Whole wheat Fantails

I have made pull apart bread  several times . It's everyone's favourite at home.

This is my little experiment which went off very well. Hope you enjoy it too. please read the entire recipe including notes before starting.

Ingredients : gives 6

Sugar                             1 tsp 

Warm water                   3/4 cup  (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

Active dry instant yeast   1 1/2 tsp

Olive oil                        1 tbsp

Salt                               3/4 tsp

Whole wheat flour          1 1/2 cups 

All Purpose Flour             1/2  cup + extra for dusting

Olive oil                        for brushing

Milk                               for brushing

For the Filling:

Butter  or olive oil         2 tbsp (melted )

Oregano                        2 tsp

Crushed  Garlic              2 tsp

Chilli flakes                   2 tsp

Cheddar Cheese            2 tbsp grated.

 

Method 

1. Place  whole wheat flour in a large bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre.
3. Sprinkle salt on the sides of flour , away from the well.
4. Mix oil in water.
5. Sprinkle sugar in the well.
6. Over the sugar sprinkle yeast.
7. Pour water - oil mixture into the well.
8. Slowly blend in the flour, till all the flour is incorporated.
9. At this time the dough will be very sticky.
10. Tip it on a well floured counter top.
11. Add all purpose flour little by little and keep kneading.
12. Keep adding flour till the dough no longer sticks to the counter top, it might still stick very little to your hands .
13. There will be a slight variation in the total amount of flour used because of the quality of the flour and weather conditions.
14. Don't be tempted to add too much flour.
15. Now knead till the dough is elastic and soft like baby's  bottom.
16. If kneading by hand then knead for 10-12 minutes.
17. Now   grease a large bowl and  put the ready dough into the bowl and turn the dough over so as to grease it from all sides. 
18. Cover with a cling film and let it sit un disturbed in a warm and draft free place till it doubles in size, anywhere between an hour to hour and a half depending on the temperature of your kitchen .
19.  To check if the dough has risen enough, push your finger , into the dough upto your second knuckle. If the indention remains when you remove your finger then it is ready else let it rise for some more time.
20. Once the dough has doubled, turn it onto a floured surface and punch it .
21. Knead for a couple of minutes to release all the trapped air .
22. Roll  the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch square. 
23. Brush the dough with melted butter . I prefer to use love oil.
24. Sprinkle  rest  of the ingredients under filling all over the the dough.
25. Press lightly with your finger tips so that the filling sticks to the dough.
26. Cut the disk  into 6 strips, each about 2 inches wide.  You can use a pizza cutter for the same. I prefer dough scraper.
27. Keep the strips , one on top of the other , buttered side up.
28. Now cut the stack into 6 equal pieces. 
29. Oil a six muffin tray.
30. Place each piece on its side into a muffin cup. Press the bottom end lightly so that the layers stick to each other .
31. Separate the outer layers of each roll to fan outward.
32. Brush with oil. Cover and leave them for second prove, till they double in size.
33. Anywhere between 30 to 45 minutes.
34. Brush them with milk and bake at 190 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes till golden.
35. Once done remove on a wire rack.
36. Brush with melted butter or extra virgin olive oil for softer crust.

Note : 

1. Water should be just warm to touch. Hot water kills yeast. 
2. if you are using active dry yeast then in warm water mix sugar. Now sprinkle yeast and mix it lightly.
3. Keep it in a warm place  for 10 minutes. You will see yeast would have ballooned by now.
4. Pour the oil into the well. Now pour yeast water mixture  in the well and proceed.
5. In this case you don't sprinkle sugar in the well.
6. You can choose a filling of your choice.
7. I experimented with a lot of fillings like : garlic & cheese; carom seeds & chilly flakes; chocolate & butter. So go ahead an experiment with the filling.
8. You can also double the recipe, in that case divide the dough into two. Cover and keep one while you work on the other. Then repeat the process with the other dough.