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Bread

French Split Rolls

French split rolls are small, lard-brushed bread rolls split along the center and baked with steam.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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French Split Rolls

Ingredients

Directions

Shape

  1. Break the dough into 2-ounce pieces and shape them into rounds.

  2. Let them proof slightly.

  3. Brush the tops lightly with melted lard.

  4. Using a small rolling pin, press down along the center of each roll.

  5. Turn the rolls over and place them in cloths, split side down.

  6. Pinch the cloths between the rows and let them proof well.

Bake

  1. Turn the rolls over and place them on a peel, split side up.

  2. Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) with steam.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Dough for flutes
Forms the structure of the rolls and rises into a light, open crumb.
Melted lard
Adds fat that promotes tenderness and gives the tops a golden browning.

The step that matters

Pinch the cloths between the rows and let them proof well. The cloths hold the rolls' shape as they rise, and a full proof lets the dough expand before baking. Under-proofed rolls stay dense and may spread or split unevenly in the oven.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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