Bocard rolls - tasty, crusty bread, a beautiful and refined bake. In method and structure they're very similar to stirato and ciabatta bread, so if you love that kind of bread, I highly recommend baking and trying these. Special thanks to Olga for the wonderful recipe!

French Rolls
Crusty Bocard rolls made from a simple yeast dough - similar in structure to stirato and ciabatta. Baked with steam until golden and crusty.
Ingredients
Method
- In a deep bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Pour in the warm water and knead a dough - it will be quite wet and loose, but still workable.
- Shape the dough into a ball and set it in a warm place for 1 hour. During this time it should rise well and become bubbly.
- Turn the dough out onto a generously floured counter and shape it by hand into a rectangle. Dust the top of the sheet generously with flour too.
- Fold the top edge lengthwise to the middle, then fold up the bottom edge and pinch the seam firmly - you'll get a bread log.
- Cut the log with a knife into pieces about 3 cm wide and unfold them cut-side down. Transfer the rolls to a floured baking sheet and let them proof for another 30 minutes.
- Bake in a preheated 210-230°C oven for 20-25 minutes, placing a bowl of boiling water on the oven floor for steam. Let the finished rolls cool. Enjoy!

Notes
Steam in the oven gives the rolls their signature crusty crust - don't skip the bowl of boiling water.
Tips
- Steam in the oven is a must: a bowl of boiling water on the oven floor gives the rolls a crusty crust like ciabatta.
- Don't skimp on the dusting flour: the dough is fairly wet, so flour both the counter and the top of the sheet generously - it makes the dough much easier to work with.




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