Step 1

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer add the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add the warm water, oil, and barley malt syrup if using. Mix the ingredients together until you've formed a shaggy dough.

Step 2

To make by hand: Turn the dough out onto a clean counter. Knead by hand for 3 minutes. If needed, add a little extra flour (a tablespoon at a time), but expect the dough to start out sticky and get less sticky, turning more tacky, as you knead. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then knead an additional 4-5 minutes until you have a smooth and slightly tacky dough. The dough should be soft and a bit bouncy.

Step 3

If using a stand mixer: Using the dough hook, knead the dough on low speed for 3 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then turn the stand mixer back on and knead an additional 3 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and knead by hand for 1-2 minutes, making any final adjustments to add more flour if needed. The final dough should be soft, bouncy, smooth, and slightly tacky.

Step 4

Place the dough into a lightly oiled large mixing bowl and turn to coat the dough in oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a lightly dampened towel and let rise for 1 hour. The dough should be 1 1/2 to 2x risen in volume.

Step 5

Preheat the oven to 400 ºF.

Step 6

Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and divide until 8 equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a ball, rolling the ball seam side down under your palm in small circles to create a taught skin around the ball of dough. Let rest for 5 minutes, then shape the balls into rolls. Roll the ball under your hands to form a torpedo or [American] football shape, 4-5" long. The edges will be slightly tapered with the center remaining round. Press down the tops of the dough to flatten slightly, so they are about 3/4" tall. Place the shaped rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet with 1 1/2-2" between each roll as they will expand in the oven. Lightly mist the tops of the rolls with oil then loosely cover with plastic wrap.

Step 7

Let the dough rise for a second time while the oven preheats. After 20-30 minutes the rolls will have swollen, as much as 50%. At this point they are ready to bake.

Step 8

Brush the tops of the rolls with some plant milk of your choice for a shinier finish. Then using a bread lame or a lightly oiled sharp knife, slash the bread either with one cut down the center length wise or two parallel diagonal lines.

Step 9

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the loaves are a beautiful golden brown (Note: if you did not use the barley malt the loaves will not darken as much). Let cool completely before consuming.