The bread ears or Sicilian little ears, a recipe from my homeland that I adore. These are delicious homemade rolls made with re-milled durum wheat semolina flour, soft, tender, and crunchy at the same time. The ear shape is very easy to make, just by making baguettes and “cutting” them with kitchen scissors. You can make larger baguettes or smaller little ears, the bread ears are delicious on their own and perfect for stuffing as you like, we ate them with both salami and stuffed like the famous Sicilian cunzato bread, they are also perfect for Easter and Easter Monday, given their shape!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: About 1.8 lbs of bread
- Cooking methods: Oven, Electric Oven, Air Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Easter
Ingredients
- 4 cups re-milled durum wheat semolina flour
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsps salt
- 1 1/2 tsps fresh yeast
- 1 tbsp honey
- as needed water (for brushing)
- as needed sesame seeds
Steps
The bread ears or Sicilian little ears are very simple and quick to prepare, first place the flour, crumbled fresh yeast, honey, lukewarm water in a bowl, and quickly mix with a fork.
When the dough is not yet smooth, add the extra virgin olive oil and knead for a few more seconds, add the salt, and form a soft and compact dough ball, work it on a work surface and let it rise in a bowl (cover it with a cloth and keep it in a warm place, I keep it in the turned-off oven with the light on) for at least a couple of hours (it should double in volume).
Divide the dough into 5 pieces, two of about 9 oz and three of about 3.5 oz each (or choose based on how many rolls you want to make). On a surface sprinkled with semolina, form baguettes, brush the surface of the Sicilian little ears with a bit of water and make the sesame seeds adhere. With kitchen scissors, cut the sides to get the “points” of the bread ears.
Place the bread ears on a baking sheet and let them rise for another hour, then bake them in a preheated oven at 400°F for 25/30 minutes, they should be nicely golden.
Tips:
The bread ears or Sicilian little ears can be stored at room temperature for 4/5 days. You can also freeze them.
More homemade bread recipes HERE
