Birdseed Rolls

Shavua tov! After spending a quiet Shabbat here in the yishuv, I'm looking forward to a more active week. Firstly, E is making aliyah on Monday so I'm going to greet her flight! Greeting flights of new immigrants is really exciting and emotional and it's going to be quite nostalgic, as I made the same move almost three years ago! Also this week is A's bridal shower. Stay tuned for either a Brownie Puddle Tart or Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.. I havent yet made up my mind which direction I'm going in.... Anyway, as readers know, Shabbat is not only my favorite day of the week because of the rest and reprieve from the busy world that it grants, but because it is also the day that I allow myself to indulge my love of bread. While I'm at it, I like to try something new while making use of my many cookbooks. In this case, I made fresh rolls to enjoy, adapting the recipe from Marcy Goldman's Passion for Baking. She calls this recipe Birdseed Bread, although to me that sounds a bit unappetizing! The recipe yields two loaves but I halved it to yield six nice sized rolls. Here's what I changed: I omitted the lemon juice, which to my mind is a bizarre addition, omitted the baker's caramel, which I didnt miss at all and only used sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. The bread was not only easy to make but turned out soft and delicious, even to the next day, without being reheated! The crumb was a light brown from the whole wheat and rye and mildly tasted of honey. I think next time I would add the flax and omit the sunflower seeds- I'm not sure I like them in bread.. they have too much bite. Maybe I should chop them next time. Anyway you make them, they really are easy and delicious. I'm sending these over to Yeastspotting! Knock yourself out over the weekly collection of yeasted goodies.

Birdseed Rolls

adapted from A Passion for Baking

2 cups warm water

5 tsp instant yeast

3 tbsp oil

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp salt

1/2 cup chopped sunflower seeds

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1/4 cup rye flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3-4 cups all purpose flour

Place all of the ingredients except the white flour into a large bowl.
Whisk to combine.
Add the flour a bit at a time,
and stir to form a shaggy dough.
Turn the dough out onto a clean counter top and knead until a smooth dough forms.
Place in a greased bowl to rise.
Allow to rise until doubled in size.
Scale your dough- here mine is portioned for six rolls. The above recipe will yield two loaves.
Shape your rolls. Here are mine.
Allow them to proof until doubled. I scored the plain rolls. Preheat the oven to 350 towards the end of proofing.
Bake the breads until they are golden brown and delicious and irresistible smelling! Cool on a wire rack!