Sunday, January 31, 2010

Buttermilk Baps


The word "baps" is not heard in these parts - these parts being the Southeastern US - which only made Dan Lepard's recipe for Buttermilk Baps all the more appealing (as if being a Dan Lepard bread recipe wasn't appealing enough!) A "bap" - a British English word dating from the 16th century - is a soft roll, often made with fat to keep the crumb tender. With Lepard's wonderful easy bread mixing/kneading method, these rolls are a snap to bake.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the recipe here. A couple things to note: 1 sachet of instant yeast = 7 g of instant yeast, and strong flour = bread flour.


- The method is slightly different from Lepard's Milk Loaf; the wholemeal flour is soaked in water with the yeast for 30 minutes before the dough is mixed. Also the butter is rubbed into the flour before any other ingredients are added. The kneading process is quite similar, with slight variations in rest times.

- I've made these rolls several times. One time I used hard red wheat for the wholemeal flour, another time I replaced 50 g of the bread flour with oat flour.


- The first time I baked them, I snipped chives from my little herb garden and added them to the dough, as the recipe suggests. I've also baked them herb-less, which makes for a more versatile roll.


- I usually make these rolls about 3 oz, and end up with 10 generously-sized rolls, which can serve as dinner rolls or for a small sandwich. The dough is first shaped into balls, then elongated into torpedo shapes.


the verdict:

I love to bake these just past the point of undercooked (about 190 degrees on a digital thermometer); they turn out nice and soft and wonderfully moist. To me the baps are good with or without the herbs, but my husband definitely prefers them plain. Nonetheless, he gave the chive version a rating of 9.5 out of 10. This is a versatile dough, and the rolls would be at home in the dinner bread basket or in a lunchbox. These baps just might be my favorite rolls (and not just because of their name!).


I'm sending this bread to Yeastspotting, a weekly compendium of all things yeasted; stop by and check out all the yeasty goodness!

10 comments:

TeaLady said...

Those look incredible. Easy (sorta) and very tasty. Easy to 'play' with.

I am glad you found this recipe, I have made them again and the Fam likes them.

Di said...

The baps are a big favorite around here, too. I've used the dough to make hamburger & hot dog buns, too. One of these days I'll get around to blogging some of the DL recipes... =)

Kayte said...

I had so much fun making these, and I didn't use anything fancy flour-wise, they were just delightful. We loved them. Thanks for finding them and passing it on so we could all make them, too. I love, love, love that last photo...how beautiful is that one???

natalia said...

Ciao ! i was expecting the 'baps' Obviously I had never heard this word before but I'm going to try them they must be truly great !

NKP said...

Mmm, yum! I love the idea of the herbs in them.

Audrey said...

I would love to have rolls like this in my repertoire so I'm bookmarking this recipe (will try it soon)...oh, btw, I looked at the recipe through the link on your radish butter post (I don't even like radishes, but your description made me want to bookmark that one, too!) and when I got to the page there was a big Pottery Barn ad on top of the Guardian.uk site. (I thought that was funny.)

Mimi said...

Wow! These look really good!

Stefanie said...

The baps look great!
I love buttermilk in bread so much, so I will try the recipe soon.

Joanne said...

Wow do these rolls looks good. I love that you added chives!

I am definitely going to start using the term baps in everyday language. It's so much fun to say!

Leslie said...

Argh! You keep making these beautiful breads (and these baps are cute to top it off) and I can't resist making them instead of making dinner!