Amazing Rye Rolls

Here in Finland they love to eat Rye products. Don't know what rye is? Ever heard of Black Bread? Well that is Rye Bread. Rye is a grain that is ideally suited to colder climates and those areas with poorly soil types. It is also healthier for you than any wheat flour as it contains less gluten and good soluble fibre, recent research has also shown that Rye flour can help reduce cholesterol. Finland grows over 70,000 tonnes but consumes over 100,000 tonnes every year. The shortfall is imported from Germany and Poland (two of the biggest growers of Rye in the world).

Recently Finnish Rye bread has taken off in New York City thanks to an Ouluite. You can read the article about this here.

Bread has always been very important to the Finnish people, sometimes for the poorest it was the only meal. Traditional Rye Bread was made into a flattened disc with a hole through it. this was then mounted on a stick, in the ceiling, where it would stay for week, even months.

Traditional Ruisreikäleipä

So last week I had my mother in law round for a dinner of meatloaf and salad. I also thought to give a go at making some Rye Rolls (I have made 100% rye bread before). They came out really tasty and went down a treat with everyone present.

So here it is, you will need to have with you:-

500ml Milk
50g Fresh Yeast (or 14g dried yeast)
3 tbsp Golden Syrup
3 tsp Salt
75ml Oil (I used olive oil, but you can use any kind besides motor oil)
400g Rye Flour
300g Wheat Flour (with some extra just in case and for dusting)

First heat your milk up to around 30oC and stick into a bowl then add the yeast in. Leave for about 10 minutes. Then add the syrup, salt, oil and rye flour. Mix until it becomes some stodgy mess. Then start adding the wheat flour, keep adding a little at a time until it comes together in a smooth but slightly sticky dough (rye dough should never be as dry as normal bread dough). Then put into a fresh bowl and cover, stick in a warmest place. Most Finns put some warm water into the sink and put the bowl in there.

Leave to rise for 25-30 minutes and then dust some wheat flour onto a table and take dough out, knead for a short while, about 5 minutes and then break into pieces and roll into roll shape. Place onto a greaseproof papered baking tray and cover. Turn oven on to 225oC and wait to heat up. When it has reached that temp, about 10 minutes, add the rolls into the oven and cook for around 10 minutes.

Serve the traditional Finnish way with butter, freshly sliced cheese, ham and salad.

Not all healthier foods need to taste like cardboard as these will testify to your tastebuds.