salt

1¼ c of hot water (hot from the tap is fine)

Directions

In a bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Add water and stir to mix.  It will be sticky but that is on-purpose.  Cover with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter to proof at room temperature for 3 hours.

On a generously-floured board turn it out.  It will be really sticky so be sure to have extra flour handy to generously sprinkle of the top.

Using a bench scraper fold it over several times - sprinkling additional flour as needed - into a a round ball.  

Use the bench scraper to cut it into eight slices like you would to make scones.

Form a ball from each slice (watch the video) using more flour as needed.  Space each ball on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  

Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to proof on the kitchen counter for an additional 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Bake 20 - 30 minutes knowing that each family oven will vary.  When a deep golden brown remove your rolls and let them cool on a wire rack.

We had these a couple of days ago with homemade tuna salad.  You know, the kind that has shell pasta, garden peas and lots of celery.

These are so incredibly easy it's ridiculous.  Leave them out uncovered in a bowl overnight and enjoy their baguette-like goodness for breakfast the following day. 

No kneading.  No muss. No fuss....