I make Tomb Rolls for Easter. These are rolls that, when they’re done and you open them, have a nifty open space in the middle.
Empty space. Like Christ’s tomb. So Tomb Rolls.
Here’s the recipe. The water and yeast are the only exact amounts. Everything else, I don’t really measure but have estimated for the purposes of this recipe. This recipe will make around 24 rolls.
Ingredients
2 cups warm, not quite hot, water
1/2 cup olive oil (or melted butter- don’t use margarine because gross)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice (or yogurt-it helps the chemical reaction in the gluten)
1 tbsp active dry yeast
whole wheat flour (I dunno, six cups? four cups?)
white flour (enough to make the dough the right consistency)
24 large (not the huge ones) marshmallows
Procedure
- Put water, oil, sugar, salt, lemon juice, and yeast in a bowl. Mix until really well combined.
- Let it sit until the yeast is clearly working: the mixture will be milky and have visible places where the yeast is growing.
- Add whole wheat flour, one cup at a time and mixing well between each cup, until the mixture is the consistency of just cooked, thick oatmeal. Let it sit for ten minutes.
- Add white flour, one cup at a time etc, and mix in and then knead until the consistency can be worked with. A good test is to squeeze some between your thumb and forefinger. If it is the softness of an earlobe, you’re good.
- Put dough into a greased/oiled bowl and cover. Allow to about double in size.
- Divide into 24 equal balls. I go for about 50 grams per dough ball (yes I weigh them).
- Grease a baking pan. I use a stoneware pan. It needs about a half inch+ of height on the side.
- One at a time, take a dough ball, flatten it in your hand, place a marshmallow in the center, and wrap the dough around the marshmallow. The marshmallow will keep the ball round. Pinch and seal the dough ball closed on the bottom and put it on the greased pan. Do this for all of the dough balls.
- Cover the pan of rising rolls with plastic wrap.
- Let rise for about 30 minutes, or as much time as it takes the rolls to nearly double in size.
- Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.
- Let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Then serve.
- Open the rolls to reveal the empty tomb. Enjoy the slight gooeyness left by the melted marshmallows.
Pretty easy, no?
If you have extra dough, make a loaf of bread!