The Waterford Blaa- Happy St. Paddy's Day!

A Waterford blaa is a doughy, white bread bun speciality particularly associated with Waterford, Ireland. It is currently made in Waterford and County Kilkenny and was historically made in Wexford. (Wikipedia). It actually has protected status by the EU...Kind of like Champagne I guess?

And so, I decided to try out this recipe from a great blog I follow - Karen's Kitchen Stories


These buns were easy to make. They are good the same day- tender and fluffy on the inside and crusty on the outside - but go stale pretty quickly.

WATERFORD BLAA RECIPE
This recipe makes 24
I made them for Leslie's St Paddy's Day Pardy!

Ingredients

900 grams (285 to 300 ml) lukewarm (100 degrees F) water
30 grams (about 1 tablespoon plus 3/4 teaspoon) instant yeast
30 grams (about 2 1/4 tsp) sugar
1500 grams bread flour (just less than 12 cups) plus more for coating the rolls
20 grams (about 1 3/4 tsp) fine sea salt
30 grams (about 3/4 tablespoon) room temperature unsalted butter

Instructions

Place the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and add the yeast and the sugar.
Mix gentlyAdd the flour, salt, and butter. Stir with a wooden spoon or a dough whisk until just combined.
Place the bowl on the mixer and mix with the dough hook for 10 minutes, adding more water early on as needed to achieve a smooth dough. I didn't need to add more....

Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Ooops left it tooooo long!!! STOP!!!!

Line 3 x 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan with parchment, and dust it liberally with flour.
Remove the dough from the bowl and deflate it. I first divided it in half then quarters and finally had 24 equal pieces
Form each piece into a ball, and then press each ball with the palm of your hand to flatten it into a disk. As you can see, mine didn't flatten so much so don't worry. Place each disk side by side into the pan (2 disks x 4 disks). Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot to rise, about 45 to 50 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

When the Blaas are ready, liberally dust them with flour, but don't overdo it or you will be eating flour!!. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Lift the parchment out of the pan and place the Blaas on a wire rack. Using a pastry brush, distribute the flour that is already on the rolls evenly over the tops and brush excess from the bottoms too.
The rolls can be served warm or cooled. Cool completely before storing. You can wrap them in plastic if you are going to store them for the next day.

Remember check out Karen's Kitchen Stories! This recipe was inspired by Comfort and Spice by Niamh Shields

Until we bake again....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Penny