Sundried Tomato, Herb and Cheese Spiral Buns

I regularly make most of the bread that we eat as a household.  This week on the Great British Bake Off the contestants were making bread so I thought I would post this recipe for the rolls I made to company a vegetable soup we were having for lunch last weekend.  They were really easy to make and rather tasty too.  They would make great lunchbox fillers for those back to school too.  They freeze well and you can vary the flavour according to what you have available.  My husband likes olives added to them, my daughters however don't, so this time I left them out. 

500g sifted Strong White Bread Flour

11/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar

1 Tblsp Olive Oil

7g Easy Bake Yeast

300ml Warm water

1/3 cup Merchant Gourmet Sundried Tomatoes (prepared according to packet instructions)

2 or 3 tsp Dried Italian Herbs

Handful of grated Cheddar cheese

Place the flour into a large bowl. Stir in the salt, sugar, yeast,  herbs and oil. Add the warm water and mix everything together well to form a soft dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for up to 10 minutes until a smooth and elastic dough has formed. Otherwise do what I do and knead it in a stand  mixer with a dough hook for 5- 7 minutes.

Shape the dough and place in a lightly greased bowl.  Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.  I leave it in the stand mixer bowl as the plastic shield forms a nice seal and the dough rises happily in there.

Preheat your oven to 200C, fan oven 180C, 400C, Gas Mark 6.

Knock the dough on to a lightly floured surface and add the well drained, chopped tomatoes. Knead and mix for a further 10 minutes. Or put the well drained tomatoes into the mixer with the risen dough and knead it for about 5 minutes on a low speed so the tomatoes are not broken up too much.

You can then do either of these:

Divide the dough into portions and roll it into balls.  Put on lined baking sheets with plenty of space between them.  Leave in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle cheese on top and then bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

OR

Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle cheese over the dough and then roll up from the longest side into a log and pinch the dough to seal the join.  Cut the log into 1 inch sections.  Place cut side up on a baking tray, leave to rise as above, sprinkle with more cheese and then bake as above.