Muesli Rolls for Breakfast

As if it's not enough that we're notoriously bad at eating our vegetables in our household, we're also ridiculously negligent in the breakfast department. No vegetables, no breakfast, no cooking (obviously, since there's been no blogging, there couldn't have been cooking, could there?) - how we even manage to stay alive is anyones guess!

I always make sure I get my (very large) glass of Earl Grey tea in the morning, M always gets his coffee, but the solids? Just. Not. Happening. There are tons and tons of excuses, but really, it's no use. Breakfast is good for you and you should eat it. And noone says it has to be the minute you get up, but sometime during the first 2 to three hours after you've risen I guess is appropriate.

Often, M will get something from a bakery on his driving abouts at work (he's a realtor) and he's usually good at getting something healthy. But lordy, is it expensive! Especially if you want something that's edible and doesn't turn into sawdust the minute you bite into it. So I took up the challenge put up by Martin, oh, three months ago I guess, when he came home from work with a dark-brown roll filled with raisins, pumpkin seeds and oats and said: I KNOW you can make these better. Will you make me some? I promise I'll have breakfast every day if you make these for me!

It did take me a while to get on it, but when I did, it was actually not that hard. Using my Malt Bread recipe as a blueprint, and the method Susan introduced me to via her Oatmeal Bread of softening the oats in a bit of hot water, it only took me two tries to get what I wanted. Chewy, moist, darkly flavored rolls, dotted with sweet raisins and walnuts. I'm telling you, that man of mine is having breakfast and even I have been seen sneaking a couple of rolls into my bag before I dash out the door.

Muesli Rolls - makes 12 muffin-sized ones

For the "muesli"
75 g. rolled oats
65 g. raisins
40 g. coarsely chopped walnuts
30 g. soft brown sugar
190 g. boiling water
- feel free to substitute any kind of nuts and dried fruit you favor.

For the dough:
125 g. yoghurt (or even the whey from drained yoghurt - I've used that succesfully quite a number of times and it makes me feel so virtous!)
12 g. salt
4 g. malt powder (flour)
5 g. yeast
250 g. water
150 g. spelt flour
400 g. bread flour

In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, fruits and nuts. Pour the boiling water over it, and give it a good stir. Leave on the counter for half an hour to cool.

Now, for the dough - in a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the yoghurt. Mix the salt, malt powder, spelt flour and 4/5 of the bread flour. Add this to the water/yeast/yoghurt mixture, kneading to make everything stick together. The cooled oat mixture can now be added to the dough, and then its time for kneading. I usually do it in the bowl, as the dough is pretty wet, but do as you please - if you think it's easier on the tabletop, take it out. You may need more flour then. But only add more flour if it really needs it - it's supposed to be quite sticky. Knead for ten minutes.

Transfer the dough to a clean plastic container or bowl. Depending on when I want to eat the rolls, I then put the dough in the fridge to rise (it can easily stay here for 12 hours and then some) or leave it on the counter to rise, 2-3 hours.

Once risen, shape your rolls. Make a log out of the dough, cut it up in 12 equal portions and shape them into rolls. I like leaving them for their second prove in a buttered muffin pan, it gives them a really nice shape, but just letting them rise on a baking sheet is also fine. If you like, after shaping the rolls, you could dip the top in first cold water, then rolled oats, but if you want to eat these on the go, the oats might go flying all over your (black, naturally) skirt, so I often don't bother. Whatever you choose, they need to rise again, 1½-2 hours. Or for a couple of hours in the fridge, depending on your schedule.

Preheat the oven to as high as possible. Once warm, put in your rolls, turning the oven down to 240 celsius. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 200 celsius and let them have another ten minutes. They may need an additional 5 minutes more after that, depending on your oven. Enjoy, with butter, if you have the time for such fanciness - it only makes them better.