Sourdough Raisin Rolls

I love making these rolls from the Tasahara Bread Book!
I've found that shaping them & letting them rise overnight makes for very flat, hard rolls, so I shape them in the morning, let rise ~ 20 min & then bake! They are still a bit flat, but not hard!!

I sprouted whole wheat for a couple of days, & began a new batch of starter & 'fermented raisins,' as I hadn't made any for quite awhile. They are always a hit - my daughter esp. enjoyed them!

Starter: Combine in glass or ceramic container, cover & let ferment a few days on a counter:
1 C warm water
1-2 tsp sugar
1 C flour
1 Tbsp dry yeast
"You can also begin with some sour food, 2 or 3 day old 'rice, cereal, coconut (!) fruit, veggie or milk & mix with 2 1/2 C ww flour & water to make dough spongy. Cover & let sit 3 - 4 days, un-refrigerated" (Tasahara Bread book P:73)
I buy a small amount of yeast in bulk from our Natural Foods store - this will get bubbly & begin to rise fairly quickly if your yeast is fresh! Store yeast & the finished starter in the fridge.

Fermented Raisins - combine & let sit 2-4 days, un-refrigerated:
1/2 C raisins
2 C water (can be part cider, esp if it's going a bit fizzy!)

"if you make these rolls regularly, you can keep a batch of raisins going by using all the water & a portion of the raisins each baking, then replenish both." Refrigerate if it will be a few days before your next batch!

Sourdough Raisin Rolls1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 C WW flour (I substituted 1/2 C sprouted wheat, 1/2 C coconut rice, whizzed in my mini processor with a bit of raisin water, & 1/2 C coconut flour, & 1/2 C sorgham flour for some of the ww flour)
1 cup sourdough starter (or the whole batch)
1 3/4 C raisin water
1/2 C fermented raisins
1/2 C dry raisins
ww flour as needed

Mix salt & cinnamon with the flour. Put the starter on top of flours, & stir in raisin water, a little at a time to form a soft dough.
Stir with a wooden spoon, & add in fermented & dry raisins.

Let sit 20 minutes & replenish the starter (remove 1 C sourdough mix, place in clean glass jar, cap & store in fridge for next batch. This will have raisins in it, you can keep a seperate batch for the raisin rolls, or use it in any recipe)

Mix again, add a little more flour as necessary, & 2 Tbsp Agave nectar, cover & let sit overnight.

In the morning, cut in half, add flour sufficient to roll out & cut each half into 6 pieces (12 in all) Roll each piece into a ball, & place on a greased baking sheet or in glass baking pans. (I put a pea sized nugget of coconut oil in the center of each roll before baking. You generally don't want oil in your sourdough starter.) Let rise 20 minutes while you preheat oven to 375*

Bake 20-25 min or till well browned. Serve warm with coconut oil.

You can use the starter for sourdough pancakes & other recipes, but I find these rolls such a simple way to 'do' sourdough bread, & was quite pleased at the addition of the coconut flour!

I've found several desert recipes using the C Flour, but the usual suggestion is to use lots of eggs - & my daughter's just discovered she's allergic to egg YOLKS, so that doesn't work if I want to share them! I found a fun blog with lots of coconut flour recipes here - of course it is a desert blog!

I want to try her recipe for "Coconut Meat Balls with Coconut Rum Dipping Sauce!" I'd use Coconut oil to saute the meatballs & in the sauce - she doesn't seem to have discovered the oil!! But has some lovely ideas for using the flour, & the ice creams sound divine.
These remind me of my mother-in law's 'Russian Goop' - meatballs with lots of nutmeg, in a bed of sour cream & onions!!

The Coconut & Sorgham flours came from Bob's Red Mill our field trip a few weeks ago. The sorgham is related to millet, & similar to corn in taste & texture - not GM (none of their products are!)