breadcakes.jpgBreadcakes, cobs, barms – or whatever you call them in your part of the country.   These little bread rolls are delightful and can be easily adapted to to any shape or size you want.  I like to make them as nutritious as possible and I use vegetable water leftover from steaming as the liquid part of the ingredients.  I have a little flour mill and do a half and half mix of freshly ground wheat flour and Lidl strong flour.  

275g Strong white bread flour 
275g Freshly milled wheat
340ml veggie water.  Today I used the steam water left over from steaming potatoes, carrots and sprouts.
2 tsp milk powder.  Another way to higher the breads nutritional value
2tsp honey.  Nicer than using sugar and gives a lovely flavour in wholegrain breads
1 tsp Salt.
1 and half tsp fastbake yeast or fresh if you can get it 
20ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Butter can be used instead but I’m going the healthy way in this recipe
Sunflower/pumpkin/sesame seeds  I love adding seeds to bread as they give such a lovely crunchy texture – and they are great for you!

Now I usually make the dough in my breadmaker or the Kenwood Chef.  They just help me out so I can get on with other things.  I sometimes make the dough by hand but rarely now I have my energy saving gadgets. 

I let the dough rise twice.  The first time for and hour or so, then I cut it up into little balls and give them another hour in a warm place.  I pop them in an oven that’s pre-heated to 230c to allow for temperature drop when the door is open.  I chuck a glass of water in the bottom of the oven to make steam and hopefully keep the atmosphere moist enough to get a good rise in the oven.  The dough will rise until the crust hardens so the longer you can delay that the better.  Commercial ovens have a steam injection but the nearest we have at home is adding water to the oven cavity.

Once the bread is in the oven, lower the temperature down to 220c for the first ten minutes and then reduce to 200c for the remaining time.  I find that the rolls are ready in about 12 to 15 minutes.

So with all the extra goodness from the seeds and whole-grains and the vitamins from the milk powder and veggie water, there’s no comparison with shop bought rolls.  I do hope you give them a try, I’m sure you will love the taste of them. 

They can be made in advance and frozen.  When my son was younger I would make a batch at a time and freeze.  Then take one roll out of the freezer on a night time to put in his lunch box.  It would be lovely and soft in the morning.  Fresh breadcakes every day.. yummy!

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