Rolls, Buns & Baguettes

These favourites you can now make easily at home  Gluten free! Delicious and convenient for parties, salads, lunches and snacks.

Equipment:
A flat baking tray or rounded baguette (French-stick) tins; a sturdy spoon; a spatula and a plastic mixing bowl (plastic helps keep the dough warm).
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(keep everything warm throughout the process as a cold dough can take forever to rise)
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For 4 Large Baguettes or 12-16 Dinner Rolls

... As easy as mix, shape, rise, bake.See the Video.

1. Mix (takes about two minutes for a 430g water and mix combination)
    ...the chosen amount (from your retail pack)of F.G.Roberts Cottage Loaf Mix with enough warm water and dissolved yeast according to your tin size. Your dough should be thick, soft and stretchy after a minute or two of hand mixing with a solid spoon and a plastic (to keep things warm) bowl.

If you want a larger loaf (or several loaves at once) and the mix is too much to stir by hand (which for me is anything more than 2-300grams of mix at a time), use your electric mixer with a dough hook, or pop it all into a home bread machine to get it to do the mixing part only. This should take about 5-10 minutes (not counting intial warm time if your machine does that as well). Then remove it and continue below...

2. Shape
Tip the soft and damp (but it should not be sticky) dough onto a lightly floured board (timber boards are warmer)  and shape it to make a silky smooth ball. Shaping is where you work around the dough shape lifting the rough edges into the centre and gently squashing them down. Repeat the process while slowly rotating the dough.

Now mould or consolidate the dough into an elongated smooth shape. Divide the dough into portions. Mould each piece into a smooth rounded shape for rolls , or elongate for baguettes. ... knotted rolls, or roll out three pieces to long even lengths and plait. Pinch the ends together.

Plait by sliding the outside piece under the centre piece until you run out of length and pinch the ends.
 
Place it into your warmed and lightly oiled trays.


3. Rise (about 30 minutes)
    ... In a warm spot till the dough doubles its bulk. Try to keep it covered during this time so the crust does not dry out while rising. Otherwise the bread can go very mis-shapen during baking. Rising usually takes around 30 minutes depending on warmth, yeast quality and loaf size.






4. Bake
    ... In pre-heated oven for 25 - 30 minutes.
Suggested temps = gas/electric/fan-forced all around 210-215deg. Celcius.
You’ll have to experiment with your oven so your breads browns nicely all over and do not burn on top or bottom before inside is properly baked.

During the first 10-15 minutes of baking, your dough will rise another 10-20% (‘oven-spring’). Allow for this extra height in your oven!









When baked, remove from oven and tip out onto cooling rack to cool for 1/2 to 1 hour.
Attempting to cut it or eat it before this time will cause the bread to stick to the knife and the bread may feel too damp and undercooked.

Hint:

Too much water will cause  higher, lighter rolls but may cause holes in the bread.
Too little water will cause a lower height with a more compact texture.
Just the right amount of water will give you light, high rising, even textured breads.
If necessary, make adjustments by 10ml per batch till perfect.