Kefir Bread Rolls

Continuing my quest for quick ways to have lovely, homemade bread and baked goods at home and avoiding the ultra processed bread from the shops, this is an absolute winner - not even any yeast or rising required!

Before anyone comes for me in the comments…

…yes, kefir (one of my favourite things in this world! I genuinely love the taste as a straight up drink, I love them in smoothies, I use them for dessert “milkshakes” for my family, in pancakes and more) will lose its live probiotics that it’s known for. But, I still love using it in baking as, did I mention? I love the taste. And kefir has many great nutritional properties besides live cultures, like calcium, vitamins, minerals, protein and more.

I came across a video sharing this idea and I had to try it. Kefir, you say? No yeast, meaning - no waiting for rising, and also - avoiding fast action dry yeast? Sign me up! The video, like so many, used self raising flour, but for some reason self raising flour as “one ingredient” always annoys me. First of all I never have self raising flour in the kitchen, I use bread flour for almost all baking (high protein content and just works well for everything, in my opinion!), and also I want us all to be aware of what we’re actually using, so we feel empowered and educated in the kitchen. It’s very simple, self raising flour is just flour with a raising agent (usually baking powder) already in it. If you have a different type of flour (which gives you the chance to choose a nice flour too!), you can just add baking powder - which you want to have in your kitchen anyway - I add 1 tsp for this and it’s perfect.

The egg wash is totally optional, I’ve made it both with and without so this one is completely up to you.

Kefir Bread Rolls

Makes 6-8 rolls

• 3 cups flour (plain or bread)

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 2 cups kefir

• 1 egg for egg wash (can omit)

• Some sesame and/or poppy seeds to top (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF).

In a big bowl, mix the baking powder in with the flour (or if you’re using self raising flour, skip this!). Add the kefir in and mix with a wooden spoon. When it’s all mixed, get your hand in there and mix it until you get a smooth ball. You don’t need to knead the dough.

Divide in to balls that fit in your hand (try to keep them roughly the same size for baking time), they don’t need to be perfectly smooth and round, I like having these be a bit rustic. To avoid them sticking to my hands I usually put a drop of olive oil in my hand and rub my hands together, this also gives the bread rolls a tiny bit of oil on the outside which makes the crust crispier.

If you want, you can add egg wash by mixing an egg in a small bowl and brushing some on top of each roll, but you can skip this if you want it to be egg free. I highly recommend topping with some sesame or poppy seeds (or as I do, both), but again, this is optional. You can even make them a bit more “bagely” by topping with a more savoury, “everything bagel” type topping.

Place on a tray covered in baking paper and bake in the middle of the oven for about 20-25 minutes, until golden on top. Let the rolls rest before you open them and devour!

Do let me know if you tried the kefir bread rolls and share a photo on social media - don’t forget to tag me!