We are huge fans of bread in this house. I am sure you have found this out by now. We just love it! Our bread is almost always 100% wheat or a 50/50. My family generally prefers the 50/50, so you will find this recipe more than others. My wheat breads ALWAYS contain these essential ingredients- yeast, whole wheat and all purpose flour, potato flakes, some type of fat, salt, a touch of sweetener, milk and eggs. The combo of these ingredients creates a beautiful, pillowy dough. Now, add in your favorite herbs, cheeses, dried fruit, nuts or anything else you can imagine and you are set. And let me tell you, while the smell of baking bread is practically irresistible, the smell of bread made with herbs and cheeses really is impossible to resist!
So, let me present to you my garlic herbs rolls. These can of course be made into a loaf if you prefer, but I wanted pretty little rolls for our soup this particular night.
These rolls are made with a white whole wheat- a white winter to be exact. My wheat is purchased at WinCo, but there are great resources online as well.
It's fun to sprinkle with sesame seeds or even poppy seeds, but decided at last minute to sprinkle with parmesan. We all felt grateful I did, that crunchy toasty parm was awesome!
Twisted rolls always look so pretty, they are generally my preference!
Garlic Parmesan Twists
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk, warm it should feel just warm to the touch. Too hot and it will kill the yeast
- 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast or 1 packet
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar or honey
- ½ cup potato flakes these are optional, but help to create such a tender crumb in wheat breads
- 2 tablespoons softened butter
- 2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic roasted garlic would have been awesome too, but I didn't have time for that.
- ½ cup grated parmesan plus more for topping
- 2 cups whole wheat flour make sure and use a hard winter wheat here. I prefer a white, but you can also use a red.
- 1 ½-3 cups all purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg for egg wash
Instructions
- Activate yeast in warm milk. Do this by add yeast and sugar to milk. The sugar doesn't activate the yeast, but it helps to activate it quickly. Mix and set aside for 3-7 minutes. Add all ingredients to mixing bowl. Remember to start with 1 ½ cups all purpose flour. Mix for a minute and see what it looks like. Add in flour ½ cup at a time, giving it a minute to mix before adding more. I have had plenty of times when I thought my dough needed more flour, added it only to find the dough was a little dry. The goal is a dough that will pull from the sides just slightly. You always want wheat doughs to be slightly tacky (in baking terms this means lightly moist). Mix for about 6 minutes. Cover and allow to double. Mine usually takes about 45 minutes. This will depend on your house and dough temp. Remove from bowl. Divide dough into 30 small pieces. Roll each piece into a thin log, about 8 inches long. Once they are all rolled, start with the first (doing this gives the dough time to rest, this is essential for good dough) and twist 2 together. Curl the twist in a ball, as shown in the video. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. I needed 2 baking sheets for this batch. I guess you could squeeze it onto one if you prefer, but it is so much prettier if you give them room to rise. Cover and let rise until doubled again. At the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare egg wash. I do this by mixing one egg with 1 tablespoons of water or milk. Make sure it is mixed well. Brush on risen twists. Top with grated parmesan. Bake until golden brown. Remove from oven. Allow to cool slightly. Cool on a cooling rack.Now, sit back and enjoy. You deserve it!