Alex's Bread Blog: Papo Secos

These tasty bread rolls are typically Portuguese - they are really easy to make and very tasty

Ingedients

650 gram Bread Flour
400 ml milk (or water)
10 gram salt
10 gram yeast
1 egg (optional)

Step 1: the dough

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt and yeast) in a bowl and mix together - form a hole in the centre and add the liquid (milk or water and egg)

Stir together and kneed until it's a smooth dough - add more flour or liquid if needed during the kneeding

Make indentations in the dough with your fingers and add extra liquid for the rise and cover

Step 2: the rise

Leave to rise - ideally for a few hours during the day or overnight

If you need it to rise more quickly, leave in a warm place

Step 3: shaping

Split the dough into 12 roughly equal balls - normally split first in half, then half again to get quarters, then split each of the quarters into three

Each of the balls should weigh around 100 gram

Leave them for a minute or two to rest

Press each ball into a flat disc, around 8-10 cm in diameter, then press the edge of your hand across the centre of the disc

Fold the disc over along the indentation, roll the ends to make a shape similar to a cornish pasty

Repeat for each of the 12 balls of dough and place on baking trays

Step 4: the rise

Cover with a tea towel and leave at room temperature for around an hour to rise

Step 5: baking

After an hour or so the rolls should have approximately doubled in size

Bake in the oven at around 200C for around 15/20 minutes with a bowl of water in the bottom of the oven