It’s always nice during the holidays to prepare a Christmas tree bread, soft and in small rolls, so that every guest at the table can take their own roll.
I love making bread at home sometimes with sourdough but also with dry yeast as in this case. If you prepare the dough in the evening and then put it in the refrigerator until the next day, you can use little yeast so you will have a long fermentation.
The dough I use for the rolls is very simple. You can see other roll recipes here:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 12 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 10 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 4 cups type 2 flour
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 tsp dry yeast
- 2 tsp rice malt (or sugar)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp hemp seeds (or flaxseeds)
Tools
- 1 Mold
How to prepare the soft single-serving rolls dough
Sift the flour and pour it into the stand mixer. Dissolve the yeast in a little warm water and pour it with the flour. Add the water and start mixing with the hook. Also add the oil, always letting the flour absorb the liquids. Knead for ten minutes and towards the end add the salt.
Transfer the dough to the floured board and make some strengthening folds. Put it in an oiled bowl, leave it for half an hour at room temperature and then put it in the refrigerator overnight.
The next morning, (or in the evening if you knead in the morning) or anyway 12 hours after you transferred the dough to the refrigerator, let it acclimate for an hour at room temperature and then gently bring it back to the floured table.
Cut the dough into small portions of about 1.5 oz each, form round rolls by pinching them underneath.
Place each roll in the seeds so they adhere well and then put them a little spaced apart in the Christmas tree mold. For the trunk, make a more oval roll. With the leftover dough, form 4 more small rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and let them rise in a warm place for another couple of hours until doubled.
Bake in a static oven at 390°F for 25/30 minutes until golden.
Remove from the mold and let cool on a rack before putting the tree in a paper bag and then a plastic one.
Tips from thyme and lentils
The Christmas tree bread can be made with various flours, you can also fill it like a danubio. You can freeze the bread and take it out half a day before serving and put it in the oven a little, it will be like freshly made.
