Kouloura Rolls And Buns

Servings: 1
Ingredients:

2 tb Dry or cake yeast
1/2 c  -Warm water
2 c  Milk; warm
3 tb -Sugar; -OR-
5 tb Sugar; if making Koulourakia
3 tb Butter, margarine or oil
3/4 ts Salt
7 c  All-purpose flour; unsifted
1    Egg

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1 Egg yolk
1/4 c Sesame seeds

Melt yeast in warm water. Set aside. Bring milk to boil. Add sugar,
butter and salt. Allow milk to cool slightly.

Put flour in a large bowl leaving about a tablespoon of it in the
measuring cup for hands and make a hole in the center. Pour liquid into
it. Add yeast and egg. Start mixing with spoon or paddle, pushing flour
from all sides into center. Dough will be sticky until flour is absorbed.
Begin kneading dough in the bowl and then transfer it to a lightly floured
board. Continue kneading until dough is smooth and elastic, about 20
minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with towel dampened with hot water.
Set aside in a warm place to rise until bulk has doubled, about 4 hours.

Punch down in the middle. Knead for a few minutes and shape into a round
loaf or into individual rolls (see below). Using fingers, rub top with
egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place in greased baking pans.
Let rise once more, uncovered, in a warm place, approximately 1 hour.

Bake in preheated oven at 375 F for 45 minutes. Remove from oven; allow
to cool 10 minutes before removing bread from pan.

To Shape Traditional KOULOURA: Divide dough into 3 long ropes. Braid
together. Place braid in a greased tube pan or a large round baking pan.
Stretch dough to make ends meet. Use egg yolk to stick ends together.

To Shape KOULOURAKIA Rolls: Pinch off pieces of dough. Roll on board
with the palms of your hands to make a rope 6′ long. Twist it into a
hairpin, coil the ends around each other and stick the tips together with
a dab of egg yolk. Or coil it like a snake, round and round; or roll into
small round balls using the palms of your hands. Do not flatten or press
down as you roll.

Source: The Complete Greek Cookbook -
by Theresa Karas Yianilos
Avenel Books, New York

Typed for you by Karen Mintzias

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