Rustic, toothsome, flavorful, and if all that wasn’t enough, these rolls are a cinch to make. In a classic Dan Lepard’s approach, the recipe calls for minimal kneading, and because they are baked as small rolls, shaping is a breeze. The rolls also freeze quite well, individually wrapped, then placed in a low oven to come back to that freshly baked feel.
Per Mr. Lepard’s request, I won’t post the full recipe. But you can find it in the database of “The Guardian” through a quick jump here.
I will, however, give you a quick outline of how this recipe comes together….
The cornmeal needs to be soaked in boiling water for a few minutes, once you do that, all ingredients – soaked cornmeal, spelt flour, water, honey, and yeast – are added to a large bowl, mixed quickly, and left standing for 10 minutes.
A kneading cycle of 30 seconds, a 20-minute rise (yes, that fast…), and you are ready to divide and conquer… rather, divide and shape in 8 rolls.
After shaping, they rest on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and dusted with flour. Only 45 minutes to go before baking time!
Once they bake, they will more or less join together, let them cool this way, breaking them apart at serving time.
Adorable little rolls, dense, but in a good way… 😉 We enjoyed them in sandwiches – smoked turkey & provolone, ham, cheese, tomato & pesto sauce – but also as plain small bites with our dinner of roast chicken. They will certainly be a favorite in your home too!
I am submitting this post to Susan’s Yeastspotting event…
ONE YEAR AGO: Roasted Potato and Olive Focaccia (another Dan Lepard recipe, another winner!)
TWO YEARS AGO: Salmon Curry
Bewitching Kitchen 
These rolls sound like winners/keepers! Thank you, Sally!
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Thank you! You could do those in your sleep! 😉
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Winners for sure, Sally, and beautiful, as well! I look forward to seeing pictures and a description of your weekend baking adventure.
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Hello there, Marcia!
This past weekend I went back to basics, and made a rye sandwich bread, using pickle juice in the dough. Flavor was great, but I cut the bread too soon and it was a bit gummy. Silly mistake, I was too eager to taste it….
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What a shame, but mistakes happen to all cooks, even the most experienced. That one will not happen again, I’m sure.
I love rye bread and dill pickles. Oh, that could be heavenly.
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Well, Marcia – I now decided to blog about it, just for you! How about that? Probably only next week, though. If you are in a hurry to make it, send me an email and I’ll forward you the recipe, ok?
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You really are the bread queen!
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Greg, I wish that was true! There’s pure royalty out there as far as bread baking is concerned, but I’m not part of it, I’m learning, learning, learning…. and making a ton of mistakes along the way.
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As I’m having little success with my sourdough again (and need to take a break from it), this recipe looks like it might fulfill my need for homemade bread quite nicely. I like easy. And I like fast!
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Sourdough sometimes gives us the blues… don’t give up, do as you are planning, take a break, and just refresh the baby every week to keep him happy 😉
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Every time I see a Dan Lepard recipe, I want to run right to the kitchen to make it. These sound so good for sandwiches. I need to bake some bread soon!
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Lisa, I am doing a very happy dance! Just got in the mail today the new book by Lepard, Short and Sweet, straight from UK
I was counting the days, finally arrived! He is my hero, but I guess you knew that already 😉
Yeah, these are great for small sandwiches, amazing how “healthy” they feel, the spelt and the cornmeal do it. I am sure you will love this recipe.
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adorei este lance de rainha!
mais um pão maravilhoso, que fiquei morrendo de vontade de fazer. parabéns.
well, acabei de postar mais uma das suas receitas. bjs
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Angela, fui la’ no seu blog e babei em cima do bolo de banana, ADOREI o lance das bananas em cima! Obrigada – de novo – pelo link ao meu blog, sabe que ja’ ganhei tres assinaturas brasileiras hoje gracas a voce?
beijao!
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I love the flavor of spelt in breads. With the addition of honey this is a must try for me. Thanks for posting this!
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Pingback: Cornmeal Buns AKA 3 Hour Rolls « Moving Girl
i tried making these but my dough was really dry also the cornmeal/polenta that i used went brick hard when i left it to stand would i be better to add the rest of the ingredients straight away also not sure what dan means when he says instant yeast is that the stuff in the sachet or the active dry stuff i used 1tsp from a 7g sachet and there was alot left
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Sorry they did not work well for you… I used instant yeast, 1 tsp as recommended in the recipe
I suspect the cornmeal that you used was a different product than mine? THere are many types of cornmeal around, and you can have completely different outcomes depending on what you use. I’ve seen that happen when cornmeal is used in cakes, but I bet the same would happen in breads.
I will post in Dan’s discussion forum with a link to your comment here, and see if anyone has other ideas, ok?
thanks for reporting back….
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