Weekend baking: Rosemary and grape rolls

I am far from an expert baker or cook so I am always on the look out for an easy recipe, especially the ones with wholemeal flour that I like. I usually cut recipes out from the magazines and keep them in my recipe book. It makes it easier when I plan meals as I can just put them together without writing the page numbers etc. down  that I have to do with books (thanks to my friend's tip I never search for the lost recipe again;)  

This weekend I decided to bake something that we can have as a savory snack at work. These rosemary and grape rolls are very quick to bake but do need some preparation time. Recipe is from Good Taste magazine May issue 2009.

250gr (1 and 2/3 cups) plain bread flour - I've used spelt flour

240gr (1 and 1/2 cups) wholemeal flour

300ml warm water

1 tsp honey

1 sachet (7g) dried yeast

60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil

2 tsp sea salt

olive oil, to grease

12 small springs rosemary

12 red grapes - will use more next time as they are just so yummy:)

1. Sift combined flour in a bowl. Return husks to the flour.

2. Transfer 1/4 of the flour mixture to a medium bowl. Add water and honey. Whisk to combine. Sprinkle with the yeast. Whisk to combine. Set aside in a warm place for 10 min or until foamy.

3. Add the oil and salt to the flour mixture. 

Make a well in the center. Pour in the yeast mixture. Use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. Transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 min or until smooth and elastic. Brush a large bowl with oil to lightly grease. Place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a tea tower and set aside in a warm place to prove for 1 hour or until double in size.

4. pre-heat oven to 220C. Brush baking tray with oil to lightly grease. Punch down the center of the dough with you fist. Divide into equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball. Place ball, side-by-side, on the greased tray. Cover the dough with a clean towel. Set aside for 30min. 

5. Use your thumb to make dimples in the dough. Press rosemary and grapes into the dimples. Brush with oil.

 Bake for 10min. Reduce oven temperature to 190C. Bake for 12-15 min or until golden. 
Cool them down for a few minutes and ENJOY! 
Hope you like them:)


I am lucky I've got mainly guys at work and they are willing to try anything I bake:) 
So far they loved my baking and I've got a few more recipes to try next week. 

Weekend baking: wholemeal shortbread cookies with macadamia nuts

100 gr of butter 

200 gr of sour cream

1 cup of sugar (I use brown sugar)

1 table spoon of vanilla sugar (or vanilla essence)

2 eggs

3,5 cups of  wholemeal flower

baking powder (according to the instruction on the box, I added 2 teaspoons per each cup of flour)

macadamia nuts 

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder . Set aside.
2. Beat eggs and brown and vanilla sugars together. Add butter and sour cream and mix until combined. Roughly chop macadamia nuts and add to the mixture. Slowly add  flour and then mix briefly on low speed until just combined. Make sure all the ingredients are well mixed. 

3. Divide dough into logs, cover and place in the fridge for 2 hours.

4. In 2 hours, get the dough out and let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 min. Take a log of your dough and roll it out 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness, depending on how thick or thin you would like your cookies to be. I didn't want to make them too thin because of macadamia nuts.  

5. Pre-heat oven to 180C. 

6. Dip the edges of one side of your cookie cutter into flour and cut out your cookie shapes.

7. Bake for about 20-25 min (depending on the thickness of the cookies) until they are golden brown. 

8. Remove from the oven and let them cool down on a rack for 10-15min. I sprinkled some vanilla sugar on the cookies to make the snowy trees;)

Once they cooled down, it's time for a cup of tea!


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