Homemade Roll

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1
  Place the yeast in a small bowl, sprinkle with sugar, and mash with a fork into a paste if possible. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of flour from the measured amount, pour in one-third of the milk, mix, and let it foam for 10 minutes to create a starter. If nothing happens in the bowl after ten or fifteen minutes, start again with new yeast.
• 2
  Mix the flour with salt, oil, the remaining milk, and the foamed starter. Place in a stand mixer with a dough hook and let it process into dough and knead for ten minutes. The result should be a smooth, almost non-sticky dough, soft and pliable like playdough. If it seems too dry during the process, add a tablespoon or two of milk, or add more flour if it's so wet that it sticks to the bowl even after several minutes of kneading (it may stick at first, and even should stick). The exact ratio always depends a bit on the quality of the flour.
• 3
  Place the kneaded dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with foil to prevent drying, and let it rise at room temperature for three-quarters of an hour until it doubles in volume.
• 4
  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and place them nearby so you don't run around the kitchen with rolled-out rolls in your hands. Turn the dough out of the bowl; don't be alarmed that you'll push out almost all the air. Reshape it into a ball and cut it into quarters. Roll each quarter into a circle 25-30 cm in size, as far as the dough's elasticity allows. Cut the circle into quarters again. Take one piece of dough after another, place it with the outer curved side towards you, and stretch it slightly at the corners to the sides. Fold the ends you were holding back towards the center, just about a half-centimeter flap. With flat hands, roll the dough away from you into a cylinder. Transfer to the baking sheet, maintaining at least five-centimeter spacing. Brush the finished rolls with water and sprinkle with coarse salt or poppy seeds.
• 5
  Let the rolls rise on the baking sheet for twenty minutes. This is enough time to preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius, or just 170 degrees Celsius if you can use convection.
• 6
  Place both baking sheets into the oven at once and bake for 10 minutes. Mix a tablespoon of salt with 100 ml of water, and after this time, brush the rolls with the salty water. At the same time, turn the baking sheets front to back and also swap their positions in the oven. Bake for another 7-10 minutes until light brown – or a little longer if you really, really like your rolls well-baked.
• 7
  Let the baked goods cool on a wire rack. Don't hold back, don't ration yourself, as all yeasted baked goods are best on the day they are baked.