Baps

I read about these in a British mystery novel, and they sounded so good I had to have some. Since I live in exile in Arkansas, this required that I figure out how to make them, and make them myself.

So: several hours of research and trial later, here is the bap recipe, adapted for Arkansas / American use:

Ingredients:

About 4 cups of King Arthur Bread Flour

2 tbs unsalted butter, softened

1.5 cups of milk

1 tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbs yeast

Method:

(1) Put two cups of flour in a bowl along with the 2 tbs of unsalted butter. Rub the butter into the flour until it is all mixed in.

(2) Add the milk, sugar, salt, and yeast, and mix – if you have a stand mixer, mix it in that.  Start out with the paddle and shift to the dough hook as the dough gets stiffer.  But you can also mix by hand.

(3) Add more flour, a quarter cup at a time, until the dough forms into a dense dough. Continue to knead until it is nice and springy.

(4) Put in an oily bowl and let rise until doubled in size – about an hour.

(5) Start heating your oven to 400 degrees F.

(6) Divide into eight pieces, and shape each into a round flat disc.  Place each on a greased cookie sheet – I cover my cookie sheet with a greased parchment paper. Cover and let rise for about 20-25 minutes.

(7) Bake at 400 until brown – about 15 minutes, maybe a little longer.

Eat with cold meat, or with jam, or honey and butter. SO GOOD.