Nothing like a Yeast Bread, especially these delicious soft Olive Oil Bread Rolls. Easy Homemade bread never tasted so good.
If you have ever been to Italy you are going to know that there are probably more types of bread than Pasta, over 350 types to be exact. So good and so hard to decide!
One type of bread that my kids always loved are these soft Olive Oil Rolls.
These also make the perfect sandwich buns or dinner rolls especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner!
Some of the more known types of Bread in Italy
Piadina – A type of Italian Flat Bread
Liariano – One of my favourites, a dense closed crumb bread.
Focaccia di Genova – A thick almost Pizza type, slice it up the middle and fill with fresh prosciutto or mortadella. So good.
Grissini Italian Bread Sticks – Long crunchy sticks of bread.
Rosette – My husband’s favourite, a large bun with very little crumb.
Ciabatta – A long, broad, flat bread, full of holes.
During the Summer and early Fall my house is at the perfect temperature for my dough to rise. Bread making is not difficult it is just needs time.
I remember the days when my mother and father-in-law would fire up the wood burning stove and they would make enough bread for the week, with enough to give a loaf or two to us.
So good, and if you were lucky she would make her amazing pizza too. Those were the days.
Now I’m lucky if I make enough for a couple of meals. But I have to say you can’t beat homemade bread. Warm from the oven, nothing like it.
How to Make Homemade Bread?
- Add the yeast to the water and honey, let sit 5 minutes.
- In the stand up mixture bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, then add the yeast mixture and oil.
- With the hook attachment, start to knead until the dough comes together to form a ball.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover, let it rise in a warm draft free area for about 2 hours.
- Then form the dough into 10 -12 balls, place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, cover and let rise another hour.
- Brush the rolls with a little oil and bake for about 10-15 minutes at 400F.
- Let cool or eat warm.
Can the dough be frozen?
Make the dough and let it rise (the first rise), then punch it down and form the dough into the roll shape freeze the unbaked rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet freeze until firm (3-4 hours). Once they are frozen remove them from the sheet and wrap tightly in plastic wrap then place in a freezer safe bag or container. The dough should be consumed within 6 months.
When you are ready to use the dough. Remove the dough balls from the bag and plastic wrap and place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet, cover with a clean damp tea towel and let rise in a warm draft free area until doubled in size. Bake as directed (they may need a bit more time to bake).
This is a very simple bread recipe, no eggs needed, just flour, yeast, olive oil, water, salt and rather than use sugar I prefer to use honey.
Why is sugar used in Bread making?
It helps the bread to rise (without sugar the bread will take longer to rise and sometimes not at all), it also gives the bread a better flavour.
More delicious Yeast Breads
Panettone – Italian Christmas Sweet Bread
Whether you are novice bread maker or bread making is your thing, I hope you give these a try and let me know. Happy Baking. Enjoy!
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Homemade Olive Oil Bread Rolls
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast (1.4 grams)
- 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons water (lukewarm) (162 grams)
- 3/4 teaspoon honey (5.30 grams)
- 2 cups flour (all purpose or bread flour) (250 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (2.85 grams)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (40 grams)
Instructions
- In a small bowl add the water and honey, sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit for 5 minutes. Then stir.
- In the bowl of your stand up mixer whisk together the flour and salt, make a well in the middle and add the yeast mixture and oil. With the hook attachment knead until the dough comes together and forms a ball (about 10-12 minutes, stop halfway and scrape off the dough from the hook and the sides of the bowl).
- Remove the dough to a flat surface and knead into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl (roll in the dough in the bowl), cover and let rise in a warm draft free area for approximately 2 hours, or doubled in bulk.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and punch down, form into 10 - 12 balls** (keep the dough covered while making the balls), place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, cover and let rise in a warm draft free area for approximately 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
- Pre-heat oven to 400F (200C).
- Brush the dough balls with a little olive oil and bake for approximately 10-15 minutes, until golden and when tapped on the bottom there is a hollow sound. Let cool or eat warm. Enjoy!
