Molletes antequeranos (TM)

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Much larger than English muffins, molletes are much closer to them than they are to the American ones. They are eaten at breakfast and throughout the day as a snack. Similar versions of molletes are found throughout southern Spain. Whilst the serving suggestion I have given is typical, you can basically do what you want with them. They are named after the lovely town of Antequera in Andalucía

Ingredients

For the mother dough

• 100g strong bread flour
• 50g water
• 1 x 7g sachet of dried yeast or 15g fresh yeast

For the main dough {{RecipeIngredients

| 320g water | 1 x 7g sachet of dried yeast or 15 g fresh yeast | 500g strong bread flour | 40g olive or sunflower oil. | 2 teaspoons salt }}

Method

For the mother dough

1. Add the flour, water and yeast to the bowl 20 secs / Speed 3.
2. Scrape down the bowl, remove the blades and form the mixture into a ball.
3. Replace the blades, add the dough 2:30 minutes / Knead – because it is such a small quantity, the TM will not knead it properly unless you manually form it into a ball.
4. Remove from the bowl, shape into a ball and cut a cross in the top of it.
5. Have ready a bowl of warm water, place the dough into it and cover with cling film or a see-through shower cap.

For the main dough

1. Immediately proceed to make the main dough by adding the water and the yeast to the bowl 2:30 minutes / 37° / Speed 1.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl 20 seconds / Speed 3.
3. Add the mother dough, which should now be floating in the water, then 2:30 minutes / Knead (If it isn't floating, wait until it does - it should take no more than 10 minutes).
4. Leave in the bowl until the dough has pushed up the MC from the lid.
5. Tip onto a lightly floured surface, removing the blades from the TM.
6. Weigh the dough and divide into 6 pieces – each piece should weigh about 180g.
7. Shape each piece into a sort of cow pat and place on a greased baking sheet until they have doubled in size. This could take several hours or even overnight as there is no sugar to encourage the yeast to work.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 250 C/475 F/Gas 9.
9. If you wish, you can lightly dust the molletes with flour.
10. Once heated, put them into the oven, and place a bowl on the oven floor.
11. Fill the bowl with boiling water and immediately reduce the temperature to 200 C/400 F/Gas 6.
12. Bake for around 20 minutes.
13. 5 minutes before the end of baking, you can spray the molletes with water.

Serving suggestions

Lightly toast them and paint with garlic-infused olive oil or melted lard. Add grated tomato (minus the skin) and chopped Serrano or Ibérico ham. Use more oil if desired.

Recipe source

• Adapted for Thermomix from a recipe I found on a Spanish web site a few years ago and can no longer find.

Chef's notes

You will probably need to use two baking trays with 3 molletes on each as they spread. Also use the shallowest trays you have otherwise the undersides of the molletes may be still slightly doughy. If you only have deepish trays, then after the normal cooking time, turn over the molletes and put them back into the oven for a few minutes.